Global manufacturing networks as software-intensive service providers motivation, relevance, research objective

Abstract

Developing the factory of the future is an objective of the Graduate School of Excellence advanced Manufacturing Engineering (GSaME) in Stuttgart. To achieve this goal several research areas concerning the factory of the future exist. For example, strategies and factories development, information and communication for manufacturing, material and process engineering, or management of global manufacturing networks. One specific research project within the area "management of global manufacturing networks" is "global manufacturing networks as software-intensive service providers", which started in December 2012. This research project deals with the questions, how the factory of the future is able to satisfy its increasing need of information and communication technology (ICT) in the future, and how to compose different ICT-services, which should be integrated in the existing global manufacturing network in a second step. The contribution in hand considers the motivation, relevance, and research objective of this research project. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.