Lithium Battery Production Line
Multi-brand Protocol Acquisition & MES Integration
Lithium cell production lines consist of multiple processes such as coating, calendering, slitting, winding, assembly and formation, with heterogeneous equipment brands and protocols that have long been data silos. AIS-G160 uniformly acquires multi-brand PLC / CNC data, performs edge-computing preprocessing, then uploads to MES / DVS, connecting the production-line data chain and enabling equipment monitoring, energy management and process traceability.
Core solution for this case
I. Customer Background
Lithium production lines are long-process with heterogeneous equipment, a typical site where multi-brand controllers cluster.
- Lithium cell manufacturing is a multi-process, long-flow continuous production: from batching, coating, calendering, slitting, winding, assembly to formation and grading, each stage has dedicated equipment, with highly heterogeneous brands and protocols.
- A large number of coaters, calenders, slitters, winders and other equipment are PLC-controlled; some key equipment (e.g., electrode processing) involves CNC control. The equipment vendors' native systems are not interconnected, and data is scattered in their respective controllers.
- During capacity ramp-up and yield breakthrough, the enterprise urgently needs to aggregate scattered equipment data for equipment monitoring, energy management and process traceability - but "every vendor's protocol needs separate integration" has long blocked digitalization progress.
II. Core Pain Points
Multi-brand, multi-protocol is the main obstacle to lithium production-line digitalization.
- Heterogeneous equipment brands and protocols, high integration cost: On one line, Siemens, Mitsubishi, OMRON, Delta, Inovance and other PLCs coexist, plus CNC controllers. Generic gateways "cannot well connect" proprietary controllers; per-vendor integration has long cycles and high investment.
- Data silos, no global view: Equipment status, output, alarms and energy are fragmented; management lacks a unified view; anomalies are found by manual patrol; downtime losses are hard to locate in time.
- Process traceability gap: Lithium has high requirements for batch consistency and safety, but key process parameters are scattered across controllers, lacking unified acquisition and logging; quality issues are hard to trace back to specific equipment and time.
- Energy management lacks data: High-energy stages such as coating drying and calendering consume large power, but lack equipment/process-level energy acquisition, leaving energy-saving retrofits with no starting point.
III. Why Traditional Approaches Fail
Per-vendor custom development is hard to sustain in cycle, cost and O&M.
- If you ask each equipment vendor for open interfaces or custom development, a single line must integrate N vendors, with months-long schedules, and subsequent equipment changes require redevelopment - unsustainable.
- Some legacy equipment has only serial ports, no network port, and the vendor no longer provides support; traditional IT integrators lack protocol capability and often "connect halfway and get stuck".
- Even if a few are barely connected, there is no unified data model and upload specification; data enters the database but cannot be used, with low ROI.
IV. Solution: AIS-G160 Unified Protocol Acquisition
One gateway covers multi-brand PLC / CNC; edge preprocessing then unified upload to platform.
- Multi-brand PLC / CNC protocol direct acquisition: G160 connects directly to various controllers on the line via serial / Ethernet, with a built-in library of 500+ protocol drivers covering mainstream PLC and CNC brands. One gateway per equipment type, plug-and-play, no per-brand development.
- Edge-computing preprocessing: At the gateway side, data cleaning, unit conversion, range calibration and anomaly pre-screening are performed; only valid structured data is uploaded, reducing platform-side pressure and bandwidth.
- Unified upload to MES / DVS: Structured data is uploaded to MES and the DVS data acquisition & visualization platform via standard methods such as MQTT / Modbus TCP / OPC UA; equipment status, output, alarms and energy on one screen.
- Multi-process data chain connected: Data from coating, calendering, slitting, winding, assembly, formation and other stages is aggregated by a unified model, supporting cross-process process traceability and consistency analysis.
- Compliant deployment: General plants use the workshop management network / 4G; plants involving sensitive processes or classified requirements use private / intranet deployment with 4G not connecting to public networks, meeting security compliance.
V. Value Comparison & Results
Upgrade from "per-vendor customization, data silos" to "unified acquisition, one-screen visualization".
| Comparison | Per-brand Custom Development | AIS-G160 Unified Acquisition |
|---|---|---|
| Integration approach | Find each vendor for open interfaces; N vendors with N sets of development | One gateway covers multi-brand; protocol drivers plug-and-play |
| Cycle & cost | Months-long schedule; redevelop on any change | Standardized deployment; add equipment and acquire immediately |
| Data view | Fragmented, no global view | Equipment status / output / alarms / energy on one screen |
| Process traceability | Parameters scattered, hard to trace | Unified model aggregation, cross-process traceable |
| Energy management | No granular data, no starting point | Equipment / process-level energy acquisition, enabling savings |
| O&M | Multiple interfaces, hard fault location | Unified management, remote maintainable |
VI. Why AIS-G160
The three capabilities "complete protocols + edge computing + unified upload" address all demands of lithium-line digitalization.
- Complete protocols: Built-in 500+ industrial protocol driver library covering mainstream PLC (Siemens, Mitsubishi, OMRON, Delta, Inovance, etc.) and CNC brands, with native support for proprietary controllers that generic gateways "cannot well connect" - no per-brand development.
- Edge computing: The gateway side performs data cleaning, calibration and pre-screening, uploading only valid data, reducing platform pressure and bandwidth cost, suitable for high-frequency acquisition on production lines.
- Multi-protocol upload: Supports MQTT / Modbus TCP / OPC UA and other upload methods, seamlessly integrating with MES, DVS and other upper platforms - data "can be acquired, sent out and used".
- Compliant, flexible deployment: Supports workshop management network, private / intranet, 4G and other deployments; sensitive process stages can use private network, meeting the security compliance requirements of the lithium industry.
VII. FAQ
High-frequency questions about "lithium production-line multi-brand equipment protocol acquisition".
On the line, Siemens, Mitsubishi and OMRON PLCs are mixed - can G160 connect them all at once?
Yes. G160 has a built-in library of 500+ protocol drivers with native support for mainstream PLC brands. One gateway can connect different-brand PLCs by channel according to equipment type, with no per-brand development.
Some legacy equipment only has serial ports, no network port - what then?
G160 has both serial and Ethernet ports. Legacy serial devices can be directly connected via RS232 / RS485, with the gateway handling protocol parsing and forwarding, without relying on the vendor to open a network port.
Can the uploaded data be used directly by MES?
Yes. G160 performs cleaning, calibration and structuring at the edge, then uploads via standard methods such as MQTT / Modbus TCP / OPC UA. MES / DVS receive by a unified model; equipment status, output, alarms and energy can be directly visualized and alerted.
Involving sensitive processes, can data stay on-premise?
Yes. Classified or sensitive process stages use private / intranet deployment with 4G not connecting to public networks; all G160 connect to the enterprise intranet DVS platform, with data never leaving the plant.
Later, when the line expands equipment, do we need redevelopment?
No. Adding equipment only requires configuring channels by brand / protocol on G160 - add and acquire immediately, without returning to the "per-vendor customization" old path; expansion cost and cycle are greatly reduced.
VIII. PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) Brands & Models Supported by G160
This case centers on G160 acquiring multi-brand PLC. AIS-G160 has a built-in library of 500+ industrial device protocol drivers. The following are mainstream PLC brands and models verified for data acquisition (some models require on-site interface confirmation), serving as a basis for solution selection and field verification.
| Manufacturer / Brand | Typical Series & Models | Communication | Protocol / Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Siemens | S7-200 (PPI), S7-300/400 (MPI), S7-200 Smart, S7-1200, S7-1500, LOGO! | Serial / Ethernet | S7 PPI, MPI, S7comm, Modbus TCP |
| Mitsubishi | FX0/FX1/FX2, FX3U/3G, Q series (Q00J/Q00/Q02/Q02H/Q06H/Q12H/Q25H, QnU Q00U~Q26U, QnA/A series), FX3U-ENET, FX5U, QJ71E71 | Serial / Ethernet | Mitsubishi MC, MELSEC, SLMP |
| Rockwell AB | Micro800 | Ethernet | EtherNet/IP |
| LS Electric | XGT, XGB, XBC-DN32U | Serial / Ethernet | Proprietary protocol |
| Modbus (Modicon) | Standard Modbus devices | Serial / Ethernet | Modbus RTU / ASCII / TCP / RTU over TCP |
| Schneider | Full range | Serial / Ethernet | Modbus RTU / TCP |
| HollySys | LE/LK220, LK210 | Serial / Ethernet | Modbus RTU |
| THINGET (Xinje) | XD/XL, XC | Serial / Ethernet | Modbus TCP |
| Inovance | H1U/H2U, H3U, H5U | Serial / Ethernet | Modbus |
| OMRON | CJ/CS, CV, CP | Serial / Ethernet | OMRON FINS, Ethernet TCP |
| FATEK | Full range | Serial / Ethernet | Proprietary protocol |
| Delta | DVP, AS228T | Serial / Ethernet | Modbus RTU / TCP |
| Panasonic | FPX, FP | Serial / Ethernet | MEWTOCOL_COM |
| Haiwell | Full range | Serial | Modbus RTU / ASCII |
| Kewei | LP series | Serial | Modbus RTU / proprietary protocol |
| OPC UA | Software / devices supporting OPC UA | Ethernet | OPC UA |