Real-time operation and tool selection in single stage multimachine systems

This paper addresses operation/tool selection problems in a single-stage mu ltimachine manufacturing environment where the tools are dynamically shared among machines. A real-time operation selection method is presented where operations and their corresponding tools are selected on a real-time basis while the parts are being processed. Coordination of the operations (of sev eral machines) in terms of tool requirements is a key decision process. Par t flexibility is incorporated in the operation selection decision. The prob lem is formulated as a minimum cost flow network model. Simulation experime nts are performed to verify the performance of flexible process planning an d the proposed operation selection method.