Collaborative production using dynamic manufacturing networks for SME's

Frequently, in order to remain competitive with big corporations, small companies have the need to be more dynamic, adapt to new business situations, react faster, and therefore survive in today's global economy. To achieve that, SMEs normally seek to create consortiums, thus gaining access to new and more opportunities. However, this strategy may also result in different complications. One way to support this situations to enable the development of dynamic manufacturing networks through the use of common collaboration platforms. With them, SMEs can be supported in the choice of partners, and specific technical enablers provided to prevent difficulties such as interoperability issues. Software or domain adaptors are therefore proposed as the conceptual “glue” that allow companies to share their information with the platform, avoiding interoperability problems. This paper customizes and validates a platform that support the DMN creation (the IMAGINE i-platform (www.imagine-futurefactory.eu), while using service interoperability and knowledge alignment concepts to specify and describe the specific adapters required for different industrial domains.