A research project with the AI lab Fetch.ai is investigating how autonomous software agents can optimise the supply chain in manufacturing. The idea is that greater autonomy in manufacturing will enable a faster response to the market’s requirements and allow the customer to place personalised, tailor-made orders.
At the moment, capacity usage is often uneven between systems, as the production is always subject to fluctuations in demand. This is where decentralised manufacturing marketplaces come in. Producers and suppliers offer up capacity that they are not using for short periods and can use spare capacity from other companies for their own orders.
As part of the research project, Festo is using the agent-based approach from Fetch.ai to achieve greater autonomy in manufacturing. The manufacturing marketplace is managed using blockchain technology. A blockchain makes it possible to transfer information in a tamper-proof process using a decentralised database used by many participants. Blockchains are thus secure directories updated in real time, in which digital transactions can be reliably documented in a way that can be traced by the participants.
"The blockchain technology enables us to track orders on the manufacturing marketplace and ensure that the network participants do not obtain any manufacturing secrets. Payments in cryptocurrency can also be made directly and securely via the blockchain," explains Eduard Grün, Blockchain Development Lead at Festo.
Various agents operate in the manufacturing marketplace. Each stage of the process from milling and fitting through to quality assurance is represented by its own software agent. The software agent negotiates with the product agent that wishes to make use of the various process stages of the system to manufacture its products. In the first phase of the research project, Festo and Fetch.ai are trialling this with the modular production system MPS®, a universal miniature Industry 4.0 training factory from Festo Didactic.
"With the multi-agent architecture from Fetch.ai we can create a new way to better utilise machines globally and plan the supply chain more efficiently," says Eduard Grün.
"We are delighted to be able to announce our collaboration with such a forward-looking technology company like Festo," says Maria Minaricova, Director of Business Development at Fetch.ai. "With Festo’s contribution, we will be able to demonstrate the benefits of autonomous AI agents in the manufacturing and supply chain in real life. We look forward to working further with Festo to bring about the wide adoption of these groundbreaking manufacturing innovations."
Festo and Fetch.ai are using the modular production system MPS® from Festo Didactic for the first test phase. The miniature training factory offers training solutions for mechatronics and factory automation, from the fundamentals of technology to the complex relationships in industrial automation.