Real-Time Decision-Support System for High-Mix Low-Volume Production Scheduling in Industry 4.0

Balázs Kocsi,Michael Maiko Matonya,László Péter Pusztai,István Budai

doi:10.3390/pr8080912

Abstract

Numerous organizations are striving to maximize the profit of their businesses by the effective implementation of competitive advantages including cost reduction, quick delivery, and unique high-quality products. Effective production-scheduling techniques are methods that many firms use to attain these competitive advantages. Implementing scheduling techniques in high-mix low-volume (HMLV) manufacturing industries, especially in Industry 4.0 environments, remains a challenge, as the properties of both parts and processes are dynamically changing. As a reaction to these challenges in HMLV Industry 4.0 manufacturing, a newly advanced and effective real-time production-scheduling decision-support system model was developed. The developed model was implemented with the use of robotic process automation (RPA), and it comprises a hybrid of different advanced scheduling techniques obtained as the result of analytical-hierarchy-process (AHP) analysis. The aim of this research was to develop a method to minimize the total production process time (total make span) by considering the results of risk analysis of HMLV manufacturing in Industry 4.0 environments. The new method is the combination of multi-broker (MB) optimization and a genetics algorithm (GA) that uses general key process indicators (KPIs) that are easy to measure in any kind of production. The new MB–GA method is compatible with industry 4.0 environments, so it is easy to implement. Furthermore, MB–GA deals with potential risk during production, so it can provide more accurate results. On the basis of survey results, 16% of the asked companies could easily use the new scheduling method, and 43.2% of the companies could use it after a little modification of production.

Highlights

Market diversification and ever-changing, uncertain demands urge many enterprises to speedily respond to expected customer satisfaction
The Industry 4.0 concept is associated with the technical perspectives of the integration of cyber–physical systems (CPSs) into manufacturing operations, and the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies into industrial processes represented by smart factories, smart products, and extended value networks
Anywhere is recommended to be used for forward office (FOR) and backward office (BOR) robotics, UiPath performs well in FOR, and Blue Prism is efficient in BOR robotics

Summary

Introduction

Market diversification and ever-changing, uncertain demands urge many enterprises to speedily respond to expected customer satisfaction. The HMLV production process is currently a global trend that requires a high degree of customization and high frequency of machine changeover [2,3,4]. The attributes and techniques of Industry 4.0 are presented These attributes and techniques were taken into consideration as requirements during the development of the new scheduling method. This paper begins with a brief review of the literature on production-scheduling methods and techniques; the question arises as to whether these methods can be sufficiently synchronized with Industry 4.0 environments. The Industry 4.0 concept is associated with the technical perspectives of the integration of cyber–physical systems (CPSs) into manufacturing operations, and the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies into industrial processes represented by smart factories, smart products, and extended value networks

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion