Neutral template libraries for efficient distributed simulation within a manufacturing system engineering platform

The MISSION project develops an environment for integrated applications of simulation tools which can be offered by different vendors. The template library supports the generation of models from the view of the application instead of simulation tool features. The selection of simulation tools applied is performed with the mostly completed, but still neutral model. The template library is a reservoir of neutral re-usable elements incorporating their major attributes, and referencing to implementations of these models in different simulation tools. Within the manufacturing system engineering (MSE) process, the template library is mainly used as a flexible knowledge base. For this purpose, attributes can be defined depending on the design agents applied. Some attributes are predefined according to the requirements of the MISSION modelling platform (MMP) or according to available user requirements. The user has the chance to add templates and attributes of templates. Furthermore, the user can use objects of these templates within the MSE process. Concerning the simulation process, the template library contains for each application template a reference to simulation models. The simulation model implements the content of the template. The paper presents the template library approach and a short introduction to the MISSION platform