Logistics from IMS towards virtual factory

This paper shows some aspects of the design and control in logistic systems of typical processes in traditional integrated systems, IMS and virtual factories in the sheet metal industry. Main components of the virtual factory are logistics and the information technology background. By globalisation of production, factory inside logistics is replaced by a global logistic concept. In this paper those logistic concepts are summarised, which can be used in designing of material flow, optimising the parameters as well as in performance evaluation for closed loop production of sheet metal processing. The information flow, connected with the material flow, is also represented in the survey. Shared data structures and telecommunication are essential parts of the control strategy in logistic systems.