Simulation for evaluating machine and AGV scheduling rules in an FMS environment

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a simulation study investigating the performance of dynamic scheduling decisions for a job shop type flexible manufacturing system (FMS). The study has been realized on a model of a hypothetical FMS. In order to realistically mimic the complexities and the dynamic behavior of a real-life FMS, both the policies handling unexpected machine breakdowns and also controlling the movement of active AGVs have been modeled in detail.