A ‘city plan’ for design and research of computer integrated production planning and control systems

Abstract

The planning and control of manufacturing systems is a complex activity involving a myriad of interrelated decisions and optimization algorithms. In a computer integrated manufacturing system (CIMS) these decisions and algorithms span several functions, require information from several sources, and have consequences in several sectors of CIMS. Building decision systems for such a complex environment requires an effective plan. This plan must identify information flows, decision modules, and relevant interrelationships. This paper presents an approach for the development of such a plan, for the production planning and control component of CIMS. The plan is based primarily on the integrated computer aided manufacturing (ICAM) definition models, and is developed using structured analysis.

Notes

SANCHOY K. DAS is assistant professor of industrial engineering and Becton Dickinson Fellow of manufacturing at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. His current research focuses on the design of production control systems for application in computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), defining and introducing flexibility in small batch manufacturing, and the design of CIM databases and information structures. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. in industrial engineering and operations research from Virginia Tech, Blacksburg. He is a member of IIE, SME, and Alpha Pi Mu.

SUBHASH C. SARIN is an associate professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He received his Ph.D. in operations research and industrial engineering from North Carolina State University. Previously, he held a faculty position at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. He worked with IBM during the summer of 1983 as advisor to the Manufacturing Systems and Robotics Development Department. His areas of interest are production scheduling, applied mathematical programming, and design and mathematical analysis of manufacturing systems. He has published several papers in these areas in various journals. He has been a consultant and project worker for government and industry. He is a full member of ORSA, and a senior member of IIE.