Abstract
A multi-agent and distributed ruler based approach to production scheduling in agile manufacturing systems is proposed in this paper. Considering special and complex requirements of the agile manufacturing, a function-based decomposition method is suggested to fulfil the agent-based system modelling process, where a real industrial system can be turned into a multi-agent system (MAS). Three classes of agents are defined, which populate the production-scheduling environment: Management agents, resource agents and part agents. All these agents are arranged on the heterarchical framework. Consequently, with the distribution of agents, the complicated scheduling problem is divided into several sub-problems, such as the self-supporting and decision-making of each agent for the local near-optimal schedule and the cooperating or coordinating between agents for system global performance. A ruler-based decision making mechanism is proposed to ensure orderly agent running, and the ability to respond to customer's needs or environmental changes rapidly. Meanwhile the heterarchical MAS architecture offers regroup capabilities that support those rulers to be reconfigured and reused flexibly. Case studies illustrate the feasibility and efficiency of the approach.
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