Emulation in Manufacturing Engineering Processes

Proceedings of the 2008 Winter Simulation Conference S. J. Mason, R. R. Hill, L. Mönch, O. Rose, T. Jefferson, J. W. Fowler eds.

EMULATION IN MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING PROCESSES

Hironori Hibino Yoshiro Fukuda

Technical Research Institute Systems Design Dept. JSPMI Hosei University (Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry) 1-1-12, Hachiman, Higashikurume, Tokyo, JAPAN 2-17-1, Fujimi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, JAPAN

ABSTRACT formation technologies (Hibino 2007). However as there are many limitations concerning simulation applications In our research, the manufacturing system emulation tech- for many evaluation activities in the manufacturing engi- nology is proposed as one of the frontloading methods in neering processes, it is necessary to extend the range of the manufacturing system implementation phase. In this simulation applications through the manufacturing engi- paper, the roles of the manufacturing system emulation neering processes. Particularly, industries need simulation technology in manufacturing engineering processes are technology advances in the manufacturing system imple- summarized based on our analysis for the typical manufac- mentations phase. turing engineering processes. The manufacturing system In our research, the manufacturing system emulation emulation environment (MSEE) to implement the manu- technology is proposed as one of the frontloading methods facturing system emulation is proposed and developed. in the manufacturing system implementation phase. In this MSEE consists of our developed manufacturing cell emu- paper, the roles of the manufacturing system emulation lator, our developed soft-wiring system, and the industrial technology in manufacturing engineering processes are network middleware which is one of the semi-standard summarized based on our analysis for typical manufactur- middlewares. The validation of our proposed environment ing engineering processes. The manufacturing system emu- was carried out through a case study. lation environment (MSEE) to implement the manufacturing system emulation is proposed and developed. MSEE 1 INTRODUCTION consists of our developed manufacturing cell emulator, our developed soft-wiring system, and the industrial network Industry needs to design and make new products for the middleware which is one of the semi-standard middlewares. market in rapid succession, as it is becoming harder to The validation of our proposed environment was carried keep the high value of a product in the market as a long out through a case study. seller. It is important for manufacturing systems to be es- tablished with flexibility, scalability and reconfigurability 2 THE EMULATION IN MANUFACTURING (Mehrabi, Ulsoy, and Koren 2000; Molina, Rodriguez, ENGINEERING PROCESS Ahuett, Cortes, Ramirez, Jimenez, and Martinez 2005). It is also important to reduce the lead-time for manufacturing Firstly, the terms of manufacturing system simulation, engineering processes from the manufacturing system de- manufacturing system emulator, and manufacturing system sign phase to the manufacturing system implementation emulation are defined as follows. phase (Hibino and Fukuda 2006; Hibino, Inukai, and Fu- 1. Manufacturing system simulation means to create cer- kuda 2006; Fukuda 2003). One of the solutions to realize tain conditions of manufacturing systems by means of these requirements is the front-loading method, which models. One of the main purposes of the manufactur- finds problems in advance and solves the problems at an ing system simulation is to evaluate materials flow and earlier phase in the manufacturing engineering processes information flow. A simulation is executed while pay- while limiting wasteful periods to the minimum by reduc- ing attention to particular events of interest which oc- ing the number of times needed to go back and refine the cur at an instant, such as equipment start, equipment design (Hibino 2007). The front-loading method using stop and so on. Figure 1 shows an outline of the manu- simulation technologies has attracted the attention of in- facturing system simulation. dustries with the advance of technologies such as computer calculation performance and three-dimensional CAD in-

2. A manufacturing system emulator is a device or piece Modeling New Mfg. Sys. Indicates relationships of software that enables a program or an item of System between elements Design Element equipment intended for one type of computer or Sub-system equipment to be used with exactly the same results Modeling with another type of computer or equipment. Simulation 3. Manufacturing system emulation means that under a condition where parts of equipment, control programs, and manufacturing management applications are not provided in a manufacturing system, a manufacturing Mfg. Sys. Simulator Optimum system operates by mixing and synchronizing the solution Evaluation manufacturing system emulators, real equipment, real controllers, and management applications. Figure 2 Engineering Activity Virtual Factory shows an outline of the manufacturing system emula- Figure 1: Manufacturing System Simulation tion.

