Presentation of a novel real-time production supply concept with cyber-physical systems and efficiency validation by process status indicators

Abstract

Industry 4.0, digitization, and Internet of Things enable companies to react quickly and flexibly to market changes. The objective is the production of customized products at the cost of a mass-produced product. The widespread entry of cyber-physical systems enables a networking of all entities. The introduction of cyber-physical systems in production and logistic systems dissolves existing rigid structures and as a result versatile cyber-physical production systems occur. To support the flexibility of the cyber-physical production systems, the production supply needs to be adapted. For this reason, this paper proposes a novel universal production supply concept. This concept introduces a decentralized controlled supply. It is executed by several cyber-physical system entities, which are represented by software agents. These agents negotiate autonomously with each other. The novel concept was implemented in a research lab and evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively. For the quantitative evaluation, the efficiency of the novel concept is evaluated and compared with a kanban supply. An innovative key performance indicator system called process status indicators evaluates the efficiency. The result of this indicator system states that the novel concept is more efficient than the kanban supply.