On Holonic Manufacturing Systems Design and Implementation

Some results of an on-going research on Holonic Manufacturing Systems are presented. This field refers a collection of methods and techniques seeking to enhance the performance of the manufacturing systems control. The considered approach is derived from a holonic reference model, namely PROSA architecture. Certain additional elements are proposed for the respective method, especially regarding the coordination and implementation issues. Some possibilities to obtain a better management of a distributed manufacturing system are discussed and the appropriate communication mechanism is sketched. A software implementation option that is offered by a specialized agent programming environment is illustrated.