The place and role of automated systems in mechanical engineering

. Introducing off-the-shelf solutions for automated machine-building systems causes some difficulties related to attempts to change the algorithms of process participants, and also to the need to duplicate information transfer chains, as most systems operate autonomously within certain production units. The author proposes a new approach to organizing the interaction of automated systems of machine-building enterprises. Effective implementation of automated systems is possible only based on investigation and optimization of machine-building enterprise activities, and based on analysis and quality assessment of functions performance by participants of different enterprise processes. The method comprises identifying the process for preparing production and output of finished products, and processes of lower levels (auxiliary), but necessary for implementing the main, and functionally related to it. The main functional process defines a time parameter and auxiliary processes accompanying the main process. These auxiliary processes are financial, material, personnel, and organizational support processes. The article contains the basic principles of creating a complex of automated machine-building systems. The article analyzes the role and place of each of the main functional automated systems. The author gives considerations on the sequence of implementation of the project of digitalization of machine-building production.

Implementation of ready-made solutions for these systems causes some difficulties associated with the need to change the algorithms of processes participants, as well as duplicate chains of information transfer (information transfer in systems and parallel according to the existing production processes), because most systems work autonomously within the defined production units.
The reason for these and other problems of inefficient use of automated systems is, firstly, that the initiators and customers of the development of these systems are, more often than not, IT specialists.They do not always clearly understand the process structure of machinebuilding companies.Secondly, the first reason leads to a desire to transfer (replicate) automated systems into completely different organizational and technological systems that are far removed from machine building.
The purpose of the article is to reveal methodological regularities in developing and linking complex automated systems at machine-building enterprises and also to help managers of machine-building enterprises to choose means of automation and intellectualization of engineering work.

The strategic objective of machine-building companies
Scientific publications on the functioning of machine-building and other types of enterprises by authors (more often by representatives of the school of economics) more often contain the idea of maximizing profit as the main objective of an enterprise's functioning.
This leads to a misunderstanding of the purpose of the operation of a machine-building organization and the unjustified dominance of economic processes in the enterprise.This also leads to the assumption that there will be a dynamic transfer of capital to more profitable sectors.The question arises how, given the most fierce competition, the diktat of the consumer market, and a strong state administration, one can enter the lucrative sectors of industry, energy, oil and gas, etc. freely.That is why every entrepreneur and enterprise is tough on the market segments they occupy.
The global objective of the operation of any enterprise, including mechanical engineering, is to manufacture products under the quality parameters defined by the consumer, on time, and in the required quantity.We derived economic issues from the main objective, and from the way and level of management of the production process.

The production process in mechanical engineering
As far as mechanical engineering production systems are concerned, the question arises -an enterprise works, and manufactures products (somewhere using automated systems), so why is there often a certain aversion to automated systems?The answer is, paradoxically, very simple -the reason is the forgetting of the fundamental concepts of mechanical engineering, namely the production process and the manufacturing process.Let's consider these concepts.
The production process is the totality of all the activities of people and tools needed in an enterprise to make and repair manufactured products [17,18,19].
We can note two things that are crucial for defining the structure of a set of automated systems.
First.The production process includes actions (processes) for manufacturing, assembling, and repairing products, product quality control, storage and transfer of products at all stages of production, organization of material and technical support, organization of workplaces, management of all technical services and production, technical preparation of production, financial support of product output, product sales, etc.
The second important consideration relates to the definition of words in this enterprise.The structure of the production process in a particular enterprise, although seemingly similar to that of other enterprises, always has significant differences.The type and series of products, how functions are distributed between divisions, the traditions of the enterprise, the qualifications of personnel, and other reasons, all determine the differences.
We need to understand the following principles for creating automated systems: -automated systems should intellectualize workers and increase their productivity, rather than exist as an add-on to existing working practices; -automated systems should perform specific functions for those involved in the production process; -implementing automated systems should begin with research and optimization of the structure of the production process and the functions of its participants; -the structure of the production process in each enterprise has peculiarities that do not always allow simple replication of automated systems.
Earlier, we identified that the production process has several processes in its structure.The question arises: which of these is paramount?
Let us recall the main purpose of a machine-building organization: to produce a product under the quality parameters defined by its customer, on time, and in the required quantity.
The primary process at the machine-building organization should be the product creation process -the manufacturing process and the process for technical preparation of the machinebuilding production.

