A study of the HMS operational architecture

This paper presents the HMS (Holonic Manufacturing Systems) operational architecture detailing with both the control and co-operation architectures based on the function block model. While the intrinsic structure of the holon is responsible for its autonomy and individualistic skills, the cooperation architecture outlines how interactions between holons can be organised and supported. The paper also illustrates how this architecture can be mapped onto a holonic production environment using a motor assembly scenario. Even though the motor assembly test case has a hierarchical task structure, we believe it is rigorous enough to demonstrate the benefits of the holonic operational behaviour.