Drilling down on Smart Manufacturing -- Enabling Composable Apps

Area of Science:

• Manufacturing Technology
• Industrial Engineering
• Systems Engineering

Background:

• Smart Manufacturing (SM) envisions unbundled services as flexible, cost-effective applications.
• Integrating heterogeneous manufacturing apps into composable systems presents significant challenges.
• Existing technology and standards efforts partially address this vision, with gaps remaining.

Purpose of the Study:

• To advance science and engineering for composable Smart Manufacturing systems.
• To identify and discuss technical and standards-based solutions for integrating manufacturing apps.
• To report on the outcomes of the NIST workshop on Enabling Composable Apps.

Main Methods:

• The study is based on a workshop hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
• The workshop convened industry and academic experts to discuss challenges and solutions.
• The paper summarizes topics covered and key outcomes from the workshop discussions.

Main Results:

• The workshop identified key technical and standards-based challenges in creating composable SM systems.
• Discussions highlighted areas where solutions are needed but not yet developed.
• Collaboration between industry and academia is crucial for advancing composable manufacturing.

Conclusions:

• Achieving composable Smart Manufacturing requires coordinated efforts in technology and standards development.
• Further research and development are necessary to address identified gaps.
• The workshop served as a catalyst for addressing the integration of heterogeneous manufacturing services.