Multi-agent-based Pay-Per-Use (PpU) distributed manufacturing

Abstract

This paper presents the research on the use of the internet and multi-agent technologies to construct a Pay-Per-Use (PpU) Distributed Manufacturing (DM) platform on which service providers can offer their services and clients can access services on-demand. Instead of the traditional ownership of manufacturing resources and licensing services, the PpU service is a type of service where clients can have access to manufacturing resources but will only need to pay for what they have actually used. With PpU, the clients no longer need to own or maintain expensive software and hardware tools, but request use on-demand through the PpU platform. Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.