Description of the Working Field

Abstract

Computing miniaturization, communication networks and smart devices decentralise manufacturing. Various propositions of novel ICT continue to push virtualizations and atomisation of resources, so manufacturing increasingly relies on smart autonomous units enforcing a number of unexpected manufacturing network principles. Hierarchical set ups with command and control structures become outdated; they are replaced by bottom up (self-) configuring versatile networks, as proposed by Distributed Manufacturing. Distributed Manufacturing has impact on a number of manufacturing fundamentals, as the approach is about to generalise distributed automation to manufacturing industry in total. Matching manufacturing fundamentals with the latest ICT achievements irrefutably confirms Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), machine to machine (M2M), RFID and Cloud computing solutions as utmost adequate technology for highly efficient manufacturing processes and cutting edge factory solutions. Especially, real time data and item localisation are changing the game and laying ground for iterative intelligent decision-making and for gradual manufacturing network (re-)configurations. All these developments are additionally flanked by coalescing technology fields, as new materials and nanotechnology, underpinning the dynamics of interdisciplinarity in manufacturing. Smart units in manufacturing are now able to absorb the intelligence, which has been already displayed in distributed industrial automation, for implementations in comprehensive industrial manufacturing contexts. An adequate framework to capture all aspects has to consist of a set of interacting formal models that include both, the real manufacturing objects as well as their virtualisations.