Technological and production preparation processes
Consider these concepts to implement automated systems.
Technological processes are parts of the production process of changing and determining the qualitative state (shape, dimensions, chemical and physical-mechanical properties of the material, surface quality, appearance, quality control, etc.) of the production object [17,18,19].
These are technological processes of blanking, machining, assembling, inspection and testing of products, heat treatment, and painting.
Technological processes are the final stage of the product manufacturing process.Technical production preparation includes the following processes: -processes of design preparation of production (DPP), i.e. all stages of design processes and product design with issuing the entire set of design documentation, and processes of control of design preparation of production; competent implementation of DPP ensures getting the product design specified by the technical specification of the technical level; -processes of technological preparation of production (TPP), including the development of technological processes of product manufacturing, design and manufacture of technological equipment (TE), registration of orders for the acquisition of TE, and also the management of technological preparation processes; competent implementation of TPP ensures the readiness of enterprises to implement technological processes that ensure the production of the required quality, in time and necessary quantities -organizational production preparation processes, including the organization of technological processes, for many planning and management.
The groups of processes are performed in parallel-sequentially to reduce the duration of the total cycle of technical preparation of production.
The main manufacturing processes in a machine-building company are the technical production preparation processes and the manufacturing processes.These two processes must be considered and managed as a single production process.
We can plan two principles for the creation of automated systems: -the main product manufacturing processes in a machine-building enterprise are technical production preparation processes and product manufacturing processes.Automated systems must foremost facilitate these processes; -the automated systems of technical preparation of production processes, automated control of technological processes, and product quality management should informationally integrate and have direct and feedback connections to produce products of the required quality, in the required volumes, and on time.
Where is the economic aspect of all this?Let us try to make some clarifications by explaining the role and essence of economic approaches.
Technical preparation of production comes in several variants, providing the technical side of production (output of products of a given quality, in a given time, and in given volumes).This is where comparative economic estimates of product costs are needed.Economics, as a discipline and apparatus, operates with comparable technical solutions, and technical objects.The parameters of product design and process technology can affect the cost of a product.We can say the same about determining the amount of funding needed.
Macroeconomic considerations are left aside, as they are highly questionable in terms of their applicability to specific production activities.
Another principle is that the technical side of production is primary, the economic issues are derived from it, and not vice versa; hence the automated systems related to the economic side of the enterprise are hierarchically subordinated to APCS, CAD.

Quality management processes
Scientists in the last decade have been actively discussing product quality management processes and the place of automated quality management systems [20,21].
The scientific literature also contains the controversial assertion that quality management is a way of managing the activities of a machine-building enterprise, from where it is near to the thesis that the quality management system is some kind of independent entity.
Let us try to make sense of it all.
What level of quality are we discussing?The one dictated by the consumer and which you want to get at the end.
Where does quality come into play?Obviously, in the manufacturing processes of the machine tool builder, namely the technical preparations of the production and the manufacturing processes of the finished product.We purchase materials, semi-finished products, and components to use in the production process, so they must meet the required quality standards for the part production processes.Where and how should quality be monitored and managed?Obviously, by presenting the above processes as interlinked completed parts, and comparing the results got in these parts of the overall process with the required results in terms of quality (these required results are derived from the product specification) we can conclude about the quality level of the solution (the possibility to act further -move to the next parts of the overall process or refine the solution) [22].We can plan another principle of creating a set of automated systems: -quality management processes are directly embedded in the main production processes, and the quality level is determined by the organization management system to ensure it in production, automated enterprise quality management systems are hierarchically subordinated to APCS, CAD TP, CAD K.

ERP systems for machine builders
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, sometimes presented as a panacea for solving all enterprise-related issues, have recently become widespread [14].We beg to differ with this thesis because: 1.The systems are designed primarily for large enterprises; for medium-sized enterprises, these systems are already too cumbersome.
2. ERP systems include a set of modules for the management of finances, human and material resources, supplies, sales, inventories, document management, etc.But let's ask -for what purpose do the systems function?The answer is obvious -to enable the main production processes to be realized, hence serve them.All information about the required quantities of resources of different types is determined based on the results of work in the stages of technical preparation of production and planning of technological processes management.
Hence, we will plan another principle for implementing a complex of automated systems: -ERP systems for large machine-building enterprises serve the main production processes of machine-building production and receive input information from CAD K, CAD TP, and volumetric and scheduling subsystems as part of the APCS.Individual software tools play the role of ERP systems for medium-sized and small enterprises.

Product lifecycle management methodology
A product lifecycle management methodology (or product data management methodology) is of sufficient practical interest to machine builders in two ways: -in terms of the differentiation of the activity processes of the organizations, which allows us to clarify which part of the overall product life cycle is implemented in each enterprise; -from the point of view of storing and exchanging information within the enterprise and between enterprises implementing the entire product lifecycle, which allows us to structure its flows.
Another principle for creating a set of automated machine-building systems is that automated lifecycle support systems are useful as a means of information exchange within each enterprise, and between the enterprises within which the product lifecycle is implemented.They help to integrate the main functional automated systems (for automating the functions of the main production processes) and the main functional automated systems with auxiliary (non-core enterprise processes) informally within the same enterprise.

