Multi-agent systems in production planning and control: An application to the scheduling of mixed-model assembly lines
International Journal of Production Economics, 68 (1):
29 - 42 (2000)DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-5273(99)00097-3
Abstract
This work deals with production smoothing, one of the keys of success of Just In Time and Lean Production. By levelling the load of the workstations, production smoothing allows a regular material flow, shorter manufacturing lead times, and lower work in process. Different solutions to the mixed-model assembly lines sequencing problem have been proposed in literature. In this paper, a Multi-Agent System is presented, which solves this problem according to the theory of autonomous agents. The experimental results show that this innovative approach has a good performance if compared with the traditional ones.