A multi-agent based agile manufacturing planning and control system

In today’s manufacturing enterprise, the performance of customer service level (e.g., short ordering-to-delivery time, low price) is highly dependent on the effectiveness of its manufacturing planning and control system (MPCS). However, most of the current MPCS, employed the hierarchical planning approach, may have some drawbacks, such as structural rigidity, difficulty of designing a control system, and lack of flexibility. Currently, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology has been applied to enhance the visibility, accountability, track ability and traceability of manufacturing system whenever the accurate and detailed manufacturing information (e.g., raw material, WIP, products in factory and products in the down streams) of products will be followed in real-time basis by RFID technique. In addition, a multi-agent approach may be applied in a distributed and autonomous system which allows negotiation-based decision making. Therefore, the objective of this research is to study the application of RFID technique and multi-agent system (MAS) in developing an agent-based agile manufacturing planning and control system (AMPCS) to respond to the dynamically changing manufacturing activities and exceptions.In AMPCS, RFID-based manufacturing control (R-MC) module plays the role of controlling the manufacturing system in which production items and manufacturing resources attached with RFID tag may actively feedback production status to and receive production and operations schedule from advanced manufacturing planning (AMP) module. In addition, a bidding process and algorithm is developed to generate operations schedule by using the characteristics of MAS. Performance analysis (PA) module is responsible not only for evaluating the scheduling results but also for evaluating the performance of production execution. The development of an AMPCS for an automated manufacturing cell demonstrates that the integration of RFID technique and MAS in developing an agile manufacturing planning and control system can really possess the characteristics of visibility, accountability, track ability, responsiveness, and flexibility in a distributed and dynamic manufacturing system.     

ManufAg: a multi-agent-system framework for production control of complex manufacturing systems

In this paper, we present a framework for the implementation of multi-agent-systems for production control of complex manufacturing systems. We present the results of a requirement analysis for production control systems for complex manufacturing systems; then we describe the framework design criteria. Our framework supports the inclusion of distributed hierarchical decision-making schemes into the production control. Furthermore, in order to increase the coordination abilities of multi-agent-systems, we follow the decision-making and staff agent architecture suggested in the PROSA reference architecture. We indicate the usage of the framework for designing and implementing an agent-based production control system for semiconductor manufacturing processes in a case study.     

Development of an intelligent agent system for collaborative mold production with RFID technology

This paper presents a multi-agents system called agent-based collaborative mold production (ACMP) system. ACMP supports the collaborative and autonomous mold manufacturing outsourcing processes. The mold manufacturing outsourcing processes involve not only many manufacturing sequences but also many collaboration partners. ACMP provides autonomous features to handle three major tasks in outsourcing. They are vendor selection, task selection, and real-time outsourcing task progress tracking. This research applies the analytic hierachy process (AHP) decision models to solve the vendor selection and task selection problems. In addition, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is adopted to provide a real-time tracking capability for remote collaboration, control and monitoring among outsourcing partners.     

Implementing a hybrid simulation model for a Kanban-based material handling system

Plant floor material handling is a loose loop in most assembly plants. Simulation offers a quick, controllable and tunable approach for prototyping complex material handling processes in manufacturing environments. This paper proposes a hybrid simulation approach, using both discrete event and agent-based technologies, to model complex material handling processes in an assembly line. A prototype system is implemented using a commercial multi-paradigm modeling tool. In this prototype, JIT principles are applied to both the production and the material handling processes. The system performance is evaluated and system optimization directions are suggested. The proposed hybrid modeling approach facilitates the implementation of a responsive and adaptive environment in that various “what-if” scenarios can be simulated under different simulation configurations and real-time situations.     

汽车制造生产线上RFID应用模式研究

从企业管理和生产环节两方面对无线射频识别(RFID)的应用需求进行分析,研究RFID在汽车制造生产线上的应用模式,构造一个基于RFID的汽车制造生产线垂直分布式应用模型体系框架,给出各功能模块的实现流程。应用结果证明,该模型可以解决生产过程中存在的信息采集数据缺失和遗漏、人工操作效率低下等问题,满足汽车制造生产线数据信息采集的实时性和准确性要求。     

Multiagent framework for lean manufacturing

We have developed the manufacturing agent-based emulation system as an open framework for design and analysis of discrete manufacturing systems. MABES currently supports the transition from traditional to lean manufacturing in two major functions: analysis of alternative agent-based scheduling and control approaches that can be implemented across the extended enterprise; and real-time collaboration of design teams during manufacturing line design and analysis stages. MABES bases its support for these functions on two system paradigms: distributed agents and synchronous collaboration     

