Genetics and intelligence: new approaches in production engineering.

Parts which inherently store data about their fabrication and find their own way through the production, or, machine components that autonomously monitor themselves and arrange inspections as required may still sound like a vision of the future. Nonetheless, in the Collaborative Research Centre 653 ‘Gentelligent Components in their Lifecycle—Utilisation of Inheritable Component Information in Production Engineering’ they will soon be a reality. Transferring characteristics that are similar to those found in nature to industrial production will lead to a paradigm shift in the development and manufacturing of prospective components. This paper presents the techniques and methods that enable this new approach in production engineering by transferring biological principles from the field of genetics into the manufacturing environment.