Glossary · System coordination, integration and orchestration
Resource coordination
German: Ressourcenkoordination
In automation and production systems, resource coordination is the overall management of shared resources, including their allocation, arbitration, locking, reservation and release, so that tasks and machines can use them efficiently and without conflicts.
- System integration
In one sentence
Resource coordination manages shared resources, including allocation, arbitration, locking, reservation and release, to avoid conflicts.
Example
A cell controller coordinates a shared robot, a tool magazine and a measurement station between two machining centers, reserving them for each job step.
How it applies
- Engineering: Treat resource coordination as a design topic of its own: list the shared resources, their owners and the rules for requesting, holding and releasing them. Consistent patterns across machines reduce integration effort.
- Commissioning: Test fault cases: a holder that crashes while owning a resource, lost release signals and restarts after a power failure.
- Operation: Operators and maintenance staff need to see who holds which resource and a safe way to release resources manually after a fault.
- Documentation: Include an overview of shared resources and coordination rules in the system description, and document the manual release procedure with its preconditions.
Resource coordination vs. resource allocation
Resource allocation is one part of resource coordination: assigning resources to tasks. Coordination also covers arbitration of conflicts, locking during use and release afterward.