Cloud manufacturing implementation for smart manufacturing networks

This chapter provides an overview of cloud manufacturing (CMfg) applications with a special focus on the implementation in smart manufacturing networks, where CMfg enables the efficient global connection between distributed manufacturing service customers and providers, yielding benefits in terms of productivity and sustainability. CMfg allows us to provide on-demand manufacturing services to several users via the Internet according to a service-oriented paradigm and offers the possibility to perform large-scale manufacturing collaborations and set up smart manufacturing networks involving distributed enterprises. By sharing real-time information, remote manufacturing facilities can be managed as aggregated CMfg services registered into a cloud platform and can be selected or outsourced on demand. After introducing the CMfg paradigm and applications, the chapter presents the development and implementation of an intelligent cloud manufacturing platform aimed at the dynamic and smart sharing of sheet metal cutting services in a manufacturing network to improve sustainability in terms of resource efficiency.