Intelligence in the Network: Manufacturing

In many ways the present generation of NMS (i.e., NMS/EMS and SNMP entities/ agents ) exhibit some similarity to the problems attached to the automation and control of manufacturing systems in the 1980s and 1990s. The paucity of local intelligence in manufacturing systems put a great strain on centralized management and control systems, and the need for distributed intelligence was compelling.

One solution to those problems was to use local intelligence in networked controllers (similar to SNMP agents). The latter would then use local sensors and low-cost processing power wherever it was needed rather than in a central location. These distributed controllers then only reported serious problems back to a central supervisory management system. This arrangement freed the central management system to perform more complex (and centralized) calculations, such as scheduling production runs and reporting on scrap.

It is increasingly likely that a similar approach will be needed for NMS, that is, more and more agent intelligence. PBNM provides a basis for this by allowing for NEs to take some control responsibility. The FTN MIB provides an SNMP-based example of policy usage.