Modular distributed manufacturing systems and the implications for integrated control

Driven by the need for more responsive manufacturing processes and as a consequence of increasing complexity in products and production systems, this short paper introduces a number of developments in the area of modular, distributed manufacturing systems. Requirements for the development of such systems are addressed and, in particular, the relevance to current and future integrated control systems is examined. One of the key issues for integrated control systems in the future is the need to provide support for distributed decision-making in addition to existing distributed control capabilities. Modularity is typically introduced into a manufacturing operation to increase the flexibility of the operation both in terms of its range of functions and also its ability to be easily reconfigured in the face of changing conditions. Modularity almost always also leads to a distribution of functionality (not necessarily a physical distribution), and this paper examines the role of these two properties in the design and operation of manufacturing production units.