Glossary · System coordination, integration and orchestration
Completion signal
Also known as: done signal, ready-done signal, job complete signal
German: Fertigmeldung
In industrial automation, a completion signal is a signal or message by which a system reports that a requested task or step has been finished, often together with a result status such as success or failure.
- System integration
In one sentence
A completion signal reports that a requested task or step has finished, usually together with a status such as OK or not OK.
Example
The press sets PressDone and PressResultOK after the pressing cycle; the transfer system waits for both before moving the part to the next station.
How it applies
- Engineering: A completion signal should always carry or be accompanied by a result. “Done” without “OK” forces the partner to assume success. Define how long the signal stays set and who resets it.
- Commissioning: Test abnormal completions too: aborted jobs, results outside tolerance and completion after a timeout has already been raised by the partner.
- Documentation: Interface documents should list each completion signal with its result codes. Operator documentation should explain what a “not OK” completion means for the part and what the operator has to do with it.
Completion signal vs. acknowledgment signal
An Acknowledgment signal confirms that a request arrived. A completion signal confirms that the requested work has ended. Many handshakes use both, in this order.