Based on our analysis for the typical manufacturing Modeling Indicates relationships engineering processes, manufacturing systems are estab- System between elements lished through four phases. Figure 3 shows the typical Element manufacturing engineering processes. Sub-system Phase 1: This phase is the planning phase to define fun- Emulation damental manufacturing requirements such as target New Mfg. Sys. Emulator production volumes, location and so on. Design Phase 2: This phase is the manufacturing system design Modeling phase to fix manufacturing specifications such as the I/F numbers of equipment needed, layout, manufacturing Equipment or Device management as with the Kanban system and so on. Kanban Reader Conveyer Controller Phase 3-1: This is a period prior to the manufacturing Robot PLC O/P Management. Appl. system implementation phase. In this period, engineers Optimum Prd. Control appli. implement hardware such as special machines, transfer solution machines, and software such as ladder programs, robot Evaluation programs, operation panels, and production control pro- Engineering Activity Virtual Factory grams. Figure 2: Manufacturing System Emulation

Product’s Design Simulation Phase1:Planning Mfg. Sys. Planning Hardware Implementation Software Implementation Phase2: Mfg. Sys. Design Real Device Software for Controller, Mfg. Sys. Design Real Equipment Development Management Appl. Going back to previous phase separately Phase3-1 Mfg. Sys. Imple. Ladder program Implementation Robot Bar code reader Robot program (Hardware, Software) Machining Transfer machine Operation panel Conveyor Special Machining Production Control program Going back to previous phase Phase 3-2 Mfg. Sys. Trial Operation Evaluation (cell level)

Evaluation (area level) ・Gathering real devices and software together in the real plant. ・Adjusting real devices and software in the real plant. Phase 4: Mfg. Sys. Exec. ・If the delivery of the hardware is late, it is not possible to evaluate the software. ・ Execution If problems occur in this phase, it is necessary to go back to the previous phases. ・The problems are usually fatal and sometimes cause a delay of production. Figure 3: Typical Manufacturing Engineering Process

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Phase 3-2: This is a later period of the manufacturing Therefore as industries need suitable simulation tech- system implementation phase. In this period, in order to nology advances in this phase, methods to partially operate undertake the manufacturing system trial operations, en- hardware execution and software execution and to accu- gineers partially operate hardware execution and soft- rately evaluate their executions from the viewpoints of ware execution and accurately evaluate their executions manufacturing systems have not been developed. For ex- from the viewpoints of the manufacturing systems. ample, methods to evaluate the facility control programs Phase 4: This phase is the actual manufacturing system for equipment, such as ladder programs for PLC, while execution phase. mixing and synchronizing real equipment and virtual factory models on the computers have not been developed. In phase 1 and phase 2, a manufacturing system simu- This difficulty has hindered precise and rapid support of a lator plays an important role in designing and evaluating manufacturing engineering process. Consequently the lead- manufacturing systems by using a virtual factory model time is not reduced. To solve this difficulty, it is necessary (Hibino, Fukuda, Fujii, Kojima, Mitsuyuki, and Yura 1999; to develop manufacturing system emulation. Using manu- Hibino, Fukuda, Yura, Mitsuyuki, and Kaneda 2002; facturing system simulation and manufacturing system Mitsuyuki, Kojima, Douba, Fukuda, and Arai 2004; Wil- emulation, each phase can be evaluated in advance as pre- liams and Celik 1998). evaluation. Figure 4 shows the proposed manufacturing In phase 3-1, engineers separately develop hardware such engineering processes using the manufacturing system as robots and special machining devices, and software such simulation and the manufacturing system emulation. as ladder programs and production control programs. Then they independently evaluate their developed hardware or 3 THE MANUFACTURING CELL EMULATION software in their place. In phase 3-2, the developed hard- ENVIRONMENT ware or software is gathered together and adjusted in a real plant. If the delivery of the hardware is late, it is not possi- To realize the manufacturing system emulation, we pro- ble to evaluate the software. If problems occur in this pose a manufacturing cell emulation environment (MCEE). phase, it is necessary to go back to the previous phases. Under a condition where part of the equipment, control The problems are usually fatal and sometimes cause a de- programs, and manufacturing management applications are lay of production. not provided in manufacturing system,

Manufacturing Engineering Processes Pre-evaluation using Simulation and Emulation Pre- evaluation for Phase 2: PhasePhase 1: 1: Materials flows, information flows, layout and so on PlanningPlanning Manufacturing

Pre- evaluation System DR1 Pre- evaluation Simulation forfor Phase Phase 2 2 Modeling Pre- evaluation for Phase 3-1: PhasePhase 2: 2: ladder program, robot program and so on Mfg.Mfg. Sys. Sys. Design Design

