Knowledge-based process planning for economical re-scheduling in production control

Nowadays, high flexibility and responsiveness towards capacity adjustments are key to successful production planning and control in manufacturing. Moreover, many companies – especially job shops – have to deal with short-term re-scheduling. This article presents an approach for knowledge-based process planning to enable an economic evaluation of re-scheduling in the manufacturing system. For that purpose, the manufacturing costs for each workpiece are calculated based on determined parameter sets and process time under consideration of potential capacity adjustments. The knowledge-based process planning is necessary to derive reliable process times for re-scheduling and cost calculating. Hence, a pre-study is carried out to define flexible machine learning algorithms for knowledge-based process planning. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

On-line planning and scheduling: an application to controlling modular printers

We present a case study of artificial intelligence techniques applied to the control of production printing equipment. Like many other real-world applications, this complex domain requires high-speed autonomous decision-making and robust continual operation. To our knowledge, this work represents the first successful industrial application of embedded domain-independent temporal planning. Our system handles execution failures and multi-objective preferences. At its heart is an on-line algorithm that combines techniques from state-space planning and partial-order scheduling. We suggest that this general architecture may prove useful in other applications as more intelligent systems operate in continual, on-line settings. Our system has been used to drive several commercial prototypes and has enabled a new product architecture for our industrial partner. When compared with state-of-the-art off-line planners, our system is hundreds of times faster and often finds better plans. Our experience demonstrates that domain-independent AI planning based on heuristic search can flexibly handle time, resources, replanning, and multiple objectives in a high-speed practical application without requiring hand-coded control knowledge

Autonomous Finite Capacity Scheduling using Biological Control Principles

The vast majority of the research efforts in finite capacity scheduling over the past several years has focused on the generation of precise and almost exact measures for the working schedule presupposing complete information and a deterministic environment. During execution, however, production may be the subject of considerable variability, which may lead to frequent schedule interruptions. Production scheduling mechanisms are developed based on centralised control architecture in which all of the knowledge base and databases are modelled at the same location. This control architecture has difficulty in handling complex manufacturing systems that require knowledge and data at different locations. Adopting biological control principles refers to the process where a schedule is developed prior to the start of the processing after considering all the parameters involved at a resource involved and updated accordingly as the process executes. This research reviews the best practices in gene transcription and translation control methods and adopts these principles in the development of an autonomous finite capacity scheduling control logic aimed at reducing excessive use of manual input in planning tasks. With autonomous decision-making functionality, finite capacity scheduling will as much as practicably possible be able to respond autonomously to schedule disruptions by deployment of proactive scheduling procedures that may be used to revise or re-optimize the schedule when unexpected events occur. The novelty of this work is the ability of production resources to autonomously take decisions and the same way decisions are taken by autonomous entities in the process of gene transcription and translation. The idea has been implemented by the integration of simulation and modelling techniques with Taguchi analysis to investigate the contributions of finite capacity scheduling factors, and determination of the ‘what if’ scenarios encountered due to the existence of variability in production processes. The control logic adopts the induction rules as used in gene expression control mechanisms, studied in biological systems. Scheduling factors are identified to that effect and are investigated to find their effects on selected performance measurements for each resource in used. How they are used to deal with variability in the process is one major objective for this research as it is because of the variability that autonomous decision making becomes of interest. Although different scheduling techniques have been applied and are successful in production planning and control, the results obtained from the inclusion of the autonomous finite capacity scheduling control logic has proved that significant improvement can still be achieved

Guidelines for the deployment and implementation of manufacturing scheduling systems

