RESOLUTION OF DEADLOCKS IN FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS - AVOIDANCEAND RECOVERY APPROACHES

One problem that has often been overlooked in research in flexible man ufacturing systems (FMSs) design and operation is deadlocking. An FMS deadlock is a situation where machines have been allocated parts so th at further part movement is inhibited. In our earlier paper,1 a proced ure to detect deadlocks was presented. In this paper, two approaches t o resolve deadlock problems, namely avoidance and recovery, are presen ted and analyzed. These approaches can be used to avoid or resolve dea dlocks during active control of the FMS. A simulation study to compare deadlock resolution approaches to conventional approaches for avoidin g deadlocks is also presented. Results of the analysis are presented.