GO0D MAN | aGent Oriented Zero Defect Multi-stage mANufacturing

The goal of the GO0D MAN project was to develop a distributed system architecture for zero-defect manufacturing (ZDM) in multistage industries, such as automotive and semiconductor manufacturing. The system aimed to integrate and improve processes and quality control in to prevent defects that would require rework or rejection. The project also focused on aligning the results with existing industry standards and addressing any gaps in those standards through a dedicated working group and a five-phase methodology.

The GO0D MAN project is built upon the results and knowledge gained from earlier European R&D&I projects, including GRACE (http://grace-rri.eu). The experience from GRACE highlighted the importance and benefits of standardization, leading to the creation of separate standards working group (WP) in the GO0D MAN project with a methodology specifically designed to address the standardization issue. This methodology consisted of five main steps: Identifying standardization objectives, Surveying existing or anticipated standards, Aligning and mapping standards, Undertaking gap analysis, and Making recommendations. This methodology was applied to each of the five main topics: smart inspection tools, multi-agent systems, communication, data model and rules definition, and knowledge representation and data analysis.

The project determined that by addressing standardization during the early stages of R&D, the results could be made compliant with existing standards. However, gaps in existing standards were identified, and recommendations were made to address them. In particular, the project made contributions to the IEEE P2660.1 working group on recommended practices for the interconnection between software agents and physical devices within multi-agent systems, and to the IEEE P2805 standard for establishing standards for edge computing nodes. The GO0D MAN consortium is collaborating closely with the P2660.1 working group to define these recommendation practices.

At the end of the GO0D MAN project, a system architecture for Zero Defect Manufacturing (ZDM) has been developed that can be applied to multiple industries to improve the quality and productivity of production systems. Because the architecture is consistent with existing standards for automation, smart tools can be immediately implemented on commercial production lines. A startup company is now being established to bring this technology to market. The alignment with existing standards will likely speed up the update of products and the resulting growth and scalability of the company. Additionally, increased awareness of this new technology among industry adopters has led to changes in thinking, resulting in processes being adapted to implement the results. This adoption is expected to be faster and less risky due to the confirmed standards. The success of the standards aspect of the project has been in part due to making it a distinct task. However, it was recognized early on that attention to standards was necessary, indicating that compliance needs to be taken into consideration early in the R&D process. Focusing on standards is also beneficial for the R&D team and maybe a new approach. It is important to adopt a systematic approach but also to be realistic and plan for a timeline that may go beyond the duration of the R&D project. For example, developing a standard until its adoption can take up to 5 years, and it may not be under the control of the R&D team. If it is not practical to have a standards agency as a full partner in the project due to a large number of partners, involving experts associated with standards agencies will be beneficial in providing a direct and tangible link that will increase awareness and accelerate the adoption process.