An integrated and adaptive decision-support framework for high-tech manufacturing and service networks

This article gives an update on a major international collaborative project under the integrated manufacturing and service systems initiative pursued by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research in Singapore. The objective of the project is to investigate how design, analysis, enhancement and implementation of critical business processes in a manufacturing and service network can be realized using one single simulation/application framework. The overall architecture of the framework outlines how commercial simulation packages and web service-based business process application components can be connected through a commercial application framework to achieve maximum leverage and re-usability of the application components involved. The project also addresses research issues with regard to mechanisms for interoperation between commercial simulation packages, symbiotic interaction between simulation-based decision support components and physical systems, and simulation speed-up through multi-objective optimal computing budget allocation techniques on a grid/cluster infrastructure.