CAREER: Robust Production Systems: Theory and Applications

这个教师早期职业发展（Career）项目的研究目标是研究稳健的生产系统，其性能在制造环境的变化方面具有弹性。具体而言，将建立生产系统的鲁棒性理论，所得结果将被验证并应用于工厂车间。生产系统的健壮性可以从以下三个方面来描述，这三个方面与稳态和瞬态性能测量有关：机器、人为因素和产品。这些观点将在串行线和装配系统的框架内进行研究。该方法将基于分析调查和马尔可夫过程的模拟，以及描述手头生产系统的一般随机过程。在分析系统性能的基础上，推导出系统稳健运行的条件。此外，将建立一个教育计划，通过新的课程，学生监督和工业培训，专业教育和国际合作，所有这些都与研究计划相结合。如果成功，该研究结果将为解决现代制造系统中的关键挑战之一奠定理论基础。它将使我们能够研究生产系统的鲁棒性，以达到最佳的生产率、质量和灵活性，并开辟了制造系统鲁棒性研究的新方向。它将为制造企业的工程师和管理人员提供定量和定性的工具和原则，用于设计和运行稳健的生产系统。该方法也将转移到研究供应链，卫生保健系统，通信和信息网络，以及其他系统。

The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project is to study robust production systems the performance of which is resilient with respect to variations in manufacturing environment. Specifically, the theory of robustness for production systems will be established, the results derived will be validated and applied on the factory floor. The robustness of production systems can be characterized with respect to the following three perspectives, related to both steady state and transient performance measures: machines, human factors, and products. Each of these perspectives will be studied in the framework of serial lines and assembly systems. The approach will be based on analytical investigations and simulations of Markov and general random processes that describe the production systems at hand. Conditions under which the system operates robustly will be derived based on the analysis of system performance. In addition, an educational program will be established through a new curriculum, student supervising and industrial training, professional education, and international collaboration, all integrated with the research program.If successful, the results of this research will lead to establishment of a theoretical foundation to address one of the key challenges in modern manufacturing systems. It will enable us to study the robustness of production systems to achieve best productivity, quality and flexibility, and open up a new direction devoted to robustness in manufacturing systems research. It will provide engineers and managers of manufacturing enterprises with quantitative and qualitative tools and principles for design and operation of robust production systems. The methodology will also be transferable to study supply chains, health care systems, communication and information networks, as well as other systems.