Part dispatching and machine loading in flexible manufacturing systems using central queues

This paper describes a dispatching approach for FMSs where all parts are st ored in a central buffer. When a machine becomes available, a part from the buffer, which can be processed by that machine, will be dispatched. If the re is more than one candidate part, one part will be selected according to pre-determined loading rules. Results of the simulation experiments, used t o compare the performance of the proposed dispatching algorithm with the tr aditional approach where parts were sent directly to the local machine buff ers, which have been pre-selected during the process planning stage, show t hat the proposed dispatching approach outperforms the traditional one with respect to makespans, average flow time, and average tardiness. Makespans a re improved by 22% while average how time and tardiness are improved by 15% and 30% respectively. Machine failures and loading rules have also been sh own to have less impact on the proposed dispatching algorithm than the trad itional one.