An efficient resource-searching method in manufacturing grid

The manufacturing grid (MG) is the next generation of networked manufacturing. In the manufacturing grid, how to find the best manufacturing resource for the task is especially important because the quantity and the types of resources are numerous. Exhaustive searching method, centralized searching method, and routing transfer method are three typical resource-searching methods in the traditional networked manufacturing system. In order to improve the efficiency of searching for resources in the manufacturing grid, a hierarchy-searching model is built, and accordingly, the algorithm is proposed based on analyzing the limitation of the traditional resource-searching method applied into the manufacturing grid. It is verified that the model and the algorithm are efficient by comparing with the other three typical resource-searching methods.