An integrated approach to multi-criteria design and control of manufacturing systems using simulation and goal-regression

In this paper we discuss the issue of multi-criteria design and control of manufacturing systems. We also trace the development of domain-independent non-linear planners from the field of artificial intelligence. These planners automate the task of generating a sequence of actions to achieve a specified goal. The problem of conjunctive goal planning is addressed, and a parallel drawn with the design and control of manufacturing systems where multiple criteria are to be satisfied. The inability of existing approaches to facilitate optimization across multiple performance criteria is also highlighted. Finally, to ameliorate the problem an integrated approach based on goal-regression and simulation is proposed. To facilitate conflict-resolution across multiple goals, a new algorithm is developed. The approach is tested on different configurations of test systems and found to perform satisfactorily for manufacturing systems with fairly large sets of defining variables.