Intelligent production scheduling: A survey of current techniques and an application in the footwear industry

Abstract

Computer Based Scheduling is an important activity especially in automated environments such as CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing ) where it is an integral part of the total manufacturing function. Developments in Artificial Intelligence have allowed the scheduling problem to be solved with the use of the Knowledge-Based approach. This thrust, known as intelligent scheduling, makes use of many varied techniques in both knowledge representation and inference design. Also, some approaches view the scheduling problem as a subset of the larger problem of Planning. This paper examines the various Knowledge-Based approaches to the solution of the scheduling problem in order to establish the state of the art. A prototype system which is being developed for application in the footwear manufacturing industry is also presented. This system makes use of a hierarchical planning system to aggregate ordered items into production units which are then scheduled by the scheduling subsystem using multiple context reasoning with truth maintenance. The system is discussed in terms of its design and implementation and also the unique advantages it offers over other approaches.