This paper present a heterarchical scheduling approach for flexible manufacturing systems. The approach adopts a multiagent cooperative problem solving paradigm by using a bidding mechanism based on the contract net protocol to generate the production plan and schedule. Overall, scheduling is implemented using a Production Reservation approach. A typical job shop tested demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach by comparing its performance to heuristic dispatching rules. Production Reservation augmented with the heuristic dispatching rules has also been shown to be even more effective, and should prove especially valuable in large varity discrete part and assembly manufacturing processes.

Full Paper (postscript)

Last updated: 5 February, 1997 by Anthony Alford alford@vuse.vanderbilt.edu