A Web-based Holonic Inventory Management System for Tool and Die Workshop Operations

Raw material inventory is a major element of the working capital of many organizations. Hence its proper control is crucial for the profitability of the organization and development of surrounding communities. The sudden unavailability of raw material inventory for production can be a great operational disturbance which results in delivery delays, customer dissatisfaction and loss of market share. The paper presents a Holonic Inventory Management System for managing raw materials utilized by Tool and Die workshops forming an industrial cluster in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The proposed architecture consists of five autonomous holons which are utilized to analyze the inventory levels, select the optimum inventory model for replenishing stocks and analyze suppliers’ quotes for those raw materials thus establishing the best policy for replenishing stocks from the best suppliers in a distributed manufacturing environment. The holons communicate with each other via eXtensible Mark-up Language (XML). Results of a valid simulation model established the efficacy of the system.