Metrics for evaluating distributed manufacturing control systems

Abstract

In this paper, two classes of metrics are proposed that can be used to evaluate alternative manufacturing control architectures: those dealing with the controlled system (i.e. the manufacturing system) and those dealing with the control system. In order to illustrate the use of these metrics, the problem of scheduling a simple manufacturing cell is tackled using two test control architectures and the performance of these alternative approaches is evaluated using a modular discrete-event simulation model. The results of the paper suggest that it is worthwhile to use both manufacturing and control system performance measure to evaluate alternative control architectures, especially when considering dynamic architectures such as a Holonic Manufacturing System (HMS; i.e. architectures that adapt to changes in the manufacturing environment).