D McFarlane

Papers

Total Citations

147

H-Index

About

D. McFarlane is a researcher whose work sits at the intersection of manufacturing systems engineering, control architecture design, and intelligent automation. Best known for pioneering contributions to holonic manufacturing systems, McFarlane has helped shape how modern production environments are designed to handle rapid change and reconfigurability. His most influential work, "A holonic component-based approach to reconfigurable manufacturing control architecture" (2002), introduced the Holonic Component-Based Architecture (HCBA) framework, which has garnered 95 citations and remains a foundational reference for engineers seeking flexible, adaptive control systems. By translating abstract holonic principles — where autonomous, cooperative units work together hierarchically — into practical, implementable architectures, McFarlane bridged a critical gap between theory and industrial application. His subsequent research extended these ideas into robotic assembly cell control, demonstrating how team-based and component-based holonic approaches can govern complex, real-world automation environments. With consistent contributions across multiple studies from 2002 to 2004, McFarlane's body of work has meaningfully advanced the field of intelligent manufacturing control, offering researchers and engineers robust frameworks for building production systems capable of meeting the demands of an ever-changing industrial landscape.