Modules, version and variability management in automation engineering of machine and plant manufacturing

The different aspects that need to be tackled in order to develop automation for machines and plants through reusing tested modules will be discussed. The development of such modules involves all disciplines and their specific variations and version management, as well as the dependencies between those variations. Version management is needed to track modifications of these different modules. Variations for these modules exist due to the different functions and versions of modules. Maintenance and feedback to these modules have to be supported through out the whole life cycle, from planning to design, development, implementation, operation and maintenance. The paper presents an example for the dependencies mentioned above, the existing solutions, the problems faced and methods to better support these dependencies.