Manufacturing Real Device Pre- evaluation DR2 Pre- evaluation System Real Controller forfor Phase Phase 3-1 3-1 Emulator

PhasePhase 3-1: 3-1: Pre- evaluation for Phase 3-2: Mfg.Mfg. Sys. Sys. Implementation Implementation ladder program, robot program, operation panel, Optimum kanban and so on

solution Cell Simulator Pre- evaluation Pre- evaluation Manufacturing PLC Emulator Real Device Ladder Editor DR3 for Phase 3-2 Ro bot Bar-code Reader Real Controller for Phase 3-2 System Operation Panel KANBAN Soft-wiring System Emulator Real ÅÆ Virtual Management Application PhasePhase 3-2: 3-2: Mfg.Mfg. Sys. Sys. Trial Trial Operation Operation

Real Device Phase 4: Phase 4: Mfg. Sys. Real Controller Mfg. Sys. execution Mfg. Sys. execution execution Management Application

Figure 4: Proposed Manufacturing Engineering Process Using Simulation and Emulation

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MCEE realizes that the manufacturing system operates by ISO CIM Reference Model mixing and synchronizing real equipment, real devices, 6. Enterprise real controllers, management applications, and the manu- 5. Plant facturing system emulators. Figure 5 shows the concept of 4. Area MCEE. Production To realize MCEE, the following functions are neces- Management 3. Cell Appl. sary. Cell 1. An emulator function to emulate manufacturing cell 2. Station behaviors by using data from a real world which con- PLC R/C sists of the real equipment, real controllers, and man- 1. Equipment agement applications. B/R C/P Rb 2. A wiring function to logically wire the real world data, the data on an emulator world implementing the emu- Emulator Real lator function, and data on manufacturing management Figure 5: Concept of MCEE

applications. ISO/CIM Reference Model 3. A transmission function to transmit the signals and the Manufacturing Cell Emulator Mfg. Management appl. data between the emulator world and the real world 3. Cell without considering the differences between the real Soft-wiring System controllers and the emulators. ORiN 2. Station Bar Code Operation Panel 4. A network interface function to connect the real con- Robot Provider PLC Provider Provider ・・・ Provider troller and the emulators in a standard manner.

In order to realize these functions, we propose a manu- 1. Equip. Real Equipment facturing cell emulator to accomplish function 1, and a soft-wiring system to perform function 2. The manufactur- Figure 6: System Architecture of MCEE ing cell emulator emulates mechanical behavior in accor- ISO/CIM Reference Model dance with signals from the soft-wiring system. Manufacturing Management Functions 3 and 4 are achieved by ORiN. ORiN (Open Applications Resource interface for the Network / Open Robot interface Ex. Working Monitoring for the Network) is an industrial middle-ware based on an object oriented technology (Inukai and Sakakibara 2004). 3.Cell Production It provides a standard access method to various controllers. Control Soft-wiring Mfg. Cell ORiN consists of two parts, an engine and a provider. appl. System Emulator The ORiN engine provides the application interfaces and ORiN some sophisticated common functions. The ORiN provid- 2.Station ers provide abstracted equipment models which are able to Robot PLC Bar-code OP-Panel resolve the differences between abstracted equipment and provider provider provider provider real equipment. The ORiN specification defines many va- 1. rieties of equipment interfaces as the providers. The appli- Equipment Real equipment or Em ulator cations on ORiN operate equipment through the providers via the ORiN engine. Information flow at the implementation stage. The soft-wiring system and the manufacturing cell Information flow at the execution stage. emulator are running on ORiN. Using ORiN, the proposed Figure 7: Information Flows of MCEE systems can become more general because of the inde- FDC pendence from the equipment’s specifications. Figure 6 Application Internet (Area layer Cell layer Application based on shows the system architecture of MCEE. Figure 7 shows In ISO) App. App. App. OPC UPnP FDML other standards. the information flows of MCEE. Figure 8 presents the X Y Z

ORiN architecture. Application IF Abstract Dev. Engine Device B ORiN Device IF

Provider 4 THE SOFT-WIRING SYSTEM A Co. B Co. C Co. D Co.

