An implementation of modelling resource in a manufacturing grid for resource sharing

Grid technology is a new sustentation for the sharing of global manufacturing resources. To promote the application of grid technologies in the manufacturing industry, a framework for a manufacturing grid (MG) has been expatiated. The framework is composed of a network infrastructure layer, a manufacturing resource aggregation layer, a manufacturing resource management layer, a manufacturing service application layer and a MG portal layer. Modelling manufacturing resources, one key technology of implementing the MG application system, has been studied intensively. A manufacturing resource hierarchy model (MRHM), which consists of a manufacturing resource layer, a resource expressing layer and a resource interface layer, is proposed. In the model, various manufacturing resources are aggregated into a resource layer; all resource information is encapsulated in an information expressing layer employing XML (extensible markup language) schema; all accessing operations to resources are defined in the resource interface layer using WSDL (web service description language). Lastly, being the validation of MRHM, a standard part library system based on Unigraphics18.0 and SQL Server2000 is encapsulated as a resource node in the MG. The node provides online services like querying information for standard parts, viewing and downloading geometry models of standard parts, and so on.