Production Resource Search Using the Viral Phenomenon: Concept Introduction

A significant challenge in a distributed production organisation is finding suitable production resources. In this study, we develop the concept of a production resource search system that can be used to organise a distributed manufacturing system in a global environment.The system is based on internet technologies and autonomous work systems, which are the building blocks of a dynamically orga nised production system. These building blocks encapsulate functionalities and competencies of management and manufacturing operations and an autonomous information system that supports autonomous decision-making and cooperation within the network. The developed search system thus focuses on finding suitable autonomous work systems. The internet viral phenomenon is used to automatically extend the search domain and exploit internet real-time capabilities. Thus, the search domain is not limited by a searcher's knowledge about it.An offer for the production of a product is directly sent to only a few potential work systems, which automatically pass it to related work systems. Thus, the offer is distributed rapidly and effortlessly throughout the network. Work systems benefit from such a system by always being informed about all the offers. The individual work systems automatically match the offer to their capabilities and respond with a bid to the production initiator (the searcher). The production initiator obtains real-time information about the state of the production world relative to the proposed product. The production initiator uses this information to make a rational decision about which resources to use.