Determining the structure of the production process of a company
Let us define what we will understand by the structure of the production process.As a systemic entity, we can define the structure of the production process:  = {, , , , }, where  is the main function of the production process, which is the logical union of the private functions   of each process  = ⋁    1 ; the number of processes in the production process;  -hierarchy of processes;  -functional relationships between processes (functional structure);  -temporal links between processes (temporal structure).The boundaries of one organizational unit do not constrain processes [23].We must structure the production process, starting from the main functional process.As we defined above, the main functional process (the process of the first level of the hierarchy) includes the processes of technical preparation of production (including the processes of design, technological, and organizational preparation) and technological processes for product output.
This process defines the time dimension and the auxiliary processes.Such auxiliary processes are financial, material, personnel, and organizational support processes.These processes are necessary to realize the main functional one.These will be the processes of the second level of the hierarchy.
The second-level processes also determine the third-level processes of the hierarchy, which are functionally related to the second-level processes of the hierarchy.
It is necessary to have materials and semi-finished products (logistics processes, second level of the hierarchy) to implement the technological processes.This requires financial reserves, and timely payment, i.e. implementation of the third-level processes.
The ability to manage processes within a specific organization determines the depth of their decomposition, and also the degree of detailed elaboration of processes within one level into operations.
It is recommended that the breakdown be based on the possibility of assessing intermediate results and on the semantic completeness of the process.For example, if the enterprise has a quality management disaggregation should be based on the possibility of assessing the impact of the intermediate result on the result of the process.
Why is it necessary to represent all the activities of an enterprise in terms of processes?Firstly, based on an understanding of the fact that any activity in an enterprise is a process of several participants and has a duration defined by a parallel-sequential combination of actions, rather than a single action.
Secondly, to identify functional interrelated procedures aimed at implementing a complete function and passing through several divisions of the organization, i.e. to form a functional structure of the enterprise or organization.
Thirdly, to identify the linkages implemented between units of the organization and necessary for implementing the production process.
Fourthly, to recognize and define the type of specialized automated systems necessary to increase the efficiency and intellectualization of work.
All processes performed in an enterprise should be subject to management, including the use of automated process control systems.Consider the following principles for their creation: -all processes must be controlled and synchronized in terms of time; -the main functional process must additionally be controlled in terms of product quality.
By analyzing and identifying processes, we must also strive to improve them.

Composition and interconnection of automated machine building systems
Figure 1 shows one organization of automated systems, according to the author.The main functional process represents the following stages: design preparation of production, technological preparation of production, manufacturing of products, and output control.
The organization's management system defines the ways and methods of implementing various activities performed in the organization.
The automated process control system (APCS) has direct and indirect information links with the organization's management system and controls the main and auxiliary processes.
The APMS has information links to the product lifecycle management system.Product Lifecycle Management accumulates and distributes information between users (OMS; main functional process; lower level processes; main automated functional systems: CAD (computer-aided design), CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing), APCS (Process Control System), Automated Consumption Accounting System, ERP system, etc.The main automated functional systems provide automation of engineering activities within the main functional process.The main automated functional systems are directly embedded in the core functional process.
ERP systems serve the main and auxiliary production processes of machine manufacturing and exchange information with CAD, CAM and automatic process control systems via the product lifecycle management system.
This scheme provides a simple exchange of information and complies with established principles for the creation of automated systems.

Results and discussion
In analyzing the proposed approach, we can see the following positive aspects: 1.The application of automated systems does not impose some artificial approach that is not inherent to engineering activities in mechanical engineering.
2. automated systems are not represented as decision-making centers, but as tools to support engineering and management decisions.
3. The use of automation and intellectualization of labor does not disrupt the logic of the processes of mechanical engineering enterprises.
4. The prerequisites for avoiding duplication of information flows and duplication of functions within the framework of the production process of the machine-building enterprise are created.
5. The hierarchy of processes in the machine-building enterprise becomes clearer and the control levers of the firm become more clear.
6.The implementation of automated systems does not require special training of personnel.
The proposed way of interaction of automated systems is fully in line with the concept of the digital economy.We believe it is important to keep the algorithms adopted by the machine industry for implementing activity processes.
Otherwise, workers may experience a lack of understanding, an aversion to alternative ways of doing things, and, as a result, a rejection of the use of automated systems.