Scheduling problems are usually treated within single
plant environments or within companies with several
production locations. Due to the globalization of
markets companies can no longer be regarded isolated
from each other. They are in fact elements of spatially
distributed production and logistics networks, where
apart from the actual production process transport and
stock keeping gain importance. This contribution
analyses the organizational structures found in
distributed production networks and proposes an approach
for their mapping to multiagent systems for integrated
production planning and scheduling. Moreover, a platform
for multiagent systems deployment is outlined, which is
apt to satisfy the major requirements to an agent
platform for dynamic, distributed production and
logistics networks. pdf
