Foundations & Principles of Distributed Manufacturing

Hermann Kühnle joined the Otto-von-Guericke-University of Magdeburg as a Full University Professor for “Factory Operations and Production Systems” and Executive Director of the Institute for „Ergonomics, Manufacturing Systems and Automation in 1994. From 1994 to 2001 he also was Foundation- and Executive Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF, Magdeburg.Since 1995, Prof. Dr. Kühnle is the speaker of the research field "Advanced Production systems in Saxony-Anhalt" and board member of several companies and venture capital groups. From 1980 to 1994 he worked for Fraunhofer Institute for Production Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart, on Material Flow Planning, Enterprise Planning and Organisation, Computer Integrated Manufacturing, since 1991 as Research Director and Head of the division Enterprise Planning and Control“ where he was in charge of the Management of a number of international, national and regional research programmes and projects as well as research implementation projects with leading national and international companies. He is author of numerous editions, publications, lectures notes and congress contributions.Günter Bitsch is the founder and CEO of the software provider and consultancy unit becos GmbH in Stuttgart, Germany, which successfully promotes and implements cutting-edge production planning and control software solutions in specialised sectors of sheet metal and metal processing fabrication. His expertise includes all organisational backgrounds tightly linked to software implementation solutions and all related qualification and coaching subjects as well. Since more than two decades he is known as a leading expert for MES and scheduling solutions in world-class companies. Moreover, he is engaged in academic work, especially with theoretical studies in the coaching field. Important milestones have been published in a numberof books and research papers. In 2010 he was promoted as a Ph.D. at the University of Siegen. Since 2013 he teaches at Reutlingen University as a honorary professor on the field of Manufacturing Execution Systems and Production Planning and Control.

• Introduction.- Description of the Working Field.- Theory Building Approach.- Process Models and Networks’ Analysis.- Smart Manufacturing Units.- Networking Tools and Information Models.- Conclusions and Outlook.