An integrated agent-based approach for responsive control of manufacturing resources

Lim, M.K. and Zhang, D.Z. (2004) An integrated agent-based approach for responsive control of manufacturing resources. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 46(2), pp. 221-232. (doi: 10.1016/j.cie.2003.12.006)

Abstract

Due to the dynamic fluctuation of customer demands in the global market, manufacturing enterprises are facing difficulties in rapidly responding to market changes. The aim of this research is to develop a system to integrate dynamic process planning and dynamic production scheduling for the purpose of increasing the responsiveness of adaptive manufacturing systems in accommodating dynamic market changes (rapidly changing demand patterns or product varieties). The concept of Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) has been adopted in this study. All of the tasks related to process planning, optimization and scheduling in this system are carried out by autonomous agents that are capable of interacting and negotiating with each other to bid for jobs and make decisions. On the one hand, this system optimizes the utilization of manufacturing resources and on the other hand, it also provides a platform where the reconfiguration of manufacturing systems can be assessed. This system has been implemented on a Java platform and a case study is provided to elaborate on this system and evaluate its implementation.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lim, Professor Ming
• Authors: Lim, M.K., and Zhang, D.Z.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: Computers and Industrial Engineering
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0360-8352
• Published Online: 03 February 2004