Enabling Manufacturing Research through Interoperability

Interoperability standards, which provide standardized communication and information exchange between machine tools and components, are necessary to bring together the many advances of the manufacturing community and fully address the challenges facing industry. Such a comprehensive approach is necessary due to the growing complexity in manufacturing and the shrinking time scale of manufacturing decision-making. In this paper we discuss the benefits of interoperability in different aspects of manufacturing research including process monitoring, CAD/CAM/CAPP, and flexible and reconfigurable manufacturing systems, as well as the advantages of interoperable systems in fulfilling the growth of sustainability and environmental requirements in manufacturing