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PLANNING, SCHEDULING, AND CONTROL IN PS-BIKES

By Roberto Sacile
From Agent-Based Manufacturing and Control Systems: New Agile Manufacturing Solutions for Achieving Peak Performance

PLANNING, SCHEDULING, AND CONTROL IN PS-BIKES

Chapter 2 introduced the characteristics of the PS-Bikes company, an imaginary enterprise that manufactures bicycles. In that chapter, the issues pertinent to making PS-Bikes flexible in processing orders from an e-commerce site through the introduction of an MAS solution were discussed. However, some questions were purposefully left open, especially regarding the possible integration of the new northern plant with the company s older one, the introduction of an agent-based MES in the new plant, and the adoption of an agent-based/holonic S&C system in both production facilities. This section endeavors to answer these questions.

Toward the New Northern PS-Bikes Plant Integration

An MAS for workflow management that handles new orders coming from PS-Bikes e-commerce site was defined in Chapter 2; thus, a natural starting point for the integration of the new northern plant in order to exploit its production capacity is to share the workload of the orders received from the Web site with this plant. This choice is likely to be preferred by PS-Bikes executives, who are seeking to replace the consolidated procedures gradually, based on the conventional layered planning system.

To reach this goal, the MAS architecture proposed in the section in Chapter 2 titled from problems to agents at PS-Bikes is replicated in the new northern plant, introducing the three sales, production, and purchase agencies into the plant information system. Then, following the cooperation paradigm discussed in the section on agent-based applications in manufacturing planning and scheduling, coordination between the two separate sets...

Copyright CRC Press LLC 2005 under license agreement with Books24x7
Products & Services
Plant management software is used to manage the daily activities and long-term operations of industrial facilities.
Manufacturing execution system (MES) software is used to manage and monitor work-in-process on the factory floor. MES software supports activities such as finite scheduling, workflow monitoring, and materials management. Learn more about Manufacturing Execution System Software (MES)
Plant maintenance software is used to keep track of the maintenance history and the planning of maintenance in industrial plants. Learn more about Plant Maintenance Software
E-commerce services provide technical expertise for selling goods and services online. Learn more about E-commerce Services
Planning, scheduling and productivity software is designed for monitoring and improving scheduling, efficiency, productivity and project management activities. Learn more about Planning, Scheduling and Productivity Software
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Topics of Interest
CONCLUSIONS To conclude, some remarks on MAS applications to manufacturing planning, scheduling, and control problems can be made. Throughout the chapter, two main features emerged for MAS... (Read More)
OVERVIEW This chapter focuses on the application of agent-based modeling and agent technology to the three main activities characterizing manufacturing production: planning, scheduling, and control. (Read More)
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