Device or In actual manufacturing systems, wiring between control- Equipment (Station layer Machine tool Equipment layer C/P(Control panel) lers usually used hard-wiring. As MCEE is used In ISO) PLC Rb(Robot) Barcode Reader

Figure 8: ORiN Architecture

1788 Hibino and Fukuda before manufacturing systems are implemented, we need to We propose the manufacturing cell emulator to repre- evaluate the facility control programs of the controller sent the world. Figure 10 shows an outline of the manufac- without hard-wiring. Therefore the soft-wiring system, turing cell emulator. The manufacturing cell emulator emu- which logically wires the real world data, the emulator lates manufacturing cell behaviors using signals and data world data, and data on manufacturing management appli- from the real world through the soft-wiring system. The cations, is necessary. This system executes the following manufacturing cell emulator needs to have the following steps for each controller asynchronously and independ- main functions. ently. 1. A definition function to define behaviors for manufac- Step 1. Making a connection to real equipment or its turing cell emulation models. emulator through ORiN. 2. An animation function to visualize 3D manufacturing Step 2. Observing the item value of the equipment con- cell emulation models by synchronizing the results of tinuously. manufacturing cell behaviors. Step 3. Propagating the value to linked items whenever 3. A connection function to link the emulator world data it detects a change of value. to the real world data through the soft-wiring system.

However there are many types of data on the control- We propose that the behaviors are expressed by a tree ler such as the integer type, the real type, the character type structure. One task of computer processes is defined on one and so on. In order to emulate manufacturing cell behav- node of the tree structure. Complex tasks can be defined by iors using signals and data from a real world, it is necessary to transform data on the real world (or an emulator Process Flow: world) into utilizable data on the emulator world (or the Step 1: Make a connection to the real world or the emulator world logically. real world). The real world means a world that consists of Step 2: Observe the item value of the device continuously. real equipment. The emulator world means a world that Step 3: Propagate the value to linked item whenever the value is changed. consists of equipment emulators and manufacturing cell Soft-wiring System Data types: emulation models. Therefore the soft-wiring system allows Integer, BCD, Real, String, logically wiring the real world data and the emulator world Array, etc. data which are modeled on the emulator world. The system … … … ...... ORiN mainly needs to have the following functions for step 3. 1. A function to logically wire data between the real Data processing: world and the emulator world while transforming and ・・・・・ Convert, Calc, Filter, etc. propagating data in response to data types. 2. A function to perform the data conversions such as Real equipment BCD (Binary Coded Decimal) data conversion, data

masking, data type conversion such as ‘String to Inte- Rb(Robot) Machine tool PLC C/P(Control panel) ger’ data calculation and so on. 3. A function to filter out data which are over a limitation Figure 9: Outline of Soft-wiring System value as a dead band function. 4. A function to record a data transition log to evaluate a Manufacturing Cell Emulator

timing chart of an action sequence. 3D Animation Motion Design

Soft-wiring System The soft-wiring system which includes four functions was developed in C++ program language. Figure 9 shows an outline of the soft-wiring system.

5 THE MANUFACTURING CELL EMULATOR XML XML XML (XVL) (EMU) (CSQ) In actual manufacturing systems, it is possible to evaluate 3D Graphic Model Equipment Behavior Model Soft-wiring Model facility control programs by producing materials with flow Manufacturing Cell Emulator while synchronizing real equipment. As MCEE is used be- Simulation Model All models are described in XML. fore manufacturing systems are implemented, it is impos- sible to evaluate the facility control programs in the same Figure 10: Outline of Manufacturing Cell Emulator way. Therefore we need to have a world to emulate producing materials with flow while mixing and synchroniz- combining several nodes. And there are main four types of ing real equipment, its emulators and virtual factory mod- nodes. els.

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1) Flow control nodes such as branch, join, and trig- 6 A CASE STUDY ger. 2) A link node to link data on the emulator to the A case study was carried out using a hypothetical case of a soft-wiring system small size of a manufacturing cell which consists of a robot, 3) An animation control node to execute the anima- a tester, a palettizer and a conveyor. This case study con- tion function sists of a robot controller, a bar-code reader and a patlite as 4) A script node to define the details of behavior. real equipment. A PLC emulator and operation panel emulator are also connected. On the other hand, there are four All nodes of the tree are executed in series or in paral- systems, a production control system, manufacturing cell lel. The vertical direction is executed sequentially, and the emulator, soft-wiring system, and working monitoring sys- horizontal direction is executed in parallel. tem. The production control system and the working moni- A link node 2) can refer to the real world data through toring system are real systems running in the actual manu- the soft-wiring system. Then the manufacturing cell emula- facturing system. Figure 12 shows the case study models of tion model in the emulator world behaves in response to the manufacturing cell emulator. the referred data. The node also can output data to the real world data through the soft-wiring system. Then the equipment in the real world executes processes in response to the output data. That is, the links are bi-directional con- Procedure System behaviors in the case study nections. For instance, when a cylinder reaches the termi- STEP1 KANBAN nal point, the cell emulator can output a signal to the soft- Bar Code Reader wiring system; it means that the system can output a signal Production Control to real equipment. And then the equipment which received STEP2 Application the signal can continue to execute a program from the signal. Figure 11 shows an outline of the tree structure. STEP3 PLC

