A Virtual Factory Approach for Design and Implementation of Agile Manufacturing Systems

Worldwide competition among manufacturing enterprises has acted as a driving force for the
design, development and utilization of manufacturing systems with an increased degree of
agility. In these regards, Holonic Manufacturing Systems (HMS) are considered an intelligent
systems paradigm to meet requirements for agile manufacturing systems. Despite all advantages
of HMS, design and implementation of such control systems for real industrial cases is time
consuming and requires risky, but careful consideration. While some universities may be able to
expose their students to the latest manufacturing systems and technologies, others may not be
that fortunate due to the lack of financial resources. Because of this, alternative ways for
providing their students with equivalent education and training need to be developed. A potential
solution for this issue is the adoption of advanced computer technology to facilitate the provision
of flexible manufacturing-related education and training programs. To date, many studies have
shown that the use of computers for teaching and training purposes is feasible and rapidly
becoming an integral part of the general learning process. This paper presents a Virtual Reality
(VR) system tool “VR-HMS” developed for training on design of holonic manufacturing control
systems to enhance the development process. The proposed VR system is a safe approach to
teaching the operations of HMS, which is well known as a large-scale and complex systems for a
number of operational and structural reasons. The VR-HMS allows trainees to self-experience on
these systems without the need to work in actual industry.