A case for intelligent representations of dynamic resources in simulation

Computer simulation has been widely used in the investigation and evaluation of manufacturing systems design and alternatives. However, the simulation model cannot completely encompass the dynamic and stochastic aspects of the real-life system. In this paper, a new multiple type knowledge based method to model machine and labour without introducing additional complexity is proposed. This method integrates fuzzy and precise symbolic knowledge, deterministic and stochastic numerical knowledge to efficiently take all dynamic and stochastic attributes into consideration. A final assembly line for hard disk drive assembly containing four operators and one machine is presented to demonstrate the improvement of the simulation results and the efficiency of the proposed approach as compared with conventional simulation modelling,