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based web applications that can be used with any
modern web browser.
The second phase of the prototype
implementation will be completed during the spring
of 2004. The main focus is to integrate company
agents with legacy systems. The integration work
will start with two companies participating in the
SteelNet project. The described prototype addresses
the issues related to information flow and
transparency in a distributed manufacturing process.
By using electronic distribution of information with
the help of agents, the information flow can be
improved significantly, which can be considered
essential for optimising throughput times of
manufacturing processes.
For the implementation, JADE (Java Agent
Development Framework) has been selected as the
used agent platform. JADE's main features are
compliance to FIPA standards for software agents
and the use of the platform-independent Java
programming language (Bellifemine et al., 1999).
5 CONCLUSIONS
This paper describes the information technology
problems in networking companies to form a supply
chain. An agent technology-based technical
architecture is presented to address the problems. A
prototype application using the architecture in the
context of distributed manufacturing in steel product
industry is described.
The presented architecture intends to distinguish
itself from similar ones by being designed and
implemented for real-world use by companies of
various sizes and in different industries. At the
current state the architecture has limitations in
scalability, which need to be addressed in the future.
The described prototype implements an
application for efficient distribution of information
in distributed manufacturing, but later the system
can be easily extended to cover other areas of a
supply chain network. The companies participating
in the SteelNet project have tested the prototype in
laboratory conditions and the results are promising.
The prototype will be field-tested during the spring
of 2004, thus creating more valuable information for
future development of the architecture and
prototype.
The agent technology has proven to be an
applicable and affordable solution for electronic
business networks. However, the technology needs
to be developed further to provide a significant
benefit when compared to traditional methods.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We gratefully acknowledge the funding and support
by the Technology Development Centre of Finland
(TEKES) and the companies associated with this
project.
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