Int. J. Production Economics 74 (2001) 239}259

A network approach to operate agile manufacturing systems

Jean-Marc Frayret��*��, Sophie D'Amours�, Benoit Montreuil�, Louis Cloutier���

�CENTOR, Network Organization Technology Research Center, Universite& Laval, Ste-Foy, Laval, Que& ., Canada G1K 7P4�APG Solutions and Technologies, 70 rue Dalhousie, suite 320, Que& ., Canada G1K 4B2

Abstract

This paper presents and illustrates a strategic framework for designing and operating agile networked manufacturingsystems. This framework allows to collaboratively plan, control and manage day-to-day operations and contingencies ina dynamic environment. The "rst section summarizes the NetMan organizational and collaboration strategy. It consistsof a dynamic business method to organize and operate manufacturing activities through the con"guration, activationand operation of a distributed network of inter-dependent and responsible manufacturing centers. Next, the conceptsunderlying this strategic framework as well as the technical implications of such an approach, are illustrated, usinga detailed case study inspired by a motorcoach industrial partner. � 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Networked manufacturing; Collaborative manufacturing; Complex product assembly; Agile manufacturing systems;Distributed planning and control; Contingency management; Multi-agent systems

1. Introduction

In this paper, the NetMan� project is presented.NetMan aims to develop an operation system de-signed to support operations in an agile manufac-turing network. It provides a framework to designresponsibility-based networked manufacturing sys-tems. The NetMan project also illustrates a collab-orative business framework designed to operate

*Corresponding author. Tel.: #1-418-656-2131 (ext. 12481);fax: #1-418-656-7746.E-mail address: jm.frayret@centor.ulaval.ca (J.-M. Frayret).�Also at Janine Albert, Bureau 2674, Pavillon Palasis Prince,

UniversiteH Laval, Laval, QueH . Canada G1K 7P4.�The NetMan project is being funded by the Manufacturing

and Processing Technology Strategic Grant Program of theNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)of Canada, and supported by the companies PreH vost Car inc.From the Volvo Group and APG Solutions & Technologies Inc.

agile manufacturing networks in a dynamic envi-ronment. This paper delves further into this aspect.In the "rst section, the main concepts of the Net-Man strategic framework are summarized, buildingon previous studies that have in#uenced the de-velopment of this approach. Thus, the concepts ofNetMan centers and NetMan networks are intro-duced and compared to other distributed manu-facturing approaches such as bionic, fractal andholonic manufacturing systems. Then, the genericand speci"c aspects of collaboration underlyingthis approach as well as the multi-agent integrationplatform approach that is implemented in an agent-oriented prototype, are described,. The next sectionintroduces the NetMan Operation System prin-ciples through the intensive use of a case study,inspired by the project's industrial partner PreH vostCar from the Volvo Group. The implementation ofbusiness collaboration mechanisms into an operat-ing manufacturing network are then discussed.

0925-5273/01/$ - see front matter � 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.PII: S 0 9 2 5 - 5 2 7 3 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 1 3 0 - X

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2. The NetMan strategic framework

The structure of network organizations is di!er-ent from both the traditional integrated and hier-archical organizations and the pure market form.They are traditionally described as hybrid forms,lying between the previous two (e.g., [1}3]). Thiskind of organizations has been widely discussed inthe management literature (e.g., [1,2,4}15]). Insteadof dividing the organization into functional respon-sibilities and re-integrating them implementing hi-erarchical relationships between the di!erent levelsof responsibility, the network approach builds theorganization in a di!erent way. Forrester [16,17]suggested some new ideas for new types of organ-ization design. These ideas are moving towardmore `democratica forms of organization, `movingaway from authoritarian controla. Along the sameline, organizational governance structures based onthe internal market paradigm and describing theorganizations as a set of distributed and auton-omous business units have also been discussed (e.g.,[18}20]).In the manufacturing systems' literature, many

authors present their work on future manufactur-ing system approaches whose basic foundationsalso underlie the NetMan approach. These manu-facturing systems, all based on the distribution ofautonomous units, concern the bionic manufactur-ing (e.g., [21}23]), the fractal factory (e.g., [24,25]),and the holonic manufacturing (e.g., [26}30]).These manufacturing concepts are compared ina study carried out by Tharumarajah et al. [31].This study is used in this paper as a reference tocompare the NetMan concepts with these ap-proaches.The NetMan strategic approach extends these

works. The next sections present the main conceptsof the NetMan approach. However, the reader isreferred to Montreuil et al. [32] and Frayret et al.[33,34] for more information on the NetMan stra-tegic framework.In the NetMan approach, from a design point of

view, a manufacturing business dynamically organ-izes its operations through the con"guration andactivation of a distributed network of inter-depen-dent business entities, called NetMan centers, re-sponsible for ful"lling their own mission and

maintaining business-oriented partnerships be-tween themselves. Following, the nature and thebehavior of the NetMan centers are summarized inthe next section. Then, the dynamic modeling ap-proach used to design the NetMan networks isdescribed. Finally, the NetMan collaboration strat-egy is presented.

2.1. The NetMan centers

Each of the NetMan centers involved in a Net-Man business networkmay be an external business,or an internal center. In both cases it is designedaccording to a business responsibility that speci"esprecisely its own precise mission agreed upon withthe parent business. This mission is expressed interms of a set of responsibilities, as proposed byMontreuil and Lefrancois [35]. Each responsibilityis de"ned in terms of satisfying some speci"c set ofneeds of the center's clients (in general from thecenter's interactors). Within the scope of its re-sponsibility, each NetMan center is self-managedand relies upon other NetMan center partners toful"ll its mission. To do so, it is responsible formaking its own strategic, tactical and operationaldecisions, in interaction with its parent center(s),and especially for ful"lling its commitments. Thus,the NetMan centers constitute the fundamentalcomponents of the responsibility network andcontribute to the overall business mission. TheNetMan centers share key characteristics that areexpressed in Table 1. In this context, a NetMancenter may rely on di!erent strategies to achieve itsmission. According to its capacity and privileges, itmay ful"ll its mission using four distinct ap-proaches (see Fig. 1). First, it may use its businessrelationships with actual internal or external part-ners, or adapt those relationships to new require-ments due to environmental changes or new overallor local objectives. Second, it may de"ne new busi-ness relationships with existing NetMan centers ornew external businesses, and use them. Third, itmay exploit its own internal set of resources (dataprocessing capabilities and or physical assets).Then fourth, it may have the privilege of creatingand own new NetMan centers and de"ne businessrelationships with them, and use these relation-ships. These four approaches allow the partner

240 J.-M. Frayret et al. / Int. J. Production Economics 74 (2001) 239}259

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