Versatile, Integrated Production with Virtual Elements

In order to increase their competitiveness, companies optimize their production by adaption of the structure to the requirements of the technology and market. On the other hand, they try to fulfil specific requirements by extreme customer orientation and manufacturing on demand. This leads to new organizational structures and manufacturing systems. Their characteristics are: autonomous manufacturing cells, fractal units, adaptive systems, dynamic and agile management, self-optimization and self-control, customer-specific order management, communication networks. Particularly "manufacturing on demand" and the order management in production networks with virtual elements require new methods. This paper deals with the management of networks with virtual elements and methods for order management which are based on the principles of dynamic integration between fractal units in production networks (agents).