🚀 go-pugleaf

Hello to all MMS/MAP users who might read this group!

The Laboratoire d'Informatique Technique (LIT) is part of the Computer
Engineering Department of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Ecole
Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, EPFL). It performs research activities
in the areas of industrial networks and industrial computer engineering. An
important field of research in our lab is in the application layer of
industrial network protocols, more specifically the MAP protocol and the
application services called MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification), an
ISO standard. 

Currently we are working on several projects aimed at incorporating MMS
into the domain of distributed systems, a domain which is becoming more and
more popular in nearly every field of computer science and will become
equally important in the fields of industrial computing. The research we
are doing in this direction requires that we have a good understanding of
the MMS applications as well as the problems and limitations of MMS as it
is being used in the field.

You can help us in our research by completing the attached questionnaire
covering the use of MMS at your organization. All who respond will receive
the final results of the questionnaire (excepting the results from those
organizations who wish that the information be kept confidential).

We thank you in advance for your time!

-Cris Fuhrman
 EPFL-LIT

---------8<-------------- cut here for questionnaire ---------8<--------



                            MMS Questionnaire
                  Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
                          Lausanne, Switzerland
                 Laboratoire d'informatique technique (LIT)
                             28 October 1992

              +---------------------------------------------+
              |  Please complete and return to:             |
              |          Cris FUHRMAN                       |
              |          fuhrman@litsun.epfl.ch             |
              |          fax: +41 21 693 47 01              |
              |                                             |
              |  Questions/comments please send e-mail to:  |
              |          fuhrman@litsun.epfl.ch             |
              |  or call:                                   |
              |          +41 21 693 36 97                   |
              +---------------------------------------------+


0.   Do you allow us to send a copy of this information to the others
     who respond to this questionnaire?

     [ ]  YES                [ ] NO


Part I - MMS Applications
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.   What kinds of MMS applications exist at your site?

2.   What hardware is involved in these applications?

3.   Which MMS services are the most utilized by these applications?


Part II - Fault-tolerance with MMS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

4.   In your MMS system, where do breakdowns occur most often (i.e. at 
     the MMS client, MMS server, machine-tool, or the network itself) 
     and with what frequency do they occur?

5.   What is the severity of these breakdowns?

6.   What techniques do you use to resolve the problems of breakdowns at 
     these various levels (MMS client, MMS server, machine-tool, 
     network)?

7.   Do you use backup equipment (hardware) in your MMS environment?

     [ ]  YES                [ ] NO

Please explain why or why not:

7a.   If you do use backup equipment, where do you use it? How 
      successful is it as a solution to fault-tolerance?

7b.  If you don't use backup equipment, would you like to?

     [ ]  YES                [ ] NO 

Please explain why or why not:

8.   How do you insure the fiability of your MMS system? 

9.   Do you have several copies of the MMS server (as a way to improve 
     fiability)?

     [ ]  YES                [ ] NO

Additional comments:

10.  Do you have several VMDs for the same machine-tool (as a way to 
     improve fiability)?

     [ ]  YES                [ ] NO

Additional comments:


Part III - MMS Shortcomings
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

11.  What are the problems with MMS that you experience at your site?

12.  What is missing from MMS with respect to your applications? What 
     would you like to do with MMS that you cannot do?

Part IV - MMS Specifics
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

13.   What version(s) of MMS are you using at your site?

14.  Are you using any products which provide layers above the MMS 
     layer (such as MMSI)? What are they and what versions are they?

15.  Describe the kinds of network configurations on which you are 
     using MMS at your site:

16.  Do you have several MMS sites in your factories?

     [ ]  YES                [ ] NO

Additional comments:

17.  Do these sites communicate between each other or are they 
     completely independent?

     [ ]  Communicate between each other  [ ] Are completely independent

17a. If they communicate, how?

17b. If they do not communicate with each other, do you wish that they
     could?

     [ ]  YES                [ ] NO

Additional comments:


Part V - Beyond MMS
----------------------------------------------------------------------

18.  Does your site make use of any larger scale management systems (such
     as cell control, inventory control, production scheduling, etc.)?

     [ ]  YES                [ ] NO

If yes, please describe what they are:

19.  Are they at all integrated with MMS at the moment?

     [ ]  YES                [ ] NO

Additional comments:

20.  Would you like them to be integrated with MMS?

     [ ]  YES                [ ] NO

Additional comments:

21.   In what ways?

---------------------------------------
 Cris FUHRMAN, fuhrman@litsun.epfl.ch
 Laboratoire d'informatique technique
 EPFL-LIT, IN Ecublens, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland