
🏭 Manufacturing · C4 Architecture · Pro
A connected factory: machines and sensors on the shop floor, an edge layer, MES and ERP, and cloud analytics for OEE and predictive maintenance.
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Drawing diagram…
Smart factory architecture: CNC machines, PLCs and sensors connect over OPC UA to an edge gateway on the shop floor. The edge runs data collection and local dashboards. The MES manages work orders, quality and traceability; the ERP (SAP) handles planning and purchasing. A cloud IIoT platform stores machine data in a time-series DB, calculates OEE and runs predictive maintenance models; plant managers see dashboards.
C4Container
title Smart Factory
Person(operator, "Machine Operator", "Runs the line")
Person(manager, "Plant Manager", "Watches KPIs")
System_Ext(machines, "Machines and PLCs", "CNC, robots, sensors")
System_Ext(erp, "ERP - SAP", "Planning and purchasing")
System_Boundary(sf, "Smart Factory Platform") {
Container(edge, "Edge Gateway", "OPC UA / MQTT", "Collects machine data")
Container(mes, "MES", "Java", "Work orders, quality, traceability")
Container(hmi, "Shop Floor HMI", "Web", "Operator screens")
Container(iiot, "IIoT Platform", "Cloud", "Ingests machine data")
ContainerDb(ts, "Time-series DB", "InfluxDB", "Machine signals")
Container(oee, "OEE and Analytics", "Python", "Availability, performance, quality")
Container(pdm, "Predictive Maintenance", "Python ML", "Failure prediction")
}
Rel(machines, edge, "OPC UA")
Rel(edge, mes, "Counts and states")
Rel(edge, iiot, "MQTT")
Rel(operator, hmi, "Uses")
Rel(hmi, mes, "Reports production")
Rel(mes, erp, "Orders and confirmations")
Rel(iiot, ts, "Stores")
Rel(ts, oee, "Feeds")
Rel(ts, pdm, "Feeds")
Rel(manager, oee, "Views dashboards")The states a production order goes through on the shop floor, from release by planning to closure, including material shortages, rework and scrap.
An incoming and in-process quality inspection flow: sampling, measurement against the spec, and what happens to a batch that fails.
How production orders flow from ERP planning to the shop floor MES and how confirmations, goods movements and scrap flow back.
How vibration and temperature data from machines becomes a maintenance work order before the machine fails.
How materials flow from suppliers to customers in a manufacturing business: purchasing, inbound quality, production, warehousing and distribution.
A schema for multi-level bills of materials: items, BOM headers and lines, routings and work centres.