Abstract
Short-term scheduling in flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) is a difficult problem because of the complexities and dynamic behavior of FMSs. To solve this problem, a dispatching rule approach is widely used. In this approach, however, a single dispatching rule is usually assigned for all machines in a system during a given scheduling interval. In this paper, a mixed dispatching rule which can assign a different dispatching rule for each machine is proposed. A search algorithm which selects an appropriate mixed dispatching rule using predictions based on discrete event simulation is developed for this approach. The search algorithm for the mixed dispatching rule is described in detail. The effectiveness (in meeting performance criteria) of the mixed dispatching rule and the efficiency of the search algorithm relative to exhaustive search (complete enumeration) is demonstrated on an FMS model. The mixed dispatching rule approach performs up to 15.9% better than the conventional approach, and is 4% better on average. The statistical significance of the results is dicussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bethea, R.M., Duran, B.S. and Boullion, T.L.,Statistical Methods for Engineers and Scientists, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York (1975).
Blackstone, J.H., Phillips, D.T. and Hogg, G.L., “A State-of-the-Art Survey of Dispatching Rules for Manufacturing Job Shop Operations,”International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 27–45 (1982).
Ishii, N. and Talavage, J.J., “A Transient-Based Real-time Scheduling Algorithm in FMS,”International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 29, No. 12, pp. 2501–2520 (1991).
Lozinski, C. and Glassey, C.R., “Bottleneck Starvation Indicators for Shop Floor Control,”IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 147–153 (1988).
Manz, E.M., Haddock, J. and Mittenthal, J., “Optimization of an Automated Manufacturing System Simulation Model Using Simulated Annealing,”Proceedings of the 1989 Winter Simulation Conference, pp. 390–395 (December 1989).
Pritsker, A.B.,Introduction to Simulation and SLAM II, Halsted Press, New York (1986).
Vollman, T.E., Berry, W.L. and Whybark, D.C.,Manufacturing Planning and Control Systems, Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Illinois (1988).
Wu, S.-Y.D. and Wysk, R.A., “Multi-Pass Expert Control System—a Control/Scheduling Structure for Flexible Manufacturing Cells,”Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 107–120 (1988).
Wu, S.-Y.D. and Wysk, R.A., “An Application of Discrete-event Simulation to On-Line Control and Scheduling in Flexible Manufacturing,”International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 27, No. 9, pp. 1603–1623 (September 1989).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ishii, N., Talavage, J.J. A mixed dispatching rule approach in FMS scheduling. Int J Flex Manuf Syst 6, 69–87 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01324876
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01324876