Integrated Operations Management for Distributed Manufacturing

Abstract

In traditional manufacturing operations management systems, the four pillars of ISA-95 (production, quality, maintenance, inventory) are each implemented as separate software systems. Each system independently manages its own data, operational decision-making, and resources. If the heterogeneous data from these disparate systems could be successfully integrated, manufacturing operations could be greatly improved by allowing decisions related to these systems to be made quicker, closer to the factory floor, and with a better contextualization of the connected systems. This paper describes some requirements and associated research challenges for balancing two objectives driving integrated operations management for distributed manufacturing: (1) integrating heterogeneous data and related decisions to enable better informed decision-making, and (2) making and executing operational decisions closer to data sources and control actuation. This second objective enables systems to react faster, while also reflecting the realities of distributed enterprises. The research goal is to develop and standardize model-based approaches to design, decision-support, and execution of operations management functions. The functions focused on in this paper include operational control, reliability management, and maintenance activities.