Agent-based approach for manufacturing integration: The ciimplex experience
Yun Peng, Tim Finin, Yannis Labrou, R. Scott Cost, B. Chu, Jenesis Rose Long, William J. Tolone, Akram Boughannam · Applied Artificial Intelligence · 1999
The production management system used by most manufacturers today consists of disconnected planning and execution processes and lacks the support for interoperability and collaboration needed for enterprise-wide integration. This situation often prevents the manufacturer from fully exploring market opportunities in a timely fashion. To address this problem, we are exploring an agent-based approach to intelligent enterprise integration. In this approach, a set of agents with specialized expertise can be quickly assembled to help with the gathering of relevant information and knowledge, to cooperate with each other and with other parts of the production management system and humans to arrive at timely decisions in dealing with various enterprise scenarios. The proposed multiagent system, including its architecture and implementation, is presented and demonstrated through an example integration scenario involving real planning and execution software systems.