Evaluate Feasibility of Heuristic Control Algorithms for Factory Control of Electronic Manufacturing. Phase 1

摘要

The project focuses on computer software used for factory control and management of electronics manufacturing, and investigates control techniques to be applied in enterprise-wide tactical management of manufacturing operations. Researchers developed enterprise control solutions on a custom basis for several electronics manufacturers and formalized key principles of continuous flow manufacturing, and committed to develop and field the Enterprise Control System (ECS). They realized that a key determinant in the successful productization of the ECS concept is the ability to devise and implement control techniques and algorithms. The effective control technique must effectively enforce the principles of continuous flow manufacturing in general, yet provide for the idiosyncrasies of a specific manufacturer's operating policies. Experience indicates that control algorithms for such a complex undertaking as manufacturing are not empirical or deterministic in nature. It was therefore concluded that an adaptive, or heuristic, approach to tactical control of continuous flow manufacturing was reasonable. The research objective of the project was to consider the feasibility of adaptive, or heuristic, control techniques for the tactical management of a manufacturing enterprise.