Industrial Adoption of Agent-Based Technologies

  • Authors:

  • Vladimir Marik;Duncan McFarlane

  • Affiliations:

  • Czech Technical University and Rockwell Automation Research Center, Prague;University of Cambridge

  • Venue:
  • IEEE Intelligent Systems
  • Year:
  • 2005

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Abstract

Agent-based technologies can potentially solve complex, dynamic decision processes that are distributed. By enabling networks of autonomous yet interacting reasoning elements, agent technology provides an alternative to the more traditional centralized systems generally prevailing in industry. Agent-based solutions are being developed for three problem domains in industrial environments: real-time production control, manufacturing operations management, and the coordination of virtual enterprises. However, significant overlap exists between these domains, and a unified view of the application of agent technology in these domains will likely hasten its effective real-world deployment. To correctly apply agent technology, you need to know the industrial applications for which agents are particularly appropriate. Also, although agent-based solutions can provide such benefits as flexibility, robustness, and reconfigurability, their deployment faces such barriers as cost, performance guarantees, and scalability.