Semantic Structuring of Elements and Capabilities in Ultra-flexible Factories

Abstract The capabilities of a cyber-physical production system are determined by their physical and virtual elements and their interaction. The interaction between virtual and physical entities must be precisely defined, and it is therefore necessary to develop capability models and requirements that enable self-reconfiguration of different elements and their relationships. Furthermore, an ultra-flexible production system requires communication and analysis of huge amounts of data as well as flexible, near-real-time communication between elements. This paper discusses and describes the functional and technical requirements of an ultra-flexible factory and presents an approach to the semantic structuring of elements and capabilities.