Combining Representations from Manufacturing, Machine Planning, and Manufacturing Resource Planning

Contents

We integrate an ordinary planner into a manufacturing system by showing that the assembly trees used by manufacturers can be converted into domain operators and that the operator sequence formed by the planner can be converted into a set of matrices used by the manufacturing system. This allows manufacturers to continue to use their existing representations where possible. We form additional resource matrices based on the planner’s output which an existing dispatching system uses to reserve machines and avoid deadlock. We also show how our planner and matrix notation can efficiently implement Manufacturing Resource Planning. In many cases, our MRP system can seamlessly integrate limited production capacity without manager intervention.