QoS-based dynamic scheduling for manufacturing grid workflow

Manufacturing grid (MG) workflow can be defined as the composition of manufacturing activities which execute on heterogeneous and distributed manufacturing resources in virtual organization to accomplish a specific goal. Uncertainties within MG environment pose new challenges for MG workflow. Dynamic scheduling is one of the most critical components in MG workflow. Through analyzing the QoS properties in MG, a scheduling architecture based on QoS for MG workflow is presented. Workflow engine can dynamically schedule the resources according the activity requirements and resource QoS capabilities. If multiple resources that meet the QoS requirements are available to an activity at a time, workflow scheduling can select the ´best match´ resource according to scheduling algorithms based on AHP (analytic hierarchy process).