Issues on the architecture of an integrated general-purpose ShopFloor control software system

The software necessary to carry out integrated control over individual shopfloor components has not been commercially available up to the present. Although some subjects of shopfloor control (SFC), such as production scheduling and shopfloor monitoring, have been extensively studied and matured solutions are now available. Rapid generation of SFC software for integrated control of shopfloors remains a challenge. In this paper, the design principles of an integrated software framework for SFC, for the purpose of facilitating integration and implementation of SFC for any specific shopfloor manufacturing system, is discussed. Keys to our integrated software framework are the use of open architecture; the creation of ontology for shopfloor and the normalisation of shopfloor control activities; and the application of agent concept and a hybrid control architecture. © 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.