Information systems for manufacturing often follow a three-layer architecture based on an enterprise resource planning (ERP) layer (for order planning), a manufacturing execution system (MES) layer (for factory control), and a shop floor layer (for machine control). Future requirements on flexibility and adaptability require a much closer integration of ERP systems with the manufacturing floor. To achieve this integration, an MES often pushes customer orders to the manufacturing floor in a flexible manner. Moreover, a large amount of shop floor data needs to be filtered and fed into...

Information systems for manufacturing often follow a three-layer architecture based on an enterprise resource planning (ERP) layer (for order planning), a manufacturing execution system (MES) layer (for factory control), and a shop floor layer (for machine control). Future requirements on flexibility and adaptability require a much closer integration of ERP systems with the manufacturing floor. To achieve this integration, an MES often pushes customer orders to the manufacturing floor in a flexible manner. Moreover, a large amount of shop floor data needs to be filtered and fed into...