System and method for controlling a production plant consisting of a plurality of plant parts, in particular a production plant for producing industrial goods such as metallic semi-finished products

A system (1) for controlling a production plant (2) having a plurality of plant parts (3), in particular a production plant (2) for producing industrial goods such as metallic semifinished products, comprising:

• a plant automation unit (4) for monitoring and for open-loop and/or closed-loop control of a production process within the production plant (2), including monitoring and open-loop and/or closed-loop control of the plant parts (3);
• a production planning system (5) having information concerning products to be produced in the production plant (2), including target criteria for the products to be produced;
• a model generator (6) for generating at least one prediction model (7) for a product currently being produced in the production plant (2) and/or for the products to be produced in the future in accordance with the production planning system (5), in compliance with the target criteria for the product currently being produced or the products to be produced in the future,
• wherein the model generator (6) takes into account results of the monitoring of the production plant (2), including the plurality of plant parts (3), when generating the at least one prediction model (7);
• a production optimizer (8) for determining an optimized production process within the production plant (2) based on data from the plant automation unit (4), the production planning system (5), and the prediction model (7) generated by the model generator (6),
• wherein the production optimizer (8) takes into account production-related specifications of the plant parts (3) in determining the optimized production process within the production plant (2);
• and
• a production plant control unit (9) for generating target specifications for the plant automation unit (4) based on the optimized production process determined by the production optimizer (8).

A method for controlling a production plant (2) having of a plurality of plant parts (3), in particular a production plant (2) for producing industrial goods such as metallic semi-finished products, comprising:

• acquiring information concerning products to be produced in the production plant (2), including target criteria for the products to be produced;
• monitoring a production process within the production plant (2), including within the plant parts (3);
• generating at least one prediction model (7) for a product currently being produced in the production plant (2) and/or for the products to be produced in the future, in compliance with target criteria for the product currently being produced or the products to be produced in the future,
• wherein the acquired information of the production plant (2), including the plurality of plant parts (3), is taken into account in generating the at least one prediction model (7);
• determining an optimized production process within the production plant (2) based on
• the acquired information concerning the products to be produced in the production plant (2),
• the monitoring of the production process within the production plant (2), including the plant parts (3),
• the at least one prediction model (7), and
• production-related parameters of the production plant (2), including production-related parameters of the plant parts (3);
• and
• generating and executing target specifications for an open-loop and/or closed-loop control of the production process within the production plant (2), including an open-loop and/or closed-loop control of processes within the plant parts (3).