Expert Systems and Simulation in Scheduling

Production planning and control within modern manufacturing enterprises is a very complex process. The planning process encompasses decision making that spans from the macro level, such as market forecasting and master production scheduling, down to detail planning on the shop floor, such as the dispatching and sequencing of individual parts orders on a particular machining centre. This paper presents a review of the use of advanced computer based tools, namely expert systems and simulation, to enhance the complex production scheduling function. The use of expert systems and simulation technology within production scheduling is becoming more common place. Expert systems are often used for real time decision support for negotiating the complexities of scheduling. Simulation can be used for testing and validation of schedules guaranteeing that they can be successfully implemented.