Distributed planning and control systems for the virtual enterprise: organizational requirements and development life-cycle

This paper describes the requirements analysis and system specification of an Order Promise module to be used as part of a broader Decision Support Sy stem for production and operations planning of a Virtual Enterprise. This w ork is part of a broader project with a particular focus on the microelectr onics industry which is a good example of Virtual Enterprise, and where a q uick response to the customers needs and to unpredictable changes in produc tion conditions is considered a major factor for success. First, the analys is and specification are presented within a development framework that invo lves the study of organizational issues of semiconductor enterprises. The u se of ontological engineering for supporting the communication and shared u nderstanding of the system concepts is explained and a virtual enterprise o ntology is outlined. Following the clarification of the concept of virtual enterprise, the generic techno-organizational requirements for the informat ion system are derived. Finally, a specification of the global planning mod ule and a more detailed one regarding the order promise module is presented .