The US National Research Council in a recently released study has identified reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS) as one of top priority technologies in manufacturing in the near future. An RMS theoretically consists of a variety of reconfigurable constituent systems and components (e.g., production lines, machines, controllers, interfaces, and material handlers), as well as methodologies for their systematic design, development, deployment, and diagnosis/maintenance, aiming at making production capacity capable of being rapidly adjusted to fluctuations in product demand and manufacturing functionality. To deploy an RMS, it is necessary to have information systems capable of delivering accurate and pertinent data, information, and/or knowledge to the proper users (e.g., process controllers, staff, operators, technicians, and clients) at the right time, so tasks on hand can be best performed, or informed decisions such as intelligence maintenances made operationally, tactically, or strategically. To delivery the promises on ordered products, there is an intense pressure on manufacturing industry to eliminate costly unscheduled shutdown maintenances and reduce the failures of production systems. In the exploration of more efficient maintenance and service strategies, the approaches of condition-based proactive maintenance; collaborative maintenance; remote maintenance and service support; provision for real-time information access, and integration of production with maintenance have evolved into a new phenomenon called e-maintenance to meet the needs of the future e-world. This paper introduces the emerging field of e-maintenance by studying its critical elements in support of the deployment of next generation manufacturing systems. For instance, industrial wireless technology and artificial intelligence are two of the enabling technologies in the realization of e-maintenance. The technical issues and challenges involved for deploying these technologies in e-maintenance platform are explained. Finally, a framework for practical implementations is presented in a great detail.
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