一种基于RFID／PLC的生产状态数据采集技术

对于制造企业来说,生产状态数据及时且准确地反馈是十分重要的,射频识别（RFID）技术的出现对更好地实现这一目标有很大的帮助。设计并实现了一种基于RFID技术的单件生产实验系统的生产状态数据采集系统,对RFID技术在离散生产过程监控中的应用进行了初步探索。     

RFID-enabled real-time manufacturing execution system for mass-customization production

Mass-customization production (MCP) companies must fight with shop-floor uncertainty and complexity caused by wide variety of product components. The research is motivated by a typical MCP company that has experienced inefficient scheduling due to paper-based identification and manual data collection. This paper presents an RFID-enabled real-time manufacturing execution system (RT-MES). RFID devices are deployed systematically on the shop-floor to track and trace manufacturing objects and collect real-time production data. Disturbances are identified and controlled within RT-MES. Planning and scheduling decisions are more practically and precisely made and executed. Online facilities are provided to visualize and manage real-time dynamics of shop-floor WIP (work-in-progress) items. A case study is reported in a collaborating company which manufactures large-scale and heavy-duty machineries. The efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed RT-MES are evaluated with real-life industrial data for shop-floor production management in terms of workers, machines and materials.     

RFID-enabled real-time manufacturing information tracking infrastructure for extended enterprises

In extended enterprises, real-time manufacturing information tracking plays an important role and aims to provide the right information to the right person at the right time in the right format to achieve optimal production management among the involved enterprises. However, many enterprises are caused by lack of timely, accurate and consistent manufacturing data. The laggard information transfer flow and the unmatched information transfer method bring extended enterprises much more uncertainty and unknowingness. This paper proposes a RFID-enabled real-time manufacturing information tracking infrastructure (RTMITI) to address the real-time manufacturing data capturing and manufacturing information processing methods for extended enterprises. Following the proposed infrastructure, the traditional manufacturing resources such as employees, machines and materials are equipped with RFID devices (Readers and Tags) to build the real-time data capturing environment. In addition, a series of manufacturing information processing methods are established to calculate and track the real-time manufacturing information such as real-time manufacturing cost, progress, WIP (Work-in-progress) inventory etc. in parts/assemblies/products at machines/shop floors/enterprises/ extended enterprises levels. Finally, a case study is given to demonstrate the developed framework and corresponding methodologies.     

Agent-based Gateway Operating System for RFID-enabled ubiquitous manufacturing enterprise

Capturing and processing of real-time manufacturing shop floor field data is essential in improving the performance of shop floor planning, execution and control. Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) has enabled real-time information visibility and realized ubiquitous manufacturing enterprises with proper functionalities of Enterprise Information Systems (EISs). This paper presents a flexible, modularized and re-configurable framework for the new generation RFID middleware system, named Gateway Operating System (GOS). It is an overall software solution designed and proposed not only to address basic functions of RFID middleware system, but also to overcome the particular challenges and requirements for real-life manufacturing scenarios. GOS aims to provide an easy-to-deploy, simple-to-use and affordable RFID middleware solution for manufacturing applications. A multi-agent based model, named gateway smart agent manager, is designed to enable the heterogeneous RFID devices in a “Plug and Play” fashion and to cope with the changes from these connected hardware devices. To guarantee the versatility and scalability of GOS, an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) based message exchanging protocol is designed to fulfill the communication and interactions between applications and devices. Based on this protocol, an easy-to-deploy and simple-to-use application manager is built to manage, configure and use the connected devices as well as deployed applications. The proposed GOS will provide a new referenced framework for the development of lightweight RFID middleware system for manufacturing environment.     

离散制造企业RFID实施框架研究*

为推进离散制造企业RFID系统的成功实施,提出了面向离散制造企业的RFID实施方法论框架。从应用领域、应用层次、产品生命周期三个维度分析了离散制造企业的RFID应用需求。以信息技术采纳理论为基础,构建了包括RFID技术采纳决策和RFID系统实施两个阶段的RFID实施过程框架,并对各阶段的实施步骤和实施方法进行了阐述。利用上述RFID实施框架在重庆某整车生产厂进行实际应用,验证了可行性。     

The relevance of Computer Supported Cooperative Work for advanced manufacturing

Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is faced with issues which are crucial to Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). However, despite the large amount of work on Enterprise Integration and its obvious links to the CSCW field, this domain is almost totally absent in the work of the CSCW community. Therefore, this paper is intended to contribute to the discussion on the relevance of CSCW in manufacturing and to combine new concepts for cooperative work with requirements for information system design in production. Production related models, e.g., an order-driven mode of coordination, can be augmented with mechanisms of interaction for coordination, collaboration and co-decision and the design of customer/supplier chains. It is suggested, as one example, to use workflow management technology in advanced manufacturing for shop-floor production planning and control (PPC). The proposed enterprise model and support technology is especially useful for small-batch production.     

