在網路寬頻的支援下，協同設計系統成為企業快速反應市場需求的利器。協同設計系統的應用技術，主要可以分為兩個部份，第一部份為協同設計系統之資料處理與展示，主要包括產品資料管理、產品構型管理與產品展示技術；第二部份為協同設計系統之管理與控制，主要是以建構協同設計之工作流程管理為主，並藉以達到績效管理與時效控制上之需求。
本研究以建構疏鬆耦合協同設計之工作流程為焦點，主要目標為應用智慧型代理人技術，發展可運作於分散式環境下之自發性協同設計工作流程管理。研究歷程分為三個階段，第一階段是以美國工作流程管理聯盟(WfMC)國際工作流程參考模型為基礎，發展通用性流程定義機制模型，將工作流程元件定義為訊息(message)、文件(document)、作業(task)、流程樣板(workflow template)四種元件，藉由此四個元件彈性組合成各種不同的流程樣板。系統並建構了流程監控機制，以了解流程之執行狀態；第二階段則以發展第一階段之支援活動為主要目標，從客服中心觀點，探討支援協同設計可應用之技術與管理支援。第三階段是延伸第一階段的研究成果，以分散式協同設計運作環境為設計目標，運用智慧型代理人技術，建立分散式環境下之資訊傳遞溝通的機制，並以資源描述架構(RDF)與延伸標記語言(XML)標準建構流程元件，流程系統只要嵌入此資源描述架構流程元件，就能在網際網路上進行流程資料之交換及溝通，克服異質平台流程系統的溝通技術問題。
本研究之價值，在於發展彈性工作流程建構技術與流程監控機制，並以智慧型代理人技術，建立分散式環境下之資訊傳遞溝通機制，同時用資源描述架構(RDF)╱延伸標記語言(XML)流程元件，克服異質平台流程系統的溝通問題，可作為不同平台間之溝通元件標準，對於系統工作流程應用整合有直接的效益。

Under the support of network capacity, collaborative design system has become the sharp tool for quick response to the time-to-market for enterprise in distributed environment. The technique of implementing the collaborative design system can be divided into two parts: data process and presentation of the collaborative design system which includes Product Data Management (PDM), product configuration management and product presentation technique, and management and control of the collaborative design system in constructing workflow management system within it in order to fulfill the requirements of management and time control.
In this research, we focus on developing the loose-coupled collaborative workflow management system with the intelligent agent technology in the distributed environment. There are three stages in our research. The first stage is to develop a general process definition mechanism modeling technology based upon the WfMC workflow reference model. Defining the workflow elements as message, task, and process, with which combined into various workflow templates flexibly. Further we define the workflow monitoring mechanism in controlling workflow status. In our second stage, we develop the support activity for the first stage in studying the applicable technology and managerial support of the collaborative system with the point of view of contact center. For the third stage, we have the distributed collaborative design environment as our design goal by extending the general process definition mechanism modeling technology developed from the first stage. With the mechanism of information communication constructed by agent technology, the process elements, built with RDF, can be applied to other workflow platforms.
The contribution of our research is to develop a dynamic and autonomous workflow constructing technology and process control mechanism. The intelligent agent technology is applied to build the information communication mechanism with distributed environment. Futher, the RDF/XML process elements are adopted to solve the communication compatibility problems among heterogeneous platforms in order to enhance the effectiveness of workflows.

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