In this paper, we present a Workflow environment allowing distributed simulation based on DEVS / G-DEVS formalisms. A description language for Workflow processes and an automatic transformation of a Workflow into a G-DEVS model have been defined. Then, we introduce a new distributed Workflow Reference Model with HLA-compliant Workflow components. We detail the HLA objects shared between Workflow federates and we present the publishing/subscribing status of each of these federates. Finally, we illustrate the use of this distributed environment with an example of a Microelectronic production Workflow.
Industry 4.0" is recognized as the future of industrial production in which concepts as Smart Factory and Decentralized Decision Making are fundamental. This paper proposes a novel strategy to support decentralized decision, whilst identifying opportunities and challenges of Industry 4.0 contextualizing the potential that represents industrial digitalization and how technological advances can contribute for a new perspective on manufacturing production. It is analysed a set of barriers to the full implementation of Industry 4.0 vision, identifying areas in which decision support is vital. Then, for each of the identified areas, the authors propose a strategy, characterizing it together with the level of complexity that is involved in the different processes. The strategies proposed are derived from the needs of two of Industry 4.0 main characteristics: horizontal integration and vertical integration. For each case, decision approaches are proposed concerning the type of decision required (strategic, tactical, operational and real-time). Validation results are provided together with a discussion on the main challenges that might be an obstacle for a successful decision strategy.
International audienceIn a turbulent world, global competition and the uncertainty of markets have led organizations and technology to evolve exponentially, surpassing the most imaginary scenarios predicted at the beginning of the digital manufacturing era, in the 1980's. Business paradigms have changed from a standalone vision into complex and collaborative ecosystems where enterprises break down organizational barriers to improve synergies with others and become more competitive. In this context, paired with networking and enterprise integration, enterprise information systems (EIS) interoperability gained utmost importance, ensuring an increasing productivity and efficiency thanks to a promise of more automated information exchange in networked enterprises scenarios. However, EIS are also becoming more dynamic. Interfaces that are valid today are outdated tomorrow, thus static interoperability enablers and communication software services are no longer the solution for the future. This paper is focused on the challenge of sustaining networked EIS interoperability, and takes up input from solid research initiatives in the areas of knowledge management and model driven development, to propose and discuss several research strategies and technological trends towards next EIS generation
Enterprise businesses are more than ever challenged by competitors that frequently refine and tailor their offers to clients. In this context, enterprise information systems (EIS) are especially important because: (1) they remain one of the last levers to increase the performance and competitiveness of the enterprise, (2) we operate in a business world where the product itself has reached a limit of performance and quality due to uniform capacity of industrial tools in a globalized economy and (3) the EIS can increase the product value thanks to additional digital services (built on data associated to the product) in order to meet and fit better client's needs. However, the use of EISs reaches a limit in collaborative environments because enterprises management methods diverge and EISs are mainly inflexible resource packages that are not built with an interoperability objective. Consequently, we need to make EISs interoperable in order to achieve the needed gains competitiveness and performance. This paper contribution can be summarized as follows: (1) it relates existing work and it examines barriers that, at the moment, are preventing further improvements due to current methodological and technological limits, and (2) it proposes a conceptual framework and five challenges that model based approaches must overcome to achieve interoperability between EIS in the near and long term.
. A model-driven approach to multidisciplinary collaborative simulation for virtual product development. Advanced Engineering Informatics, Elsevier, 2010, 24 (2) Abstract:The design and development of complex artifacts and systems is shifting towards a distributed and collaborative paradigm. The simulation environments for such a paradigm, therefore, need to take into account the cooperation between design teams, i.e. supporting multidisciplinary simulation in a distributed environment. However, current simulation tools cannot fulfil this requirement as they have been developed to solve the specific problems from different disciplines. Although it's already possible to per-form multidisciplinary simulations by using several tools together, it is very difficult to implement it when these tools are distributed on the Internet. A solution which can support the integration of distributed simulation models at run-time is presented, involving a computational infrastructure and a high-level modelling approach. Specifically, the infrastructure is constructed by a novel combination of two distributed computing techniques to implement the synchronization of distributed models, as well as to ensure the interoperability at run-time. In addition, a model-driven approach is developed to bridge the high-level model of a simulation system and the infrastructure which implements this model. The solution is evaluated by making a comparison with other approaches, as well as by developing a prototype tool. It's shown in the evaluation that (1) it is viable to develop multidisciplinary simulations in a distributed environment using this solution; (2) the model-driven approach allows designers to focus only on the high-level structure of a design without getting concerned with the details of the infrastructure.
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