Virtual factory system design and implementation: integrated sustainable manufacturing

Manufacturing is the backbone of the European economy, but it is challenged by globalisation and technological evolution. Among the potential problems existing in current European industry are that the manufacturers are mostly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and it is difficult for them to take quick actions and relocate resources flexibly based on turbulent requirements. Therefore, it is critical to move towards sustainable development in terms of business models and business practices. In order to respond to these challenges, disruptive changes are needed to maintain the competitive advantage. In this paper, a new way to achieve collaboration among distributed SMEs is introduced, namely the Virtual Factory. Our purpose is to promote an innovative value-added manufacturing in sustainable development. This paper describes how an integrated information system can be designed and implemented to support collaboration among distributed SME manufacturing.