Adaptive manufacturing systems Workshop

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How to avoid adaptivity to lead to complexcity

• Adaptive manufacturing systems Workshop

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Manufacturing in europe is at crossroads

• Globalisation has pushed us against the wall ---
  there is a need for new manufacturing paradigm
• Organisational tenets have proved to be helpfull
  in gaining production flexibility, but that is
  not enough
• We have to be able to produce cheaper and faster
  but at the same time be ready to adapt to volume
  fluctuations and new part families

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Automation is the answer

• Labor cost saving is generally regarded to be the
  driving force towards automation, but there are
  other established advantadges
• Software systems are faster and more effective in
  finding optimal solutions to complex problems
• Automation system can be designed to change
  manufacturing strategy from reactive mode to
  planning mode
• Automation system can comprise proactive elements
  for example expert system for preventive
  maintenance
• There are however new requirements !

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What if

• totally new part family replaces the present
  production within short timeframe
• production volume decreases/inreases
  permanently
• some production systems become obsolete or
  redundant because of outsourcing
• Systems have to adapt also to these scenarios, in
  other words, manufacturing systems have to be
  reconfigurable !

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Support for reconfigurability necessitates

• Established interface standards for both
  software components and mechanical components
• Embedded intelligence to enable plug-and play
  configuration

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But what happens to software

• If all these requirements are summed up, the
  result is massive and complex software system
  that is not applicable in industrial environment
  because of its cost
• Project cost is too high because of multitude of
  various skills needed and the total amount of
  software work
• Maintenance is expensive as modifications require
  special skills

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New software technologies

• There are some promising technologies to tackle
  these problems
• Multi agent systems instead of monolithic
  software
• Intelligent agents --plug and play components and
  devices
• SOA communication software platform to
  facilitate integration

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Mastering of complexity

• Common to these technologies is that they tend to
  master complexity using new methods in order to
  reduce the software cost
• Intensive use of configuration data in machine
  readable form (XML)
• Intensive use of object frameworks to speed up
  application development
• Application behavior designated in rule-bases
  that can be modified on-line
• Intelligence and learning by using ontologies or
  other related technologies

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Still complexity is embedded somewhere

• The key question is how to enable nonexperts i.e
  process engineers and automation system users to
• Modify automation systems through reconfiguration
  tools
• Change automation system behaviour through
  on-line settings
• In other words how to make complex systems
  uncomplex to users
• All system mofdifications need to be possible
  using tools, methods and concepts that are
  familiar to users
• Abstraction level as low as possible users
  identify only concrete entities

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Conclusion

• Flexible and adaptive automation is the key for
  continuity of manufacturing in Europe
• Automation systems have to be easy to use and
  open for user based reconfiguration and settings
  this is a prerequisite for rapid dissemination
  of automation

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Jani Granholm Email jani.granholm_at_fastems.com Tel
. 35832685111