1st Edition

Agent-Based Manufacturing and Control Systems New Agile Manufacturing Solutions for Achieving Peak Performance

By Massimo Paolucci, Roberto Sacile Copyright 2005
    288 Pages 67 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Traditional manufacturing systems rely upon centralized, hierarchical systems that are not responsive enough to the increasing demand for mass customization. Decentralized, or heterarchical, management systems using autonomous agents promise to nullify the limitations of previous solutions.

    Agent-Based Manufacturing and Control Systems: New Agile Manufacturing Solutions for Achieving Peak Performance offers a survey of both the literature and the practical applications of this technology. Using a realistic example of a fictitious firm throughout, the book indicates when agent-based systems are appropriate, enumerates techniques to decompose a problem into entities that can be modeled as agents, provides a step-by-step guide to implementation, and offers hints for using simulation to design the system. The authors pay particular attention to object-oriented techniques and to the selection of appropriate tools and inter-agent communication standards, with specific reference to JADE middleware and FIPA framework.

    Practical, applicative, and thoroughly modern, this text provides all the tools necessary for implementing an extremely flexible, robust, adaptive, and fault-tolerant manufacturing system. This is the perfect reference for AI researchers, industrial manufacturing engineers, operations researchers, and plant managers who wish to develop the most efficient manufacturing systems available.

    AGENT TECHNOLOGY IN MODERN PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
    Introduction
    Agents and Multiagent Systems
    From Agent Technology to Manufacturing Practice
    Book Motivations and Purposes
    References
    ISSUES IN DESIGNING AGENT-BASED MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS
    Introduction
    Agent System Engineering
    Issues in Designing Agent-Based Manufacturing Systems at PS-Bikes
    Conclusions
    References
    AGENTS FOR PLANNING, SCHEDULING, AND CONTROL
    Introduction
    Focusing on Planning, Scheduling, and Control Activities in Manufacturing
    Planning, Scheduling, and Control in Manufacturing from an Integrated Perspective
    Basic Concepts in Production Planning
    Basic Concepts in Production Scheduling
    Basic Concepts in Production Control
    Agent-Based Applications in Manufacturing Planning and Scheduling
    Agent-Based Applications for Scheduling and Control in Manufacturing
    Planning, Scheduling, and Control In PS-Bikes
    Conclusions
    References
    AGENT-BASED SIMULATION Manuel Gentile, Massimo Paolucci, and Roberto Sacile
    Introduction
    Modeling and Simulating in Manufacturing
    Multiagent-Based Simulation
    Platforms to Support Multiagent-Based Simulation Development
    An Application of MABS in PS-Bikes
    Conclusions
    References
    AGENT SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION Massimo Cossentino and Luca Sabatucci
    Introduction
    A Case Study: Designing the PS-Bikes System
    Designing the Solution with PASSI
    Agent Implementation
    References
    PAST SUCCESSES
    Introduction
    Two Outstanding Supply Chain-Oriented MAS Applications in Manufacturing
    Successful MAS Applications in Manufacturing Planning and Scheduling
    Successful MAS Applications in Manufacturing Scheduling and Control
    Practical Working Industrial Applications
    Conclusions
    References
    FUTURE CHALLENGES
    Introduction
    Next Generation e-Manufacturing Solutions
    What Must Be Refined in Agent-Based Manufacturing
    What Has Yet to Be Done in Agent-Based Manufacturing
    PS-Bikes and Its Challenging "Agentification" Process to Achieve Agility
    Conclusions
    References

    Biography

    Massimo Paolucci, Roberto Sacile