IMPLEMENTATION OF A DYNAMIC SCHEDULER FOR APPAREL COMPUTER-INTEGRATEDMANUFACTURING SYSTEMS

A major problem faced by the typical apparel manufacturer in day-to-da y operations is the need for an effective scheduler to determine actio ns required because of operator and/or machine non-performance. The dy namic resource allocation system (DRAS) scheduler described in this pa per is the natural outgrowth of previously funded research related to the design, development, technology transfer and installation of a CIM system in an apparel plant. The already developed CIM system provides a way for the DRAS scheduler (described in this paper) to change a pr oduction process dynamically. The implementation and modeling approach of the scheduler is described. The underlying system model is based o n Petri nets and object-oriented databases. Petri nets provide a dynam ic model of the CIM system, while object-oriented databases provide ne cessary information about system components and overall system activit y. The data from the CIM system is used by the scheduler in the simula tion mode. The daily production plan is used as a guideline to determi ne how to react to and correct production problems.