An agent-supported simulation architecture for manufacturing systems.

The manufacturing field is an area where the application of simulation is an essential tool to validate methods and architectures before applying them on the factory floor. Despite the great number of simulation tools that are available, most of them do not take into account the specific requirements for the "new manufacturing era". However, Multiagent System technology has demonstrated its utility in manufacturing system modeling and implementation. Agenthood features such as proactivity, reactivity, and sociability may also be useful to associate them with the specific simulation needs of the new manufacturing requirements. In this paper, we present an Agent-Based approach to define a Simulation Architecture in order to build an Agent-Supported Simulation Tool for Manufacturing Systems. The different roles that will be played by agents are defined taking into account the specific manufacturing simulation requirements. The interaction scenarios are specified to facilitate manufacturing simulation in an appropriate and flexible way.