A multimedia communication framework for the selection of collaborative partners in global manufacturing

Nowadays multimedia technology can develop all kinds of signals (i.e. sound, text, pictures, moving graphics, videos, etc) that can be transported from one place to another via a computer network. There is no doubt that multimedia technology can offer the global manufacturing enterprise a very powerful means to communicate with worldwide manufacturing partners. However, the utilization of multimedia communication does not always improve the effectiveness of collaboration among the manufacturing partners. It is, therefore, very important for a global manufacturing enterprise to ensure that the developed multimedia communication system can provide a tangible improvement to global manufacturing, rather than further complicating it. This paper proposes a collaborative framework to deal with multimedia communications, which can simplify the enterprise's collaboration in an effective manner. The focus of this framework is on a key area, that of the global manufacturing partner's selection. The proposed framework is generated from the CIM-OSA (Open System Architecture for CIM) approach and modelling. It is constructed and operated using the principles of communication, collaboration and coordination for global manufacturing, in conjunction with an object-oriented paradigm. The paper will particularly address information access difficulties, framework modelling and the collaboration of information flow.