Agent-based decision support system for dynamic scheduling of a flexible manufacturing system

Abstract

In this paper, an agent-based Decision Support System (DSS) for the effective dynamic scheduling of a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) is proposed. The proposed DSS mainly includes six components: User Interface Agent (UIA), Criteria And Rules Selection Agent (CRSA), Performance Evaluation Agent (PEA), Scheduling Decision Selection Agent (SDSA), FMS database and Scheduling Knowledge Base (SKB). Functions of each component are discussed and a corresponding prototype system is developed. Finally, some examples are used to illustrate the decision process and to study the performance of the FMS under different dynamic disturbances.