A novel fluid architecture for cyber-physical production systems

Cloud computing has revolutionised the conceptualisation of IT environments in most fields of the economy. Nevertheless, it still requires adequate pre-requisites both in the business strategy and the computational architecture to be adopted successfully and profitably. This is especially true in the context of manufacturing where production services are very sensitive with respect to their distribution and localisation within the boundaries of the computing constellation. The paper aims at clarifying the concept and the application of Fluid Computing in Cyber-Physical Productions Systems, connecting the idea of computational sedimentation to the novel Fluid Manufacturing Architecture (FMA). The FMA encompasses the computing layers of cloud, fog, edge and mist, and extends them with a new one called Dew. The Dew represents the entry point where manufacturing legacy devices are converted into network-able, embedded components for the distributed production scenarios of Industry 4.0. The application of the FMA in a pilot factory has been investigated. The preliminary results of an agent-based simulation case-study for collaborative manufacturing services within the FMA are finally presented.