A computer architecture for small-batch manufacturing: Industry will profit from a system that defines the functions of its component-manufacturing modules and standardizes their interfaces

The advent of fully automated, integrated small-hatch manufacturing control systems has been slowed by several problems: the systems are complex, their development is costly, and the technology is not yet mature. But even more of a hindrance has been the lack of a standard manufacturing systems architecture. A standard architecture reduces the overall system complexity by focusing on one subsystem at a time, defining component modules and their interfaces. Such an architecture would allow users to build systems in increments and to buy the increments from competing vendors. Such a scheme is under study at a National Bureau of Standards (NBS) facility in Gaithersburg, Md.