A Simulation Architecture for Manufacturing Interoperability Testing
Charles McLean, Sanjay Jain, Frank Riddick and Tina Lee
Summer Computer Simulation Conference 2007 (SCSC 2007)
San Diego, California (USA), July 15-18, 2007
Abstract
Manufacturing systems are often costly to develop and operate. Simulation technology has been demonstrated to be an effective tool for improving the efficiency of manufacturing system design, operation, and maintenance. But manufacturing simulations are usually developed to address a narrow set of industrial issues, e.g., the purchase of new equipment or the modification of a manufacturing process. Once the analysis is complete a particular simulation model may not be used again. If simulations could be made more modular and easily integrated, they could have tremendous value as tools for manufacturing interoperability testing. This paper presents a modular reference architecture to facilitate the integration of manufacturing simulation systems with other support and testing applications. Opportunities for testing are also discussed that will be enabled by the implementation of the architecture.