Sequential Execution STEP4

Parallel Execution Parallel Soft-wiring System STEP5 Link node Node Properties

Rule （Equipment Behavior） STEP6 STEP7 Control Panel

Figure 11: Outline of the Tree Structure STEP8 TESTER ROBOT Patlite*

STEP9

STEP10 CONVEYOR

PALETTIZER *Note:Patlite is one of the equipment which show warning signs. In this case study, for example, the color of green means the result of investigation is true. Figure 12: Case Study Models on Manufacturing Cell Emulator Figure 13: Typical Procedures in this Case Study

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Figure 13 presents one of the typical procedures in 10. The assigned product is translated to a position to the this case study. Figure 14 shows the system structure of end of conveyor by the conveyor in the emulator. This this case study. Figure 15 presents one of the working behavior is controlled by the PLC via the soft-wiring monitoring applications windows which were monitored system. during the manufacturing cell in this case study. 11. The assigned product after evaluation is eliminated in 1. The barcode reader receives production order informa- the emulator. tion by a KANBAN. 2. The production control system receives the production We confirmed that the emulator world and the real order information via ORiN. world could be combined and synchronized using the emu- 3. The production control system indicates the need to lator, the real equipment, the real controllers, and man- investigate the quantity of a product along with the agement applications. We also confirmed that verification production order information toward the PLC via the of the facility control programs such as a ladder program in soft-wiring system. the PLC could be confirmed by combining and synchroniz- 4. The assigned product is picked up and moved to the ing the emulator world and the real world. We also con- conveyor by the palettizer in the emulator. These be- firmed that practical usages of manufacturing management haviors are controlled by the PLC via the soft-wiring applications such as a working monitoring application system. could be confirmed by combining and synchronizing the 5. The assigned product is translated to a position in front emulator world and the real world. of the robot by the conveyor in the emulator. This behavior is controlled by the PLC via the soft-wiring system. 6. The assigned product is picked up and moved to the tester by the robot. These behaviors are controlled by the PLC and the robot controller via ORiN. 7. The assigned product is investigated by the tester in the emulator. 8. Results of this investigation in the emulator are sent to the PLC via the soft-wiring system. Then the control panel displays the results via the PLC. The patlite shows warning signs along the results via the PLC. 9. The assigned product is picked up and moved from the tester to the conveyor by the robot. These behaviors are controlled by the PLC and the robot controller via ORiN. Figure 15: Working Monitor in This Case Study Network

PC4 PC3 PC2 PC1

Working Monitoring Manufacturing Production Control Soft-wiring system Cell Emulator application

CAOSQL ORiN

Patlite Bar-code Robot OPC Provider Provider Provider Provider

Ladder PLC Control Editor Emulator Panel KANBAN RSLinx PLC Patlite Bar-code Reader Robot Figure 14: System Structure of This Case Study

