Learning lessons from ants, researchers from several universities and institutes are working on a production environment that organizes itself. Core elements are what the scientists call "e-grains" — tiny networked computers that eventually could make large Manufacturing Executing Systems (MES) redundant.

In today's industrial production environments, large central computers control all processes. In this system, machine tools and robots function as actuators; a number of sensors installed at the production lines provide the feedback required for the MES to know what is going on. The workpieces play a passive role; at the utmost they carry an RFID tag which however is 'dumb' in the sense that it only allows the MES to identify the type and kind of workpiece.

In a self-organizing production environment, the RFID tags are replaced by miniaturized, reconfigurable smart computers that know all about the workpiece they are associated to, the production process intended and the production environment. These very small but powerful computers, dubbed "e-grains" for their size, are associated to a single specific workpiece each and travel through the production line, communicating wirelessly with other e-grains as well as with the machine tools and robots that make up the production floor.

In the case of a technical problem or a breakdown at a single machine tool, the workpieces recognize the machine state and redirect themselves to a redundant tool; workpieces with higher priority can jump the queue, if necessary. All this is done without intervention from a MES, explained project manager Eckhard Hohwieler from the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology in Berlin. "We are using bio-analogous methods to organize the production flow," Hohlwieler said. "Like ants with their local distributed intelligence".

Participating at the project initiated by the Productronics working group of the German industry association VDMA are several member institutes of the Fraunhofer research network that in Germany bridges the gap between basic research and product-related industrial development activities. Also academic research institutes from the Berlin Technical University are involved.

Goals of the project are improved business parameters associated to production processes. VDMA manager Eric Maiser sees "huge chances for a highly diversified production as it is typical for European production landscape", with a high degree of what Maiser calls "mass customization" — as opposed to the commodity production prevailing in Asia.