
16-1
16.1 Introduction
e conventional centralized, rigid information systems cannot serve the demands of modern (manu-
facturing)
industry
adequately
any
longer.
In
order
to
stay
competitive,
industry
needs
to
be
highly
exible,
with
shorter
job
sizes,
variable
product
portfolios,
and
always
changing
shop
oors.
Although
centralized
approaches
can
in
the
meantime
provide
highly
sophisticated
and
ecient
scheduling
solu-
tions,
the
requirements
imposed
by
novel
manufacturing
trends
renders
centralized
control
systems
more
and mor
e
unf
easible
(cf
.
[8]
).
Against
this
background,
multi-agent
based
industrial
information
systems
seem
to
be
a
promisi ...