Integrating process planning and scheduling by exploring the flexibility of process planning

Abstract

This thesis presents a dynamic system for the integration of process planning and scheduling by exploring the flexibility of process planning in a batch-manufacturing environment. The integration is essential for the optimal use of production resources and generation of realistic process plans that can be readily executed with little or no modification. The integration is modeled in two levels, viz., process planning and scheduling. The process planning module employs an optimization approach in which the entire plan solution space is first generated and a search algorithm is then used to find the optimal plan. Based on the result of scheduling, the performance measure information is presented to the user. The user then selects a particular performance measure to improve. Based on this requirement, the facilitator identifies a particular job and issues a change to its process plan solution space to obtain a satisfactory schedule through a progressive approach.