# Fog Computing Architecture for Load Balancing in Parallel Production with a Distributed MES
## 1 Introduction
### Implementation Proposal  
Given the characteristics of industrial evolution mentioned above, this study proposes a scenario in which a factory undergoing expansion due to growing demand for its products must take action in response to this need to avoid the potential production interruptions caused by bottlenecks in future scenarios. Considering that its production line is well structured and optimized before demand, it is proposed to increase production capacity by replicating this production line without redesigning its workflow. This approach would  
Figure 1: Initial connectivity and workflow architecture of an MPS500-FESTO with I4.0 technology.  
reduce vulnerability to failures in a single production line, minimize operational risks, and improve the speed of final product delivery. Given this scenario, this study proposes utilizing another MPS as a secondary production line and integrating various basic and advanced technologies to develop an extended architecture that builds upon the initial architecture. The following points describe the specific goals that are considered fundamental to this development and understanding.
* The provision of a manufacturing production process operating system (OT) with characteristics similar to FESTO's first MPS-500 production line, with business requirements for the adoption and adaptation of advanced and emerging information technology (IT) within the same flexible RAMI 4.0 reference framework. Consequently, another MES is being developed for the second production line.
* With two MESs for each MPS-500, a procedure is needed to enable the dynamic allocation of order requests hosted on an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) service instance. In such circumstances, a fog computing node is added to the architecture between the two MESs, providing a timely solution for load balancing based on order distribution, thereby avoiding overloads on a single production line while the other is available.
* Currently, mini-batch orders on the first production line are requested by remote users via a website.  
Section 2 examines the advantages and limitations of current technologies, establishing the context for the approach presented in our research. Section 3 describes the steps that enabled improved interoperability and connectivity between two MESs using an FC intermediary node, which allows for the provision of a new management function, load distribution, and a real-time plant-to-cloud gateway. Section 4 evaluates the performance provided by the FC node in terms of response time and effective and efficient dynamic load distribution. Section 5, the Discussion Section, analyzes the results obtained, highlighting the advantages that FC adds within an established structure to improve manufacturing production. Similarly, it addresses the benefits of integrating advanced technologies to include a specific segment of the population, as well as the possible limitations that SMEs may face when implementing the use of these technologies. Finally, specific gaps are proposed for future research that still need to be covered or are awaiting synergistic integration with the proposal in this study. Finally, the conclusion in Section 6 summarizes the key results of the case study, highlighting the potential impact of integrating advanced technologies into parallel modular production processes and suggesting future research directions to explore further the technologies and methods employed.