VIRTUAL FACTORIES AS A MECHANISM FOR CONTINUOUS BUSINESS RE-ENGINEERING

THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE A SIMULATION/FACTORY CONTROL CAPABILITY TO (1) SIMULATE PRODUCTS, PROCESSES, AND FACTORY CONFIGURATIONS AT MULTIPLE LEVELS OF ABSTRACTION, (2) PROVIDE FINE GRAINED ANALYSIS OF PRODUCT AND PROCESS DESIGNS, AND (3) PROVIDE A MODEL DRIVEN FACTORY CONTROL ARCHITECTURE SO THAT THE MODELS EXECUTED IN THE SIMULATION STUDIES CAN BE DIRECTLY USED AS THE FACTORY CONTROL LOGIC. THE RESULTS WILL PROVIDE AN ENTERPRISE-WIDE EVOLUTION SUPPORT ENVIRONMENT TO FACILITATE CALS & CE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO DOD AGENCIES AND CONTRACTORS. THE STRATEGY IS TO INVESTIGATE THE USE OF A CONTINUOUS BUSINESS RE-ENGINEERING (CIBR) CONCEPT AS AN EFFECTIVE MEANS FOR CHANGE MANAGEMENT. THE TASKS INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF: (1) MANUFACTURING PROCESS ONTOLOGIES, (2) A CONSTRAINT-LINKED NETWORK OF BUSINESS PROCESS MODELS, (3) INTER-MODEL CONSTRAINT REPRESENTATIONS, (4) REPESENTATIONS FOR THE CONSTRAINT-LINKED NETWORK OF BUSINESS PROCESS MODELS, (5) A PROOF OF CONCEPT PROTOTYPE QUALITATIVE REASONER FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IMPACT PREDICTION, AND (6) AN ARCHITECTURE TO IMPLEMENT THE CIBR CONCEPT. PHASE I RESULTS WILL PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR A MORE DETAILED CHARACTERIZATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IMPACTS, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF QUANTITATIVE TOOLS SUCH AS SIMULATION MODELING SUPPORT. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: SINCE CONTINUOUS AND PERVASIVE CHANGE WILL BE THE PROMINENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMING INFORMATION AGE, THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGY TO MANAGE CHANGE WILL LIKELY DISTINGUISH SUCCESS FROM ORGANIZATIONAL FAILURE. THE CONCEPTS AND METHODS THAT WILL EMERGE AT THE END OF THIS PHASE I EFFORT WILL PROVIDE THE FOUNDATION FOR NEW TECHNOLOGY TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE CHANGE. MOREOVER, THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF THE CONSTRAINED PROCESS NETWORK PARADIGM AS AN ENABLER OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IS A SIGNIFICANT SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTION.