1. 1 Hot DAML: Electronic Commerce Gateway David E. Anyiwo Bowie State University July 18, 2001

2. 2 The DAML EC Gateway The DAML EC Gateway provides consolidated access to all the business content that employees, trading partners, customers, and other stakeholders in computer manufacturing need to consummate their transactions

3. 3 Challenges in Intelligent Manufacturing Modern manufacturing enterprises constantly handle thousands of different-size parts and products in various stages of production, and are often confronted with the complex logistical challenge of determining the best path in the supply chain for each part. This challenge is further complicated by the unpredictable behavior of the supply chain as participants interact in a rapidly changing environment.

4. 4 The Hot DAML Concept The intent of proposed Hot DAML effort is to build an open, dynamic electronic commerce architecture and develop advanced e-business tools that provide unified access to fully described business content and also facilitate the derivation of the optimum paths for various components in the supply chain. Agent technology will be used to develop such tools.

5. 5 The Hot DAML Thrust The central thrust of the effort is on the design, development, and deployment of agent-based tools that offer several layers of seamless service and enable distributed agile manufacturing processes in the computer and other industries.

6. 6 Scheduling Coordination The DAML tools on the EC Gateway will apply agent technology in the coordination of production schedules with shipment logistics in the computer industry value chain. These agents will require a dynamic knowledge base (KB) to support rapid market responsiveness.

7. 7 Integrated Knowledge Base To build the required integrated KB, agents will be trained to apply appropriate Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) techniques to production planning, supply chain integration, as well as concurrent scheduling and execution control in a dynamic manufacturing environment.

8. 8 Anticipated Benefits It is expected that the enhanced DAML EC Gateway will enable businesses to apply more efficient production methods and save more than 25 percent of their current logistical costs.