Abstract
Automation and manufacturing systems are changing in the direction of cooperative ecosystems with heterogeneous entities. An important feature that should be considered is the vertical integration from the business needs down to the shop-floor where the real action takes place. This paper analyses the integration of shop-floor devices into the IT-enterprise but maintaining also a certain degree of independence in terms of behaviour. Service-oriented paradigm is used as the main backbone due its proven merits in the business levels and recently also in automation and production systems. In the provided example, high-level Petri nets (HLPN) demonstrate a set of useful features, namely the partial behaviour description and analysis and some parameters in the integration. The resulting application leads to an easy integration of autonomous devices in the IT-enterprise, taking especially in account the requirements of the shop-floor level. © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Abstract
The application of ADACOR, a collaborative production automation and control architecture, is discussed. ADACOR provides a catalog of elements that simplifies the development of agent-based control systems for flexible manufacturing, from design to operation. ADACOR's Petri net-based approach facilitates the conception, definition, and formal specification of an encapsulation process in industrial production systems. ADACOR is a typical holonic/collaborative manufacturing control architecture, which addresses many of the issues defined by the ARC's Collaborative Manufacturing management (CMM) model.

Abstract
This paper describes the formal modelling and validation of the behaviour of a multi-agent system that integrates the production and quality control processes in a washing machine production line. The modelling, analysis and validation process uses the Petri nets formalism that provides a rigorous and formal language based on its powerful mathematical foundation, supporting the complete verification of the system correctness during the design phase and before to proceed to the deployment phase. The behaviour models of each agent belonging to the system architecture are edited, analysed and simulated in the PnDK framework.

Abstract
This paper introduces an approach to decision support systems in service-oriented automation control systems, which considers the knowledge extracted from the Petri nets models used to describe and execute the process behavior. Such solution optimizes the decision-making taking into account multi-criteria, namely productive parameters and also energy parameters. In fact, being manufacturing processes typically energy-intensive, this allows contributing for a clean and saving environment (i.e. a better and efficient use of energy). The preliminary experimental results, using a real laboratorial case study, demonstrate the applicability of the knowledge extracted from the Petri nets models to support real-time decision-making systems in service-oriented automation systems, considering some energy efficiency criteria.

Abstract
In the evolvable manufacturing world we are moving towards systems made of small intelligent interacting units which make their own decisions independently from a centralized decision maker. System intelligence will be the collective intelligence resulting from a large number of individual decision, each one based on its local knowledge. In our paper we present the Ubiquitous Production Systems and Enterprises (UPSE) whose foundations can be found in two main scientific areas/disciplines, (1) Ubiquitous Computing Systems and (2) Virtual and Networked Enterprises and Organizations. We present the concept and the underlying formal model as well as our positioning in the state of the art of similar concepts. Finally we present some ongoing experiments that will work as a testbed for the UPSE concept.

Abstract
Service-oriented Computing (SOC) is being applied in industrial manufacturing automation to face the current demand for modular, flexible and reconfigurable solutions. Highlighted from the other existing methodologies, SOC may carry an alternative but natural solution to design and engineer manufacturing automation systems and consequently the ability to seamless integrate into the modern IT-enterprise. However, SOC still has a long way to be adopted by industrial solutions, mainly fulfilling the particularities of the manufacturing domain. This paper discusses the applicability of the SOC in industrial manufacturing automation by using a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. The discussed aspects show the great potential of SOC to solve industrial manufacturing automation problems, but also the need to smooth some sharp edges.