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Production data collection for SAP S/4HANA without PLC changes

Connect live machine production data to SAP HANA using standard SQL access

Perinet exposes production counts and other machine data to SAP without modifying the existing control system or adding a separate replication layer.

No PLC changes. No separate replication platform. Standard SQL access.

Discuss your application

Your machines know what they've produced. SAP doesn't.

The machine already produces the events the business needs to know about: a completed part, a cycle, an output signal. The problem is getting those events into SAP without turning the existing control system into an integration project.

Traditionally, that means routing information through the existing control architecture, building a custom PLC-to-SAP integration, adding a replication platform, or opening systems that were never designed to serve enterprise data. The result is extra engineering, another layer to maintain, and production figures that often reach SAP late, manually, or not at all.

Keep the machines. Keep SAP. Connect the two.

The control system keeps running the machine. Production information takes a separate path to SAP, in four steps.

  • Capture. The completion signal, one pulse per finished part, is taken from a signal the machine already provides at the terminal block, or from a retrofitted sensor. Nothing in the PLC program changes.
  • Connect. Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) Smart Components pick up the signal and carry it over an IP-native network, TLS-encrypted, without PLC programming.
  • Store. A periMICA edge computer on site writes the values to a standard SQL database. Counting intervals and data formats are set in the browser.
  • Query from SAP. SAP HANA reads that database live through Smart Data Access. The data is available to S/4HANA applications through ordinary SQL, without being replicated into HANA and without a separate replication platform.

If the link to SAP drops, the edge computer keeps recording, and nothing is lost when the connection returns.

Data flow: completion signal from an existing or retrofitted sensor to SPE Smart Components to periMICA edge SQL database to SAP HANA via Smart Data Access to S/4HANA applications.

The machine control and SAP both stay as they are. Perinet provides the data path and the edge layer; solution partner Zentinel MDS delivers the SAP-side setup.

The basis

Perinet

Single Pair Ethernet Smart Components put machine signals directly on an IP-native network, and the periMICA edge computer holds the data in a standard SQL database on site.

The realization

Zentinel MDS

Our solution partner builds on that foundation: its ZentEdge server runs on periMICA and its ZentNode adapters are periNODE Smart Components. Zentinel configures the edge database and sets up the SAP HANA side (remote source and virtual tables) so S/4HANA can query the data live.

Reference implementation: parts counting into SAP S/4HANA

A manufacturer wanted its parts-produced count available live in SAP S/4HANA, without modifying the machine control or opening up existing systems. Working with solution partner Zentinel MDS on the Perinet platform, the completion signal was picked up from the machine cabinet, and the counts were stored in a standard SQL database that SAP HANA read live through Smart Data Access. Counting intervals and data format were set in the browser, and the edge server buffered data during any SAP downtime so nothing was lost.

periMICA edge computer installed in an existing machine control cabinet, cabled to the IT network and to the periNODE.

Why this approach works

  • SAP keeps doing ERP, the machine keeps doing production. Neither side is modified; Perinet adds a standards-based data path between them.
  • Ordinary SQL, no separate replication platform. SAP HANA queries the edge database directly through Smart Data Access. There is no replication layer to buy, host or maintain, and no second copy of the data to keep in sync.
  • No PLC-to-IT connection required. The signal is picked up at the machine, not read out of the control system.
  • Start small, extend. One machine and one signal to begin with, then the same pattern across many machines.

Where the same approach could apply

Production counts and volumes: food processing, general manufacturing.

Cycle times: food processing, medical device production lines.

Mixing quantities and reaction times: chemical industry.

Production-line data where traceability matters: regulated medical technology.

Related use cases

OEE monitoring for packaging lines

Live availability, performance and quality from existing machines, installed in hours without PLC changes.

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Compressed air monitoring in production

Pressure and flow from the existing lines into a SQL database, making leaks and inefficient use visible.

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Frequently asked questions

The completion signal is taken from a signal the machine already provides, or from a retrofitted sensor, and a Single Pair Ethernet Smart Component puts it on the network, so nothing in the control program changes. A periMICA edge computer stores the values in a standard SQL database, and SAP HANA reads that database through Smart Data Access. S/4HANA applications then work with the actual production count rather than a figure entered at the end of the shift.

Yes, in the narrow, practical sense: data from operational technology (a machine's parts counter) becomes usable by information technology (SAP S/4HANA) without a manual step in between. This page shows one such integration; the pattern applies wherever a machine already produces a signal and an IT system needs it live.

The reference deployment collected one pulse per finished part from a signal available in the machine cabinet. Counting intervals and data formats are set in the browser, with no programming and no change to the PLC program. The same path suits other values a machine already exposes, such as cycle times or quantities, and each additional machine follows the same pattern.

Smart Data Access is SAP HANA's built-in way of querying data that lives in a remote database as if it were a local table. The source data does not need to be replicated into SAP before it can be queried. Here it lets S/4HANA applications use shop-floor data straight from the edge database, with no replication job and no separate replication platform.

No separate platform. The Perinet edge layer stores the data in standard SQL, and SAP HANA reads it directly through Smart Data Access. The SAP-side setup (remote source and virtual tables) is done once by the solution partner; there is no additional product to license, host or keep in sync.

The periMICA edge computer keeps recording locally. When the connection returns, the full history is available to SAP HANA again, so nothing is lost during SAP downtime or network interruptions.

Exploring production data collection for SAP?

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