Dynamic cross-functional factory-to-business links in the batch industry

Publisher Summary The lack of a cross-functional factory-to-business link between the shop floor and the necessary supply chain relation to e-business creates a gap. To bridge this gap, a web-business-plant route is developed in a pilot plant using the TicTacToe sequencing algorithm. A web-based order management system is created to generate optimal plans taking into account the factory logistic status and detailed information of the real plant through a fault diagnosis system (FDS) with rescheduling capabilities. A simple strategy for a web-business-plant connection between the shop floor and a sequence optimizer in a multiproduct batch plant is presented. When a new plan is developed to fulfill the customer orders received through the web, it is considered the actual status of the ongoing plan, which also includes the FDS amendment actions taken into account at previous time. This allows realistic and efficient plant performances to support the dynamics of the manufacturing market. Real-time optimization (RTO) problems and integrated systems are waiting for and must foster improved solutions to old, complex, and unsolved problems. New approaches with trade-off scopes must be developed to fill the gap between technology and science.