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3-D virtual factory model by IMS Idea Factory Group No.9 Through this case study, we confirmed that MCEE and No.17. These projects were supported by funding from could be used in the implementation phase. MCEE, includ- IMS promotion center in Japan. ing the soft-wiring system and the manufacturing cell emulator and ORiN, is a valid to provide more efficient manu- REFERENCES facturing system implementation during the implementation phase. Mehrabi, G., G. Ulsoy, and Y. Koren. 2000. Reconfigur- able manufacturing systems: a key to future manufac- 7 CONCLUSION turing. Journal of the Intelligent Manufacturing 11:403-419. In this paper, the manufacturing cell emulation environ- Molina, A., C. Rodriguez, H. Ahuett, J. Cortes, M. Rami- ment (MCEE), which includes the soft-wiring system, the rez, G. Jimenez, and S. Martinez. 2005. Next- manufacturing cell emulator, and the industrial network generation manufacturing systems: key research issues middleware, is proposed and developed. in developing and integrating reconfigurable and intel- The results were: ligent machines. International Journal of Computer 1. To define terms of the manufacturing system simula- Integrated Manufacturing 18:525-536. tion, the manufacturing system emulator, and the Hibino, H., and Y. Fukuda. 2006. A user support system manufacturing system emulation. for manufacturing system design using distributed 2. To summarize the roles of the manufacturing system simulation. Production Planning and Control 17:128- emulation based on our analysis for typical manufac- 142. turing engineering processes. Hibino, H., T. Inukai, and Y. Fukuda. 2006. Efficient 3. To propose MCEE realizes that the manufacturing sys- manufacturing system implementation based on com- tem operates by mixing and synchronizing real equip- bination between real and virtual factory. International ment, real devices, real controllers, management ap- Journal of Production Research 44:3897-3915. plications, and the manufacturing system emulators Hibino, H.. 2007. Simulation environment for efficient under a condition where parts of the equipment, con- manufacturing system design and implementation us- trol programs, and manufacturing management appli- ing network middleware ORiN and HLA. Joutnal of cations are not provided in a manufacturing system. the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers 4. To clarify necessary functions for a manufacturing cell 46:560-545.[in Japanese] emulator and a soft-wiring system in MCEE. Fukuda, Y.. 2003. The state of the art for digital engineer- 5. To confirm through a case study that an emulator ing. Journal of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engi- world and a real world could be combined and syn- neers 106:230-233.[in Japanese] chronized using the manufacturing cell emulator and Hibino, H., Y. Fukuda, S. Fujii, F. Kojima, K. Mitsuyuki, the soft-wiring system. and Y. Yura. 1999. The development of an object- 6. To confirm that verification of ladder programs could oriented simulation system based on the thought proc- be confirmed by a combination of the emulator world ess of the manufacturing system design. International and the real world before actual manufacturing cells Journal of Production Economics 60:343-351. are implemented. Hibino, H., Y. Fukuda, Y. Yura, K. Mitsuyuki, and K. 7. To confirm that practical usages of a working monitor- Kaneda. 2002. Manufacturing adapter of distributed ing application as manufacturing management applica- simulation systems using HLA. In Proceedings of the tions could be verified by a combination of the emula- 2002 Winter Simulation Conference, ed. E. Yucesan, tor world and the real world before actual C. Chen, J. L. Snowdon, and J. M. Charnes, 1099- manufacturing cells are operated. 1109. Piscataway, New Jersey: Institute of Electrical 8. To confirm that MCEE is valid to carry out support of and Electronics Engineers, Inc.. full production performance at product launch. Mitsuyuki, K., F. Kojima, H. Douba, Y. Fukuda, and E. Arai. 2004. Simulation to design and improve kanban ACKNOWLEDGMENTS system. CIRP J. Manufacturing Systems 33:200-206. Williams, E., and H. Celik. 1998. Analysis of conveyor This research is a part of the research project on manufac- systems within automotive final assembly. In Proceed- turing support systems using industrial standard technolo- ings of the 1998 Winter Simulation Conference, ed. D. gies in JSPMI. This project was supported by funding from J. Medeiros, E. F. Watson, J. S. Carson, and M. S. JKA. Manivannan, 915-920. Piscataway, New Jersey: Insti- This research is also a part of the research projects on tute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.. efficient manufacturing system implementation based on Inukai, T. and S. Sakakibara. 2004. Impact of open FA sys- simulation environment synchronizing real equipment and tem on automobile manufacturing. Journal of the

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Automotive Engineers of Japan 58:106-111. [in Japa- nese]

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

HIRONORI HIBINO is a Senior Researcher of the Tech- nical Research Institute of Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry (JSPMI), which is an affiliate of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan. Dr. Hi- bino is also a Guest Professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology concurrently. He received his BE degree from Tokyo University of Science in 1989 and his Dr. Eng. from Hosei University in 2003. His research fields are distributed simulation, manufacturing system design using simulation, manufacturing system emulation, and digital engineering. He is a member of JSME, JIMA, and JSPE.

YOSHIRO FUKUDA is a Professor of the Systems De- sign Department of Hosei University. He received his BS degree from Chuo University in 1971 and his Dr. Eng. from Kobe University in 1989. His main research fields are manufacturing system design, production management, manufacturing system simulation and logistics. Dr. Fukuda is a fellow of JSME. He is a member of JSME, JIMA, JSPE and IFIP5.12. He is a sector board member in IEC.

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