Integrating mobile devices and industrial automation through web services

The increasing need of integration among the many kinds of automation systems inside the companies is causing process engineers and IT managers to provide solutions which can facilitate the data transmission from production level to higher levels of the industrial automation pyramid. Static architectures with high degree of engagement, platform dependency and low level of interoperability, make the service oriented paradigm get space in industrial automation scenario. Allied to all these needs, some new requirements such as mobility already shows that are indispensable today. For example, receiving a programmed alarm of an industrial plant or accessing production data through a cell phone is not just one more superfluous feature, but a necessity for the business dynamics of the company. In this context, this article presents an architecture for the integration of mobile devices in an industrial automation scenario, using Web Service.