Hierarchical and Dynamic Production Control in Flexible Manufacturing Systems

Abstract Job shop control involves directing the flow of products through the manufacturing system. Centralized and decentralized approaches have been proposed. This paper introduces first a mix approach in the organization of real time control level in flexible manufacturing systems: a hierarchical organization permits coordination of distributed decision centres and heterarchical consideration confers a partial autonomy to sub-level decision centres. Second, corrective actions against unexpected events are introduced to maintain as far as possible the forecasted scheduling.