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Flexible automation gains importance in different manufacturing sectors as a consequence of increasing product individualization on the one hand and high wage costs on the other one. Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) distinguish themselves through multidirectional material flows, flexible order processing possibilities and rapid set-up as well as reconfiguration ability during the operation. As a consequence, operation scenarios in such manufacturing systems and, thus, control tasks become more complex. This requires higher intelligence of the operations control systems, which must be able not only to execute a predefined control logic, but also predict the development of the situation, schedule, plan and optimize the manufacturing operation sequences in FMS and give additional hints to the operator. This paper analyzes the requirements on the modeling of intelligent operations control systems and proposes an architecture for future control solutions allowing to integrate seamlessly the scheduling and execution in flexibly automated systems.

New challenges result from the virtualization and distribution of product development activities. This article analyzes problems of cooperative engineering as well as methods and tools for the virtual engineering of extended products. Based on these analyses, a broad road map is proposed that articulates public- and civil-sector roles in coping with future engineering challenges. With a strategic horizon, the public-sector role targets the creation of a knowledge-intensive global business ecosystem conducive to balanced civil-sector innovation and sustainable growth. The civil-sector roles evolve tactics that implement proven cooperative and virtual engineering practices with a focus on value creation.