Cloud-based design and manufacturing: Status and promise

The information technology industry has benefited considerably from cloud computing, which allows organizations to shed some of their expensive information technology infrastructure and shifts computing costs to more manageable operational expenses. In light of these benefits, we propose a new paradigm for product design and manufacturing, referred to as cloud-based design and manufacturing (CBDM). This chapter introduces a definition and vision for CBDM, articulates the differences and similarities between CBDM and traditional paradigms such as web- and agent-based technologies, highlights the fundamentals of CBDM, and presents a prototype system, developed at Georgia Tech, called the Design and Manufacturing Cloud (DMCloud). Finally, we conclude this chapter with an outline of future research directions.