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VAT documents [form ID, year, period],
Environmental taxes [form ID, year, period],
Local taxes [form ID, year, period].
Also, in the current release only one virtual image is utilized in the cloud
environment. However, as the number of clients is expected to grow, the number of
images will also be expanded in the future.
19.4 Gateways for Manufacturing and Engineering
Simulations
Simulation is widely used in both academic research and industry practice to model
phenomena that could be too expensive, complicated, or unfeasible to study
otherwise. Simulation can be used to analyze a wide range of physical and chemical
processes, manufacturing systems, logistics, transportation networks, and supply
chains, for example. Larger companies widely utilize various simulation software
products supporting their design or manufacturing operations. However, the take-up
of simulation solutions at SMEs is still relatively low.
The main reason why SMEs do not engage in simulation is the high entry barrier
to these solutions. Not only must the company purchase an expensive software
license, but they must also have or pay for speci
c expertise in designing and
implementing the simulation model applied. Large-scale simulation also requires
robust computing resources to run parallelized or parameter sweep simulation
scenarios. Purchasing the necessary licenses, expertise and equipment
is way
beyond the capabilities of an average SME.
Cloud-based Simulation Platform for Manufacturing and Engineering
(CloudSME) is a European research and development project that started in July
2013 with the aim of building a cloud-based simulation platform and one-stop-shop
solution for manufacturing and engineering SMEs. Cloud computing has the
potential to provide the necessary resources to run simulation applications on a pay-
as-you-go basis, signi
cantly reducing entry barriers. Moreover, cloud computing
also provides the necessary service provisioning models to build and consume
simulation solutions in a feasible way for SMEs. End-users of the CloudSME
Simulation Platform, manufacturing and engineering SMEs, can access the solu-
tions as Software as a Service (SaaS). The SaaS solution represents a ready-to-use
simulation product and model
fits to their requirements and that can be
purchased from the cloud on demand. Simulation software provider companies,
typically also SMEs, can exploit the CloudSME Simulation Platform as Platform as
a Service (PaaS). These simulation providers can use a cloud-based toolkit to build
new SaaS solutions for their end-users.
The CloudSME Simulation Platform is built on top of the WS-PGRADE/gUSE
framework and the CloudBroker platform. In the first phase of the project, four
different simulation software packages are ported to the cloud-based platform
that
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