A Case-based Expert System For SchedulingProblems With Sequence Dependent Set Up Times

Scheduling is an important application area for expert systems. However, the development of expert systems in scheduling poses many problems and many different approaches have been attempted in prototype systems. This paper discusses the use of case-based reasoning (CBR) in the development of expert scheduling systems. The design and development of an expert system using CBR is described. The application area is an important class of scheduling problems those involving sequence dependent set up times. This type of problem is important in many production environments and arises frequently in the process industries. The paper addresses general problems and research issues related to the application of CBR to scheduling problems.