Supporting virtual organizations through constraint fusion

The formation and operation of dynamic and open virtual organizations is a central concern in business-to-business e-commerce. Virtual organizations enable partner companies to develop and manufacture customized products with low costs and rapid delivery. Agent-based architectures are an effective platform for such virtual organizations because they provide mechanisms to allow organizations to advertise their capabilities, exchange rich information, and synchronize workflows at a high level of abstraction. In this paper, we examine the KRAFT architecture and its features for supporting virtual organizations. In particular, we focus upon KRAFT's agent-based architecture, and its use of constraints as a knowledge-exchange medium. We show how constraint fusion supports the design of customized products. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.