The present
subject matter relates to a method comprising creating, in a
distributed manufacturing automation system (100, 200),
overlay networks (300, 400, 500, 600) having nodes, where each of the
overlay networks (300, 400, 500, 600) spans one or more levels (101, 113, 115, 117) of an
automation pyramid, where the nodes represent
system resources of a network (130, 133, 135, 137) of the
system (100, 200). An application may be created for performing a manufacturing task. Applications may be partitioned into application components according to predefined functionality and information streams, where the application components belong to one or more levels (101, 113, 115, 117) of the
automation pyramid. One or more
overlay networks (300, 400, 500, 600) that enable execution of the application components may be selected. A connection to the selected
overlay network (300, 400, 500, 600) may be established. The application components may be deployed in the selected overlay networks (300, 400, 500, 600) using the established connections. The application may be used to plan and / or control manufacturing in the
distributed manufacturing automation system (100, 200).