Remote renewal by aggregating real and virtual models in manufacturing systems

In this paper, a new remote renewal method in manufacturing systems is proposed. In order to support renewal effectively the method includes not only the feedforward structure of planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance, but also the feed-back information about know-how and experiences of field operations. The method assumes a virtual enterprise environment which accounts for and unities both manufacturing and design even though they typically operate remotely. The method supports gathering and categorizing data such as signals from equipment, trouble information, quality management information, operators' know-how and other information. A demonstration, based on actual field-gathered data and its associated renewal activities, verified the feasibility of the renewal-centered method.