In Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) automated production lines are composed of autonomous manufacturing cells connected by tool and part transportation systems. In an ongoing project with a large manufacturer of equipment for numerical and robotic control (NC and RC) it is investigated, how databases can be applied in computer hierarchies for FMSs. To bring databases and FMSs together a conceptual framework is needed at the beginning. In the first part of the paper a FMS is described in some detail. Then an abstraction hierarchy for relevant objects is developed. Finally a conceptual framework for data distribution in a computer hierarchy is specified.

In this paper a method is proposed how to achieve response times of main memory database systems without keeping the whole database in main memory. The method was originally developed for real-time systems in manufacturing automation, but it is applicable in environments where canned transactions interact with databases rather than people performing free transactions. The main idea is to preanalyse canned transactions in order to extract knowledge about their local access behaviour. This knowledge is used by the runtime system of the database when the transaction is started. Concepts for modules doing the preanalysis and the runtime tasks are described in detail. Furthermore a database architecture is developed incorporating these new components.