Method for the development of Software-Defined Manufacturing equipment
提出一种开发软件定义制造设备的方法，通过虚拟化生产机器关键功能来提升自动化生产的适应性，解决标准化与个性化之间的冲突，并用实际案例验证其有效性。
Customer demands force manufacturing companies to offer individualised products to remain competitive. This results in a demand for flexibility and adaptability in product development and production, which causes a rise in complexity. Simultaneously, manufacturers strive to further automatise production and assembly lines to increase cost efficiency and optimise output. This leads to a conflict of interest between two different approaches, ‘streamlined and cost-efficient’ or ‘individualised and costly’. Software-Defined Manufacturing (SDM) is a new approach that seeks to reconcile these diametrical goals by increasing the adaptability of automated manufacturing. This is achieved by virtualising key functionalities of production machines, which permit the configuration of system functionality via software. With current production equipment, this is difficult, because it was designed for a specific process and because there is no meaningful separation between the executing physical part of the machine and the controlling software. This article presents a new method for the development of SDM-ready production machines and processes. The application of the method on a production use-case demonstrates its usefulness in the improvement of existing production facilities and processes. It further addresses the wider trend of Software-Defined Anything (SDx) and outlines the role SDM could play on the pathway towards autonomous manufacturing.