Modelling a Solid-Waste Processing System by Discrete Event Simulation

This paper describes a discrete event simulation model for a solid-waste processing system which is to be installed in Zagreb, Croatia. The conceptual model was developed by activity cycle diagrams, and the computer model was developed using the program generation software package VS6. This paper describes the validation and verification of such a model, the design of simulation experiments and the selection of the system's configuration.     

Modeling fuzzy information in UML class diagrams and object-oriented database models

Conceptual data modeling has become essential for non-traditional application areas. Some conceptual data models have been proposed as tools for database design and object-oriented database modeling. Information in real-world applications is often vague or ambiguous. Currently, a little research is underway on modeling the imprecision and uncertainty in conceptual data modeling and the conceptual design of fuzzy databases. The unified modeling language (UML) is a set of object-oriented modeling notations and a standard of the object management group (OMG) with applications to many areas of software engineering and knowledge engineering, increasingly including data modeling. This paper introduces different levels of fuzziness into the class of UML and presents the corresponding graphical representations, with the result that UML class diagrams may model fuzzy information. The fuzzy UML data model is also formally mapped into the fuzzy object-oriented database model.     

Multi-level scheduling decisions in a class of FMS using simulation based metamodels

This paper pertains to a detailed simulation study conducted on a typical Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS). Initially, the configurations of the FMS under study have been established. Two types of FMSs have been evolved: one is failure free and the other is failure prone. For each of these cases, simulation models have been developed using SLAMSYSTEM. Orders arriving randomly at the FMS are subjected to three levels of scheduling decisions namely, launching of parts into the system, routing of parts through machines and sequencing of parts on AGVs at a central buffer. The simulation results have been used to develop metamodels for the two types of FMSs. These metamodels have been subjected to statistical analysis to ascertain their adequacy to represent the simulation models. These metamodels have been found to be useful for simulating the FMSs under study so as to evaluate various multi-level scheduling decisions in the FMS.     

Experimental design and regression analysis in simulation: An FMS case study

The machine mix for a particular FMS, the number of machines performing each of three operations and the number of machines performing any of the three operations (flexible machines), is input to an FMS simulation. An intuitively selected combination of these four inputs are compared to a 2⁴⁻¹ fractional factorial design. The throughput predicted by the simulation is analyzed through two different regression models. These models are validated. A regression model in two inputs including their interaction, gives valid predictions and stable explanations.     

A global MILP model for FMS scheduling

Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) require intelligent scheduling strategies to achieve their principal benefit — combining high flexibility with high productivity. A mixed-integer linear programming model (MILP) is presented here for FMS scheduling. The model takes a global view of the problem and specifically takes into account constraints on storage and transportation. Both of these constrained resources are critical for practical FMS scheduling problems and are difficult to model. The MILP model is explained and justified and its complexity is discussed. Two heuristic procedures are developed, based on an analysis of the global MILP model. Computational results are presented comparing the performance of the different solution strategies. The development of iterative global heuristics based on mathematical programming formulations is advocated for a wide class of FMS scheduling problems.     

A supervisory control paradigm for real-time control of flexible manufacturing systems

Most of the current academic flexible manufacturing system (FMS) scheduling research has focused on the derivation of algorithms or knowledge-based techniques for efficient FMS real-time control. Here, the limitations of this view are outlined with respect to effective control of actual real-time FMS operation. A more realistic paradigm for real-time FMS control is presented, based on explicit engineering of human and automated control functions and system interfaces. To illustrate design principles within the conceptual model, an example of algorithmic and operator function models for a specific real-time FMS control problem are developed.Portions of this paper have appeared in: Proc. 2nd ORSA/TIMS Conf. on Flexible Manufacturing Systems: Operations Research Models and Applications, Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 12–15, 1986, and Proc. 1986 Int. Conf. on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Atlanta, Georgia, October 14–17, 1986.This research was supported in part by the New Faculty Research Program of the Georgia Institute of Technology.     

Solving the AGV Problem via a Self-Organizing Neural Network

Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV)-based material handling systems (MHS) are used widely in Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS). The problem of AGV consists of the decisions and the operational control strategies of dispatching, routeing and scheduling of a set of AGVs under given system environments and operational objectives. One remaining challenge is to develop effective methods of AGV decisions for improved system productivity. This paper describes a prototype neural network approach for the AGV problem in an FMS environment. A group of neural network models are proposed to perform dispatching and routeing tasks for the AGV under conditions of single or multiple vehicles, and with or without time windows. The goal is to satisfy the transport requests in the shortest time and in a non-conflicting manner, subject to the global manufacturing objectives. Based on Kohonen's self-organizing feature maps, we have developed efficient algorithms for the AGVs decisions, and simulation results have been very encouraging.     

Hierarchical Stochastic Production Planning with Delay Interaction

This paper explores the problem of hierarchical stochastic production planning (HSPP) for flexible automated workshops (FAWs), each consisting of a number of flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs). The objective is to devise a production plan which tells each FMS how many parts to produce and when to produce them so as to simultaneously minimize the amount of work in progress, maximize the machine utilization, and satisfy demands for finished products over a finite horizon of N time periods. Here, the problem formulation includes not only uncertainty in demand, capacities, and material supply (which is standard in the literature), but also uncertainties in processing times, rework, and waste products. It considers also multiple products and multiple time periods. This is in contrast to most work which looks at either a single periods or at an infinite horizon. The delay interaction aspect arises from taking into account the transportation of parts between FMSs. Apparently, any job which requires processing on more than one FMS cannot be transported directly from one FMS to the next. Instead, a semifinished product completed in one period must be put into shop storage until some future time period at which it can be transported to the next FMS for further processing. Herein, a stochastic interaction/prediction algorithm is developed by using standard calculus of variations techniques. By means of the software package developed, many HSPP examples have been studied, showing that the algorithm is very effective.     

A pattern-directed approach to FMS scheduling

Scheduling in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) must take into account the shorter lead time, the multiprocessing environment, and the dynamically changing states. In this paper, a pattern-directed approach is presented which incorporates a nonlinear planning method developed in the artificial intelligence field. The scheduling system described here is knowledge-based and utilizes both forward-and backward-chaining for generating schedules (treated as state-space plans). The pattern-directed approach is dynamically adjustable and thus can handle scheduling requirements unique to the FMS environment, such as dynamic scheduling, failure-recovery scheduling, or prioritized scheduling for meeting deadlines.     

Intermediate Generality Simulation Software for Production

Simulation has long been a valuable tool in the field of production. With the current and anticipated developments in computing equipment, there is a demand for simulation software, which can be used by managers to investigate specific classes of problems. The O.R. profession should involve itself in the identification of suitable areas and the development of appropriate software. Two such areas where simulation software is being developed are discussed: production planning in a batch environment and the investigation of advanced manufacturing systems.     

Experimental investigation of real-time scheduling in flexible manufacturing systems

This paper presents a new two-phase (TP) approximate method for real-time scheduling in a flexible manufacturing system (FMS). This method combines a reduced enumeration schedule generation algorithm with a 0–1 optimization algorithm. In order to make the combined algorithm practicable, heuristic rules are introduced for the selection of jobs to be scheduled. The relative performance of the TP method vis-a-vis conventional heuristic dispatching rules such as SPT, LPT, FCFS, MWKR, and LWKR is investigated using combined process-interaction/discrete-event simulation models. An efficient experimental procedure is designed and implemented using these models, and the statistical analysis of the results is presented. For the particular case investigated, the conclusions are very encouraging. In terms of mean flow time, the TP method performs significantly better than any other tested heuristic dispatching rules. Also, the experimental results show that using global information significantly improves the FMS performance.     

Batching and routing: Two functions in the operational planning of flexible manufacturing systems

The success of a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) is based on many factors such as the appropriate selection of parts, machine tools and material handling systems, effective planning and a full specification of the control software. In particular, planning must be carried out effectively at many different levels. The production operations of FMS's are planned at one of these levels, and this paper presents a new functional structure for this planning task, called operational planning. Four operational planning functions are identified: batching, routing, dispatching and sequencing. The models that are used to represent the batching and routing problems are presented in detail. The models are formulated as mixed integer programming models, which broadly specify the capacity constraints of the FMS, enabling the decision-maker to look for planning alternatives in a variable time horizon. Results are derived using data from an existing FMS.     

A Petri net approach to the modelling and analysis of flexible manufacturing systems

In this paper we present an approach for modelling and analyzing flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) using Petri nets. In this approach, we first build a Petri net model (PNM) of the given FMS in a bottom-up fashion and then analyze important qualitative aspects of FMS behaviour such as existence/absence of deadlocks and buffer overflows. The basis for our approach is a theorem we state and prove for computing the invariants of the union of a finite number of Petri nets when the invariants of the individual nets are known. We illustrate our approach using two typical manufacturing systems: an automated transfer line and a simple FMS.A shorter version of this paper was presented at the 1st ORSA/TIMS Special Interest Conference on FMSs, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, August 1984.     

An efficient method to determine the optimal configuration of a flexible manufacturing system

A frequently encountered design issue for a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is to find the lowest cost configuration, i.e. the number of resources of each type (machines, pallets, ...), which achieves a given production rate. In this paper, an efficient method to determine this optimal configuration is presented. The FMS is modelled as a closed queueing network. The proposed procedure first derives a heuristic solution and then the optimal solution. The computational complexity for finding the optimal solution is very reasonable even for large systems, except in some extreme cases. Moreover, the heuristic solution can always be determined and is very close (and often equal) to the optimal solution. A comparison with the previous method of Vinod and Solberg shows that our method performs very well.     

Neural network metamodeling for cycle time-throughput profiles in manufacturing

This paper proposed a neural network (NN) metamodeling method to generate the cycle time (CT)–throughput (TH) profiles for single/multi-product manufacturing environments. Such CT–TH profiles illustrate the trade-off relationship between CT and TH, the two critical performance measures, and hence provide a comprehensive performance evaluation of a manufacturing system. The proposed methods distinct from the existing NN metamodeling work in three major aspects: First, instead of treating an NN as a black box, the geometry of NN is examined and utilized; second, a progressive model-fitting strategy is developed to obtain the simplest-structured NN that is adequate to capture the CT–TH relationship; third, an experiment design method, particularly suitable to NN modeling, is developed to sequentially collect simulation data for the efficient estimation of the NN models.     

Queueing Models for Optimizing System Availability of a Flexible Manufacturing System

This research investigates two maintenance float models in a flexible manufacturing system (FMS). We use classical queueing theory to study the characteristics of the fractional utilization of the system. A mathematical program is constructed to determine the optimal number of floats of an important module used in the FMS and the optimal capacity of the repair station.