It has frequently been stated that there exists a gap between production scheduling theory and practice. In order to put theoretical findings into practice, advances in scheduling models and solution procedures should be embedded into a piece of software - a scheduling system - in companies. This results in a process that entails (1) determining its functional features, and (2) adopting a successful strategy for its development and deployment. In this paper we address the latter question and review the related literature in order to identify descriptions and recommendations of the main aspects to be taken into account when developing such systems. These issues are then discussed and classified, resulting in a set of guidelines that can help practitioners during the process of developing and deploying a scheduling system. In addition, identification of these issues can provide some insights to drive theoretical scheduling research towards those topics more in demand by practitioners, and thus help to close the aforementioned gap.Framiñan Torres, JM.; Ruiz García, R. (2012). Guidelines for the deployment and implementation of manufacturing scheduling systems. International Journal of Production Research. 50(7):1799-1812. doi:10.1080/00207543.2011.564670S17991812507Baek, D. H. (1999). A visualized human-computer interactive approach to job shop scheduling. International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 12(1), 75-83. doi:10.1080/095119299130489Comesaña Benavides, J. A., & Carlos Prado, J. (2002). Creating an expert system for detailed scheduling. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 22(7), 806-819. doi:10.1108/01443570210433562Bensana, E. 1986. An expert-system approach to industrial job-shop scheduling. In: Proceedings of the 1986 IEEE international conference on robotics and automation. 1986. Vol. 3, pp.1645–1650.Berglund, M., & Karltun, J. (2007). Human, technological and organizational aspects influencing the production scheduling process. International Journal of Production Economics, 110(1-2), 160-174. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2007.02.024Besbes, W., Teghem, J., & Loukil, T. (2010). Scheduling hybrid flow shop problem with non-fixed availability constraints. European J. of Industrial Engineering, 4(4), 413. doi:10.1504/ejie.2010.035652Bhattacharyya, S., & Koehler, G. J. (1998). Learning by Objectives for Adaptive Shop-Floor Scheduling. Decision Sciences, 29(2), 347-375. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1998.tb01580.xBitran, G. R., & Tirupati, D. (1988). OR Practice—Development and Implementation of a Scheduling System for a Wafer Fabrication Facility. Operations Research, 36(3), 377-395. doi:10.1287/opre.36.3.377Buxey, G. (1989). Production scheduling: Practice and theory. European Journal of Operational Research, 39(1), 17-31. doi:10.1016/0377-2217(89)90349-4Chen, J.-F. (2004). Unrelated parallel machine scheduling with secondary resource constraints. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 26(3), 285-292. doi:10.1007/s00170-003-1622-1Collinot, A., Le Pape, C., & Pinoteau, G. (1988). SONIA: A knowledge-based scheduling system. Artificial Intelligence in Engineering, 3(2), 86-94. doi:10.1016/0954-1810(88)90024-6Cowling, P. (2003). A flexible decision support system for steel hot rolling mill scheduling. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 45(2), 307-321. doi:10.1016/s0360-8352(03)00038-xDudek, R. A., Panwalkar, S. S., & Smith, M. L. (1992). The Lessons of Flowshop Scheduling Research. Operations Research, 40(1), 7-13. doi:10.1287/opre.40.1.7Dumond, E. J. (2005). Understanding and using the capabilities of finite scheduling. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 105(4), 506-526. doi:10.1108/02635570510592398Fox, M. S., & Smith, S. F. (1984). ISIS?a knowledge-based system for factory scheduling. Expert Systems, 1(1), 25-49. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0394.1984.tb00424.xFraminan, J. M., & Ruiz, R. (2010). Architecture of manufacturing scheduling systems: Literature review and an integrated proposal. European Journal of Operational Research, 205(2), 237-246. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2009.09.026Freed, T., Doerr, K. H., & Chang, T. (2007). In-house development of scheduling decision support systems: case study for scheduling semiconductor device test operations. International Journal of Production Research, 45(21), 5075-5093. doi:10.1080/00207540600818351Gao, C and Tang, L. 2008. A decision support system for color-coating line in steel industry. In: Proceedings of the IEEE international conference on automation and logistics, ICAL 2008. 2008. pp.1463–1468.Grant, T. J. (1986). Lessons for O.R. from A.I.: A Scheduling Case Study. