Part dispatching and machine loading in flexible manufacturing systems using central queues

This paper describes a dispatching approach for FMSs where all parts are stored in a central buffer. When a machine becomes available, a part from the buffer, which can be processed by that machine, will be dispatched. If there is more than one candidate part, one part will be selected according to pre-determined loading rules. Results of the simulation experiments, used to compare the performance of the proposed dispatching algorithm with the traditional approach where parts were sent directly to the local machine buffers, which have been pre-selected during the process planning stage, show that the proposed dispatching approach outperforms as the traditional one with respect to makespans, average flow time, and average tardiness. Makespans are improved by 22% while average flow time and tardiness are improved by 15% and 30% respectively. Machine failures and loading rules have also been shown to have less impact on the proposed dispatching algorithm than the traditional one.