Abstract
Industry 4.0 introduces a shift towards a more decentralized planning and control architecture in order to combat the changing production environment. Hence, this paper presents a semi-decentralized control architecture for the high-mix-low-volume industry to improve production planning and control. The proposed architecture consists of three components: the ERP system, a global control unit, and shop floor planning. The system’s performance is improved through better use of knowledge and creation of virtual manufacturing cells on the shop floor, allowing for better control in case of uncertainties or changes within product mix and volume.
Highlights
Within the changing landscape of Industry 4.0, customers require mass customization of their ordered products and short lead times
The complexity of each product is increasing, requiring more unique resources for the manufacturing of these products. This requires reconfigurability of the system, in order to more quickly and efficiently allocate resources among different entities on the shop floor, decreasing non-value-added time. This leads to an increase in the overall complexity in decision making of production planning and control (PPC), as the system is required to become more flexible in adopting to the ever-changing production conditions
Communication between agents can be handled through the use of standardized messaging protocols, e.g., Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA), whereas the creation of agents within the MAS can be modelled with the use of MAS software, e.g., JADE([6])
Summary
Within the changing landscape of Industry 4.0, customers require mass customization of their ordered products and short lead times. We propose a novel semi-decentralized and dynamic control architecture for the high-mix-low-volume industry This proposed architecture is able to combine the long-term benefit of RMS/CMS (rapid configuration for fast-changing demand) and the short term benefit of HMS/MAS (quick response to unforeseen events). This can be achieved through the creation of virtual cells on the shop floor, which is beneficial to industries that have short product life cycles and unstable demand. We propose a global control unit that is responsible for formation of these virtual cells, order release and coordination with the Master Production Schedule (MPS) and Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
