System and method for controlling a production plant consisting of a plurality of plant parts, in particular a production plant for producing industrial goods such as metallic semi-finished products

A system for controlling a production plant includes a plant automation unit for monitoring and control of the production process within the production plant. A production planning system has information concerning the products to be produced. A model generator generates at least one prediction model for products produced in the production plant. The model generator takes into account the results of the monitoring of the production plant when generating the at least one prediction model. A production optimizer determines an optimized production process within the production plant on the basis of data from the plant automation unit, the production planning system, and the prediction model generated by the model generator. The production optimizer takes into account the production-related specifications of the individual plant parts. A production plant control unit generates target specifications for the plant automation unit on the basis of the optimized production process determined by the production optimizer.