System for creating maintenance plans

1. A system for creating a maintenance plan for physical components in an installation, comprising:

a plurality of components comprising main components and sub-components,

wherein the main components are intelligent automation components for controlling a technical installation and the sub-components are mechanical components,

each main component containing maintenance information regarding the respective main component stored directly in the main component's memory, and

for each main component that is further connected to a sub-component, also containing maintenance information for the sub-component stored directly in the main component's memory,

wherein the intelligent automation components provide the maintenance information online via Internet such that the maintenance information is accessible on-site as well as off-site of the technical installation;

a project planning device of an engineering system in communication across a communication network with the main components, the project planning device having stored in memory therein hierarchical information comprising an installation structure for the plurality of components in the installation;

a maintenance planning device for

generating a maintenance plan for the installation by receiving the maintenance information from the intelligent automation components, wherein the intelligent automation components transmit the maintenance information via Internet or Ethernet or TCP/IP or Profinet to the maintenance planning device, and

combining the maintenance information with the hierarchical information from the project planning device to create the maintenance plan,

wherein the maintenance planning device determines optimum maintenance cycles from the maintenance information, and

wherein the maintenance planning device is adapted to update the maintenance plan after a component is replaced or added to the installation.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising software programs assigned to the main components and having the maintenance information of the respective main component, wherein the software program is adapted to be updated by a manufacturer of the respective main component via the internet, and wherein the software programs are stored directly in the memory of the main component.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising at least one circuit diagram including rules for combining the maintenance information of the components.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the maintenance plan includes information on maintenance cycles determined from the maintenance information of the components.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the maintenance plan includes information on task blocks determined from individual tasks included in the maintenance information of the components.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an editor for modifying the maintenance information of at least one component.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the modified maintenance information of the at least one component is also used for such components being identical to the at least one component.

8. A method for creating a maintenance plan for physical components in an installation, the installation having a plurality of components comprising main components and sub-components, the components in communication with a maintenance planning device and a project planning device, the method comprising:

providing and using a plurality of components comprising main components and sub-components, wherein the main components are intelligent automation components,

storing maintenance information for each main component directly in a memory of each main component, and for each main component that is further connected to a sub-component, also storing maintenance information for the sub-component directly in the main component's memory,

wherein the intelligent automation components provide the maintenance information online via Internet such that the maintenance information is accessible on-site as well as off-site of the technical installation;

providing a project planning device;

storing hierarchical information comprising an installation structure for the components in the installation in a memory of the project planning device;

providing a maintenance planning device which is in communication with the project planning device and the intelligent automation components;

generating a maintenance plan by the maintenance planning device, wherein the intelligent automation components transmit the maintenance information via Internet or Ethernet or TCP/IP or Profinet to the maintenance planning device, and

combining the maintenance information with the hierarchical information from the project planning device on a basis of a design of the installation to create the maintenance plan,

wherein the maintenance planning device determines optimum maintenance cycles from the maintenance information, and

wherein the maintenance planning device is adapted to update the maintenance plan after a component is replaced or added to the installation.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the maintenance information of at least one component is included in a software program assigned to the respective main component, the method further comprising updating the software program by a manufacturer of the respective main component via the interne, wherein the software program is stored directly in the memory of the main component.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8 , further comprising providing at least one circuit diagram including rules for combining the maintenance information of the components.

11. The method as claimed in claim 8 , further comprising modifying the maintenance information of at least one of the components and using the modified maintenance information also for such components being identical to the at least one component.