Small Grant for Exploratory Research: Technology ConstrainedProcess Planning

分立产品的制造商还没有充分利用计算机的能力来提高它们的性能。特别是，大多数制造商使用线性工艺计划，这种计划是基于计划者在生产工件时对哪台机器将是“最好的”的估计。这对工艺计划施加了不必要的约束，并且在不了解系统当前状态的情况下进行了机器类型的选择。两者都有可能通过限制系统管理员调度和处理工作负载（调度和控制）的备选方案的领域来降低系统效率/有效性。技术约束工艺规划（TCOPP）的长期目标是通过改进加工计划、调度和控制来提高离散制造的效率和有效性。这将通过以下方式实现：1)基于技术限制，以有向图的形式说明工艺计划；2)功能规范的工艺方案，而不是具体的工位类。其结果是增加了可用于调度和控制工作负载生产的自由度。资源分配将基于当前系统状态。可选方案的扩展领域和对当前系统状态的使用可以合理地期望改善决策制定和系统效率/有效性。

Manufacturers of discrete products have not yet made full use of the power of the computer to improve their performance. In particular, most manufacturers use linear process plans that are based upon the planner's estimate of which machine will be "the best" at the time when the work pieces are produced. This imposes unnecessary constraints on the process plan and the machine type choice is made without current knowledge of the system's status. Both have the potential to reduce the system efficiency/effectiveness by restricting the system manager's domain of alternatives for dispatching and processing the workload (scheduling and control). The long term goal of Technology Constrained Process Planning (TCOPP) is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of discrete manufacturing through improved processing planning, scheduling, and control. This will be accomplished through 1) the specification of process plans as directed graphs, based upon technological constraints; and 2) functional specification of the process plan, rather than a specific class of work station. The result will be an increase in the degrees of freedom available for scheduling and controlling the production of the workload. Resource assignments will be based upon current system status. The expanded domain of alternatives and use of current system status can reasonably be expected to improve decision making and system efficiency/effectiveness.