Easing the implementation and change of manufacturing software systems

The software systems that underpin contemporary manufacturing enterprises can become the single most inflexible part of an enterprise, constraining a business that has to evolve. This paper describes an approach to manufacturing software system creation which supports system evolution. It is based on the notion that raising the level of the computing infrastructure through the use of a domain machine, can remove the need to transform the clear abstractions and decomposition identified during design into the incomprehensible maze of programming language constructs which prove difficult to maintain.

The paper provides a comparison between two implementations of a system to control a printed circuit board manufacturing line, one based on a conventional approach and the other based on the authors manufacturing domain machine. Ease of change enabled by the domain machine is illustrated through measuring the degree of modification required to each system when incorporating a new solder paste print machine in the production line.