The Essence of Cloud Manufacturing

Abstract

Cloud manufacturing is a service-oriented, knowledge-based smart manufacturing system. It is integrated with cloud computing technology, Internet of Things, and high-performance computing. Through cloud manufacturing, manufacturing resources (such as manufacturing software tools, manufacturing equipment, and manufacturing capabilities) are “virtualized” and offered as consumable in the same way as electricity, gas, and water. The manufacturing resources are provided to users as services over the Internet (cloud) in a pay-as-you-go manner. This paper presents a brief introduction to cloud manufacturing.