A simulation tool for reactive process planning and scheduling

The increasing trend for improved agility in the manufacturing industry has led to a demand for more flexible, powerful and reactive process planning and scheduling tools. This naturally requires several aspects of manufacturing systems to be integrated to improve information flow and enable an environment for more rapid and effective decision-making. It is also apparent that process planning and scheduling are more effectively carried out in conjunction with each other, rather than sequentially, as is traditionally the case. A vital factor in this area is the simulation of process planning and scheduling scenarios in order to see the effects of potential decisions and to enable more flexible, rapid and accurate decision-making. In the development of a system to facilitate reactive planning and scheduling, a tool for simulating these scenarios has resulted. This tool illustrates the benefits of flexible process plans and shows how maximum use can be made of any particular manufacturing system.