Design of a Telemanufacturing Test Bed

A Telemanufacturing facility has been developed to test virtual manufacturing concepts across the Internet. The essence of this research is a web site/service provider to aid manufacturers, especially small and medium size, in the different production functions of concern. The web site capitalizes on the advances in virtual reality technologies to enable enterprises to gain flexibility and competitiveness. Through this web site companies/users will be able to access a variety of services available within this facility. This web site initially will act as a test bed and a resource center for enterprises to base design and manufacturing decisions as well as utilize technologies available globally. The test bed currently incorporates three facilities, Rapid Prototyping, make or buy decision support system, and manufacturing cell development. Using this facility it will be possible to evaluate the functioning of the Telemanufacturing infrastructure and also highlight the problems and deficiencies associated with the system.