Manufacturing integration system

A system comprising:

• a plurality of manufacturing tools configured to perform a physical action contributing to manufacture of a product;
• one or more programmable controllers coupled to the plurality of manufacturing tools;
• and
• one or more lineside units coupled to the one or more programmable controllers, the one or more lineside units each configured to:
• cooperate with the one or more programmable controllers to discover tool data describing services performed by one or more of the plurality of manufacturing tools;
• receive a process definition from a remote manufacturing control system;
• and
• translate the process definition into commands to the plurality of manufacturing tools according to the tool data.

A method for manufacturing a product comprising:

• connecting a programmable controller to a lineside unit, the programmable controller coupled to one or more automated tools configured to perform a physical action contributing to manufacture of the product;
• receiving, by the lineside unit, tool data from the programmable controller, the tool data including a command set for the one or more automated tools;
• receiving, by the lineside unit, a process definition from a remote manufacturing control system;
• translating, by the lineside unit, the process definition into a plurality of commands using the tool data;
• and
• sequentially invoking, by the lineside unit, execution of the plurality of commands by the programmable controller and the one or more automated tools to implement the process definition.