Holonic Concept Based Methodology for Part Routeing on Flexible Manufacturing Systems

A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is designed to achieve good productivity and low cost. The success of an FMS depends largely on effective production scheduling and control. However, it has been found that current manufacturing scheduling and control algorithms lack the flexibility to handle interruptions or resource breakdowns; hence, system performance drops dramatically and abruptly when interruptions occur. This research develops a computer-simulation-based framework of FMS scheduling and control system using the holonic concept. This framework can maintain stability and flexibility while accommodating system disturbance, increase throughput, reduce part flow-time and work-in-process inventory, and balance workload among identical workstations. The significance of this research is the investigation of an innovative approach to revolutionary advances of control technologies for advanced manufacturing systems, and to the revitalisation of control and scheduling algorithms used by existing FMSs. A case study has been provided to substantiate the effectiveness of this proposed framework.