An application of discrete-event simulation to on-line control and scheduling in flexible manufacturing

The on-line control and scheduling of flexible manufacturing systems has been a major interest in the production research area since these systems first appeared. In this paper, a scheduling algorithm is described which employs discrete simulation in combination with straightforward part dispatching rules in a dynamic fashion. The result is that, instead of scheduling being planned ahead of time and then being applied to a rapidly changing system, a dispatching rule is determined for each short period just before the implementation time occurs. In the long run, the algorithm combines various dispatching rules in response to the dynamic status of the system. The algorithm is described in detail. The efficacy of the algorithm is discussed and demonstrated on a prototype system.