Towards Adopting Dynamic Manufacturing Networks for Future Manufacturing: Benefits and Risks of the IMAGINE DMN End-to-End Management Methodology

Exiting the global economic crisis, the manufacturing domain seeks new ways to take a leap forwards, mostly by exploiting the latest advancements in ICT that promise a more productive, cost-effective and sustainable future. Distributed and flexible manufacturing configurations have been around the latest years, however the lack of an agile and responsive management methodology of such structures has hindered them from reaching their full potential. Today, the novel concept of Dynamic Manufacturing Networks stands out as a cutting-edge solution in this quest, carrying a wide set of assets that aim to drive manufacturing organisations into the new global economy. This concept is incarnated through the IMAGINE DMN end-to-end Management Methodology presented in this paper, along with the benefits and risks that the former promises to respectively enhance and mitigate.