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 37(1), 41-57. doi:10.1057/jors.1986.7Graves, S. C. (1981). A Review of Production Scheduling. Operations Research, 29(4), 646-675. doi:10.1287/opre.29.4.646HALSALL, D. N., MUHLEMANN, A. P., & PRICE, D. H. R. (1994). A review of production planning and scheduling in smaller manufacturing companies in the UK. Production Planning & Control, 5(5), 485-493. doi:10.1080/09537289408919520Higgins, P. G. (1996). Interaction in hybrid intelligent scheduling. International Journal of Human Factors in Manufacturing, 6(3), 185-203. doi:10.1002/(sici)1522-7111(199622)6:33.0.co;2-6Kanet, J. J., & Adelsberger, H. H. (1987). Expert systems in production scheduling. European Journal of Operational Research, 29(1), 51-59. doi:10.1016/0377-2217(87)90192-5Kathawala, Y., & Allen, W. R. (1993). Expert Systems and Job Shop Scheduling. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 13(2), 23-35. doi:10.1108/01443579310025286Kerr, R. M. (1992). Expert systems in production scheduling: Lessons from a failed implementation. Journal of Systems and Software, 19(2), 123-130. doi:10.1016/0164-1212(92)90063-pKnolmayer, G., Mertens, P., & Zeier, A. (2002). Supply Chain Management Based on SAP Systems. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-24816-3Leachman, R. C., Benson, R. F., Liu, C., & Raar, D. J. (1996). IMPReSS: An Automated Production-Planning and Delivery-Quotation System at Harris Corporation—Semiconductor Sector. Interfaces, 26(1), 6-37. doi:10.1287/inte.26.1.6MACCARTHY, B. L., & LIU, J. (1993). Addressing the gap in scheduling research: a review of optimization and heuristic methods in production scheduling. International Journal of Production Research, 31(1), 59-79. doi:10.1080/00207549308956713McKay, K. N., & Black, G. W. (2007). The evolution of a production planning system: A 10-year case study. Computers in Industry, 58(8-9), 756-771. doi:10.1016/j.compind.2007.02.002McKay, K. N., Safayeni, F. R., & Buzacott, J. A. (1988). Job-Shop Scheduling Theory: What Is Relevant? Interfaces, 18(4), 84-90. doi:10.1287/inte.18.4.84McKay, K. N., Morton, T. E., Ramnath, P., & Wang, J. (2000). ?Aversion dynamics? scheduling when the system changes. Journal of Scheduling, 3(2), 71-88. doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1425(200003/04)3:23.0.co;2-0MCKAY, K., PINEDO, M., & WEBSTER, S. (2009). PRACTICE-FOCUSED RESEARCH ISSUES FOR SCHEDULING SYSTEMS*. Production and Operations Management, 11(2), 249-258. doi:10.1111/j.1937-5956.2002.tb00494.xMissbauer, H., Hauber, W., & Stadler, W. (2009). A scheduling system for the steelmaking-continuous casting process. A case study from the steel-making industry. International Journal of Production Research, 47(15), 4147-4172. doi:10.1080/00207540801950136Numao, M and Morishita, S. 1989. A scheduling environment for steel-making processes. In: Proceedings of the 5th conference on artificial intelligence applications. 1989. pp.279–286.Olhager, J., & Rapp, B. (1995). Operations Research Techniques in Manufacturing Planning and Control Systems. International Transactions in Operational Research, 2(1), 29-43. doi:10.1111/j.1475-3995.1995.tb00003.xPerez-Gonzalez, P., & Framinan, J. M. (2009). Scheduling permutation flowshops with initial availability constraint: Analysis of solutions and constructive heuristics. Computers & Operations Research, 36(10), 2866-2876. doi:10.1016/j.cor.2008.12.018Pinedo, M., & Yen, B. P.-C. (1997). Annals of Operations Research, 70, 359-378. doi:10.1023/a:1018986524234Portougal, V., & Robb, D. J. (2000). Production Scheduling Theory: Just Where Is It Applicable? Interfaces, 30(6), 64-76. doi:10.1287/inte.30.6.64.11623Reisman, A., Kumar, A., & Motwani, J. (1997). Flowshop scheduling/sequencing research: a statistical review of the literature, 1952-1994. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 44(3), 316-329. doi:10.1109/17.618173Steffen, MS. 1986. A survey of artificial intelligence-based scheduling systems. In: Proceedings of the fall industrial engineering conference. 1986.Storer, R. H., Wu, S. D., & Vaccari, R. (1992). New Search Spaces for Sequencing Problems with Application to Job Shop Scheduling. Management Science, 38(10), 1495-1509. doi:10.1287/mnsc.38.10.1495Tang, L., & Wang, G. (2008). Decision support system for the batching problems of steelmaking and continuous-casting production. Omega, 36(6), 976-991. doi:10.1016/j.omega.2007.11.002T’kindt, V., Billaut, J.-C., Bouquard, J.-L., Lenté, C., Martineau, P., Néron, E., … Tacquard, C. (2005). The e-OCEA project: towards an Internet decision system for scheduling problems. Decision Support Systems, 40(2), 329-337. doi:10.1016/j.dss.2004.04.001Wiers, VCS. 1997. Human–computer interaction in production scheduling: Analysis and design of decision support systems for production scheduling tasks. Ph.D. Thesis, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, NetherlandsWiers, V. C. S. (2002). A case study on the integration of APS and ERP in a steel processing plant. Production Planning & Control, 13(6), 552-560. doi:10.1080/09537280210160321Wiers, V. C. S., & Van Der Schaaf, T. W. (1997). A framework for decision support in production scheduling tasks. Production Planning & Control, 8(6), 533-544. doi:10.1080/095372897234876Zhang, L., Krishnamurthy, A., Malmborg, C. J., & Heragu, S. S. (2009). Variance-based approximations of transaction waiting times in autonomous vehicle storage and retrieval systems. European J. of Industrial Engineering, 3(2), 146. doi:10.1504/ejie.2009.02360

An Internet of Things based framework to enhance just-in-time manufacturing

Just-in-time manufacturing is a main manufacturing strategy used to enhance manufacturers’ competitiveness through inventory and lead time reduction. Implementing just-in-time manufacturing has a number of challenges, for example, effective, frequent and real-time information sharing and communication between different functional departments, responsive action for adjusting the production plan against the continually changing manufacturing situation. Internet of Things technology has the potential to be used for capturing desired data and information from production environment in real time, and the collected data and information can be used for adjusting production schedules corresponding to the changing production environment. This article presents an Internet of Things based framework to support responsive production planning and scheduling in just-in-time manufacturing. The challenges of implementing just-in-time manufacturing are identified first and then an Internet of Things based solution is proposed to address these challenges. A framework to realise the proposed Internet of Things solution is developed and its implementation plan is suggested based on a case study on automotive harness parts manufacturing. This research contributes knowledge to the field of just-in-time manufacturing by incorporating the Internet-of-Things technology to improve the connectivity of production chains and responsive production scheduling capability

Toward the development of a knowledge-based construction schedule planning system

This research attempts to model and prototype a knowledge-based system for use in the construction industry to accomplish the automatic generation of initial construction schedules. The schedule can be transformed into a logical network that provides a physical representation of the construction operations plan. The prototype system, which requires symbolic processing and reasoning, is developed based on an intensive modeling that rationally examines industry practice. The model identifies work breakdown and precedence relationship as the two major concepts in schedule planning. Work breakdown is concerned with the identification of construction activities that result in the completion of project elements. Precedence relationship is related to the sequencing of construction tasks based on the constraints of scheduling. The knowledge structure of the prototype system is composed of databases, heuristics and algorithms. The databases consist of facts used to represent the structured hierarchy of activities and the formalized task precedence relationships. The heuristics are rules used to determine the breakdown of activities into scheduling modules, the appropriate level of detail and the precedence conditions. The algorithms are procedures used for activity breakdown, task sequencing and task redundancy The current application, scheduling a reinforced concrete building, is specifically prototyped to evaluate the model and the effectiveness of the system. A knowledge system shell M.l is used to prototype this schedule planning system. The prototype has been evaluated by conducting a laboratory experiment on inexperienced schedulers. By measuring the quality and the time of performance, the results of this experiment have suggested that the system can be an effective productivity tool to construction schedulers and planners. The ability of the system to improve the quality of construction schedules further suggests that the model developed is rigorous enough to warrant its continued development into a production standard system --Abstract, pages ii-iii

Gentelligent processes in biologically inspired manufacturing

Production systems have to meet quality requirements despite increasing product individuality, varying batch sizes and a scarcity of resources. The transfer of experience-based knowledge in a flexible and self-optimizing production and process planning offers the potential to meet these challenges. Biological systems solve conceptually similar challenges pertaining to the transfer of knowledge, flexibility of individual reactions and adaptation over time. Thus, in the context of digital transformation, mechanisms derived from biology are interpreted and applied to the knowledge domain of production technology. To be able to exploit the potential of bio-inspired production systems, genetic and intelligent properties of technical components and machines were identified and brought together under the concept of “Gentelligence”. Expanding upon this concept with the new idea of process-DNA and biologically inspired optimization algorithms facilitates a more flexible, learning and self-optimizing production, which is shown in three different applications. By using the new concept of gentelligent process planning it is possible to determine machine-specific process parameters in turning processes in order to ensure appropriate roughness within the requirements. Furthermore, the combination of the concept with a material removal simulation allows the determination of the resulting process force in tool grinding for subsequent unknown workpiece geometries. As a result of using the process-DNA, a workpiece-independent knowledge transfer and thus process adaptation for shape error compensation becomes possible. Gentelligent production scheduling enables a process-parallel, holistically optimized machine allocation, and as a result, a significantly reduced lead time. © 2020 The Author

Intelligent systems in manufacturing: current developments and future prospects

Global competition and rapidly changing customer requirements are demanding increasing changes in manufacturing environments. Enterprises are required to constantly redesign their products and continuously reconfigure their manufacturing systems. Traditional approaches to manufacturing systems do not fully satisfy this new situation. Many authors have proposed that artificial intelligence will bring the flexibility and efficiency needed by manufacturing systems. This paper is a review of artificial intelligence techniques used in manufacturing systems. The paper first defines the components of a simplified intelligent manufacturing systems (IMS), the different Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to be considered and then shows how these AI techniques are used for the components of IMS

AI and OR in management of operations: history and trends

The last decade has seen a considerable growth in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for operations management with the aim of finding solutions to problems that are increasing in complexity and scale. This paper begins by setting the context for the survey through a historical perspective of OR and AI. An extensive survey of applications of AI techniques for operations management, covering a total of over 1200 papers published from 1995 to 2004 is then presented. The survey utilizes Elsevier's ScienceDirect database as a source. Hence, the survey may not cover all the relevant journals but includes a sufficiently wide range of publications to make it representative of the research in the field. The papers are categorized into four areas of operations management: (a) design, (b) scheduling, (c) process planning and control and (d) quality, maintenance and fault diagnosis. Each of the four areas is categorized in terms of the AI techniques used: genetic algorithms, case-based reasoning, knowledge-based systems, fuzzy logic and hybrid techniques. The trends over the last decade are identified, discussed with respect to expected trends and directions for future work suggested