Abstract
HMS (Holonic Manufacturing System) is a distributed manufacturing system that consists of autonomous and cooperative manufacturing elements called holons. Individual holons share roles so that they can exhibit their maximum capability through the cooperation among themselves without being constrained by centralized mechanisms. This paper proposes manufacturing holons in HMS and cooperation mechanisms among them. Although the mechanisms cover only small parts of manufacturing activities, variety of combinations that is provided by holons has shown the feasibility for achieving highly adaptive manufacturing systems. These are results of HMS project in IMS (Intelligent Manufacturing System) program.
