Enhancement of distributed production systems through software agents

Much work is in progress in order to improve acceptability, effectiveness and service of modern production systems. This is particularly true when ecology and the new e-business constraints are considered. Within this framework, the use of software agents in factory automation is a rather new topic. We present the EC-funded PABADIS project, which aims at employing partially mobile software agents to facilitate production planning and eliminate constraints of the traditional centralized approach. To this end, actual production units need to be equipped with appropriate agent platforms, which in turn must have access to a control device to allow for vertical integration. We discuss design options for these interconnections, which effectively have gateway functionality. The still ongoing project is expected to contribute to meeting the requirements of the next generation of production systems.