Systems and methods for controlling production and/or distribution lines

A system for controlling a plurality of lines, wherein each line is at least one of a production line and a distribution line, the system comprising:

• a master room subsystem, comprising a first control device hosting an OPC UA server;
• and,
• for each line, a line control subsystem,
• wherein the line control subsystem comprises:
• a second control device per line, on which an operating system is running, the second control device hosting an OPC UA client for OPC-UA-based communicating with the first control device via the OPC UA server, wherein the second control device is not a programmable logic controller, wherein the second control device is a smart camera;
• at least one field device;
• and
• a connection device per line,
• wherein the at least one field device communicates with the second control device via the connection device, wherein the at least one field device is connected to the connection device through a point-to-point digital communication interface and the connection device has one port per field device,
• wherein the connection device has an EtherNet/IP interface or an EtherCAT interface to communicate with the second control device via a network, and
• wherein the second control device has a Data Matrix recognition SDK and a PLC runtime environment to handle inputs and outputs of the connection device.