Development of a Microservice Orchestrator for decentralised smart manufacturing systems

This paper investigates the development and application of a Decentralised Microservice Orchestrator (DMO) as a potential enabling technology for Industry 4.0 (I4.0) smart manufacturing systems. The DMO leverages containerisation, peer-to-peer networking, and distributed intelligence to achieve modular, fault-tolerant control without reliance on a centralised controller. The presented proof-of-concept integrates Docker-based microservices, Hashicorp Serf gossip communication, and a custom distributed database architecture to manage service allocation and recovery across a network of industrial edge devices. Implemented within the Laboratory for Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing Systems (LISMS), the system demonstrated leaderless orchestration, real-time health monitoring, and autonomous reallocation of services following device failures. These capabilities represent a step toward fully decentralised cyber–physical production systems (CPPS) and improved system robustness. The results indicate that decentralised orchestration presents a viable and lightweight pathway toward achieving I4.0 goals of modularity, flexibility, and resilience—though further research is essential to translate such academic prototypes into industry-ready solutions. • DMO enables leaderless orchestration for smart manufacturing. • P2P gossip networking eliminates single points of failure. • Autonomous service recovery and reallocation after failures. • Proof-of-concept tested with Raspberry Pi-based industrial robots.