The Essence of Cloud Manufacturing Matthew N. O. Sadiku1*, Tolulope J. Ashaolu2, Abayomi Ajayi-Majebi3 and Sarhan M. Musa1 Abstract Cloud manufacturing is a service-oriented, knowledge-based smart manufacturing system. It is integrated with cloud computing technology, Internet of Things, and high-performance computing. Through cloud manufacturing, manufacturing resources (such as manufacturing software