Agent-based modeling and management of manufacturing systems

Since a decade or so, various innovative proposals for modeling and management of manufacturing systems have been presented in academic literature. Among these, the agent-based approach has had quite an important role, even though few industrial implementations have been reported. This paper discusses the utilization of 'agents' in manufacturing systems by reviewing existing academic contributions, also in the light of industrial needs. Nine main features which characterize agent-based approaches are identified and illustrated, so that a few relevant contributions presented in literature may be classified by comparing them against these features. This discussion allows to arise a number of topics to be added to the research agenda in the field. In the end, research work being carried out at the author's institution will briefly be presented. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.