Distributed Reinforcement Learning Control for Batch Sequencing and Sizing in Just-In-Time Manufacturing Systems

This paper presents an approach that is suitable for Just-In-Time (JIT) production for multi-objective scheduling problem in dynamically changing shop floor environment. The proposed distributed learning and control (DLC) approach integrates part-driven distributed arrival time control (DATC) and machine-driven distributed reinforcement learning based control. With DATC, part controllers adjust their associated parts' arrival time to minimize due-date deviation. Within the restricted pattern of arrivals, machine controllers are concurrently searching for optimal dispatching policies. The machine control problem is modeled as Semi Markov Decision Process (SMDP) and solved using Q-learning. The DLC algorithms are evaluated using simulation for two types of manufacturing systems: family scheduling and dynamic batch sizing. Results show that DLC algorithms achieve significant performance improvement over usual dispatching rules in complex real-time shop floor control problems for JIT production.     

基于准时制的AO零件配套研究与应用

本文以航空工业成飞公司在基于企业准时制生产过程中实施无纸化零件配套项目为背景，研究在航空企业里装配过程中的AO配套表的无纸化需求，通过协同平台PDM的制造数据确保了装配的零件配套的数据源唯一，为实现企业的准时制生产提供有力的保证。     

Supporting virtual enterprise systems using agent coordination

Open environments like the Internet or corporate intranets enable a large number of interested enterprises to access, filter, process and present information on an as-needed basis. These environments support modern applications, such as virtual enterprises and interorganisational workflow management systems, which involve a number of heterogeneous resources, services and processes. However, any execution of a virtual enterprise system would yield to disjoining and error-prone behaviour without appropriate techniques to coordinate the various business processes. This paper reports on the design and implementation of a flexible agent-based framework for supporting the coordination of virtual enterprises and workflow management systems. The paper also shows how an agent coordination infrastructure, which is explained by social constraints, can impact on the engineering of highly dynamic virtual enterprises and workflow management systems by presenting a simple case study.     

Applications of agent-based systems in intelligent manufacturing: An updated review

Agent technology has been recognized as a promising paradigm for next generation manufacturing systems. Researchers have attempted to apply agent technology to manufacturing enterprise integration, enterprise collaboration (including supply chain management and virtual enterprises), manufacturing process planning and scheduling, shop floor control, and to holonic manufacturing as an implementation methodology. This paper provides an update review on the recent achievements in these areas, and discusses some key issues in implementing agent-based manufacturing systems such as agent encapsulation, agent organization, agent coordination and negotiation, system dynamics, learning, optimization, security and privacy, tools and standards.     

一种安全高效的RFID双边认证协议

无线射频识别（RFID）技术是一种应用于开放系统环境下的对象自动识别技术,在物流、制造、零售等多种领域中具有广阔的应用前景。如何设计适合于RFID系统的安全、高效的认证协议是RFID技术得以广泛应用的关键。提出一种新型RFID双边认证协议,给出了详细的协议描述。通过与相关协议的比较表明,该协议是一种安全高效、具有强隐私性的认证协议。     

A systematic modelling and simulation approach for JIT performance optimisation

Robust computer aided simulation and modelling tools help to visualise, analyse and optimise complex production processes with a reasonable amount of time and investment. A review of the literature shows that simulation and modelling have not been extensively applied in just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing environments. Also there remains a lack of a comprehensive mechanism to identify the most significant JIT drivers for the purpose of system process optimisation. The prime objective of this study is to close this gap by applying computer based simulation tools and linear mathematical modelling to identify the impact of selected key JIT parameters on performance in an automotive component-manufacturing environment. Research shows that variables such as inconsistent task distribution, variation on operator performance, misconception of total quality management philosophy and lack of set-up time elimination plans disrupt ideal JIT production. In this study, ProModel simulation and modelling software is used to model and simulate different experimental scenarios in order to understand and quantify the impact of selected input key JIT variables on objective functions (i.e. process time and takt time). The outcome is a robust mathematical model that highlights the significance of JIT drivers in the manually operated mixed-model assembly lines.