Holonic Manufacturing Systems in Continuous Processing: Concepts and Control Requirements

Holonic manufacturing refers to a modular approach to constructing and operating a manufacturing process whereby individual production units have the properties of autonomy and co-operation. This paper examines some key ideas behind holonic manufacturing in the particular context of continuous production processes. The main objectives of the paper are: (1) To review the status of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) and use this as a basis to introduce some of the main rationale, functions and purpose for holonic manufacturing. It will be demonstrated that holonic manufacturing is a methodology equally applicable to continuous and discrete process domains. (2) To demonstrate a unifying framework for control and diagnosis problems at all levels of a production environment which can be used in a holonic manufacturing model. (3) To illustrate these control and diagnosis approaches in the context of a steel mill cooling control problem. (4) To outline a number of outstanding research issues associated with holonic manufacturing systems