Title: Integration of planning systems and an agent-oriented MES

Authors: P. Verstraete, P. Valckenaers, B. Saint Germain, H. Van Brussel, K. Hedeli

Addresses: Department of Mechanics, Faculty of Applied Science, K.U. Leuven, Belgium. ' Department of Mechanics, Faculty of Applied Science, K.U. Leuven, Belgium. ' Department of Mechanics, Faculty of Applied Science, K.U. Leuven, Belgium. ' Department of Mechanics, Faculty of Applied Science, K.U. Leuven, Belgium. ' Department of Mechanics, Faculty of Applied Science, K.U. Leuven, Belgium

Abstract: Today, industry is confronted with a fast changing market. Customers demand a high-quality, low price and tailored product. This requires flexible manufacturing systems. At K.U. Leuven, a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is designed that allows to adjust execution to quickly changing circumstances. This paper discusses how this MES can cooperate with existing planning systems. A collaboration mechanism is presented and the advantages of this collaboration are discussed.

Keywords: manufacturing execution systems; MES; planning systems; multi-agent systems; agent-based systems; flexible manufacturing systems; FMS; collaboration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2006.008793

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2006 Vol.8 No.1/2/3, pp.159 - 174

Published online: 25 Jan 2006 *

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