Process Specification Framework in a Service Oriented Holonic Manufacturing Systems

Holonic and service-oriented architectures have been proposed as solutions for the conception of flexible and reactive systems. Flexibility being one of their main objectives depends greatly on the way information is presented to the system which can limit the flexibility of strategies at higher levels, as in process planning and reconfiguration. Although many works propose the use of services, none have been found describing what services stands for in a manufacturing context to form manufacturing processes. This paper proposes a methodology for designing manufacturing-process specifications based on manufacturing-services suitable for product driven applications that welcomes product customization. Conceptual models for processes and services are proposed in this work designed to preserve the fractal characteristics and facilitate service reutilization. Such models form part of the specification framework that will serve as a reference for the design and conception of manufacturing processes and services in Service-oriented Holonic Manufacturing Systems.