Real-time operations and tool selection in single stage multimachine systems

This paper addresses operation/tool selection problems in a single-stage multi-machine manufacturing environment where the tools are dynamically shared among machines. A real-time operation selection method is presented where operations and their corresponding tools are selected on a real-time basis while the parts are being processed. Coordination of the operations (of several machines) in terms of tool requirements is a key decision process. Part flexibility is incorporated in the operation selection decision. The problem is formulated as a minimum cost flow network model. Simulation experiments are performed to verify the performance of flexible process planning and the proposed operation selection method.