Effect of dynamic and static dispatching strategies on dynamically planned and unplanned FMS

Dispatching strategies are crucial in scheduling of flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs), in which each operation of a job may be performed by any of the several machines. This paper presents a study of the effect of dynamic and static dispatching strategies on dynamically planned and unplanned FMS. The proposed simulation model comprised eight machines, storage buffer areas, receiving area, and three robots and pallets. Parts enter and leave the FMS at load/unload stations and transferred between machine centers by available trucks. Based on a number of specific assumptions, 12 different dispatching strategies were considered. A simulation run was made for each strategy, where the design parameters were systematically changed. The analysis of the obtained results showed that an overall improvement could be achieved for dynamic dispatching than that rendered by static dispatching. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.