A MGrid-based information sharing system for distributed product information sharing and exchange

Grid technology is an emerging technology for the sharing of heterogeneous information globally distributed. This paper presents an information sharing system based on such a technology for a distributed injection moulding manufacturing enterprise. A Manufacturing Grid (MGrid) is proposed for information sharing in distributed manufacturing environment. Based on the MGrid, an information sharing system is developed to support the heterogeneous information sharing across departmental boundaries. By employing OGSA-DAI (Open Grid Services Architecture Data Access and Integration), the heterogeneity and the regional distribution of product information are managed efficiently. Users from different departments of the manufacturing enterprise can utilise the remote information as conveniently as they use local information for their product development tasks. A Grid portal is designed to provide uniform and friendly interfaces for users to interact with the information sharing system in a transparent manner. In order to improve the efficiency of the system, the workflow technology and the concurrently distributed information query process are also investigated in this paper. Case studies are carried out in an international injection moulding enterprise and results show the proposed system provides an efficient mechanism for the enterprise to quickly develop customised products in an economical way.