A MODEL MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM (MMS) FOR THE DESIGN AND OPERATION OF PRODUCTION LINES

This work presents a prototype model management system (MMS) for the d esign and operation of manufacturing systems. The model management sys tem classifies different models according to the type of the manufactu ring system to which they apply and according to the particular techni que employed. In its present state, the system comprises three differe nt techniques, namely, analytical, simulation and artificial intellige nce (AI) based techniques for production lines. The first two are eval uative methods, whereas the last one is a generative (optimization) me thod that solves the well-known buffer allocation problem in a product ion line. The contribution of this work is twofold. First, the develop ment of an architecture of a MMS which provides a simple and intelligi ble framework for classifying different modelling techniques, enables the interaction among these models and does not restrict developers to follow a particular model development task. Second, the development o f a knowledge based system, called ASBA, which solves the buffer alloc ation problem into the production lines with very satisfactory results .