A hierarchical knowledge-based/analytical approach to fault-tolerant control in flexible manufacturing

The author deals with the production planning and control (PPC) problem encountered in industrial plants composed of chains of flexible manufacturing shops (FMS). Due to the variability of the FMS operation modes in processing a variable mix of parts, an efficient planning/control procedure has to be implemented to accommodate exogenous events (new orders) and to counteract the effects of endogenous events (failures). An outline is given of a hybrid control architecture, knowledge-based and analytical, able to integrate these planning/control tasks.<
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