Addressing the myopia problem: A Web service-based implementation architecture for a Petri Net-based scheduler

Changes in equipment and production demand cannot be predicted at the design stage. Therefore decision-taking mechanisms must rely on real-time information collected from the shop floor. Real time information-based logistics decision taking mechanisms rely on dispatching rules. The usage of such regulations suffers from the myopia problem (it is not clear how to ensure that individual interests do not clash against the system-wide objectives — e.g. total profit maximization). In order to overcome this, routing strategies must be based on formal representations of flow that automatically account for modifications in the values of parameters of interest and in the model itself. This paper addresses this problem and proposes a Web Service-based implementation schema for a deadlock free dynamic scheduler. The scheduler operates on a formal model of flow that is incrementally constructed to mirror the situation in the line.