Fts Chan

Analysis of dynamic dispatching rules for a flexible manufacturing system

Abstract This paper presents a simulation model of a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) which subjects to minimization three performance criteria simultaneously such as mean flow time, mean tardiness, and mean earliness. The dispatching rule will be changed at a frequency that is varied by the number of outputs produced by the system. Therefore, the dynamic nature is event-triggered rather than changing the rule at a regular time interval, which is passive. Three indexes are calculated to represent the three criteria under monitoring and the indexes are ranked in descending order: the greater the index, the worse is the situation of the criterion in the system. Thus, an appropriate rule will be selected for the next operation in order to tackle that criterion with the largest index. This mechanism is so called pre-emptive method. Furthermore, the indexes can be biased so that particular criterion can have a greater weighting as set by the decision-maker. Results show that a solution (range of frequency) can always be determined to change the dispatching rule so that the system is better than just using fixed FMS scheduling rule.

An intelligent internet information delivery system to evaluate site preferences

Abstract Due to the continual growth of the popularity of the Internet, commercial as well as industrial companies have been advertising their products and services via the Web, resulting in a drastic increase in the number of Web sites. With a huge amount of information available on various Web sites, it is important that the relevant and useful information favored by individual visitors is delivered to the destinations in a timely manner. The two traditional approaches for sorting web information including search engines and hierarchical indices require specific input by the visitors who may not have any specific favorite sites in mind. In most cases, site surfers are just “window-shopping” on the Internet, looking for “exciting” things. This paper proposes the development of an Intelligent Internet Information Delivery System (IIIDS) which is characterized by its machine learning capability based on the data of site spots “movements” by the users within the Web pages and then evaluates the site preferences of the relevant users by means of fuzzy logic principle. The development of IIIDS and the test of a prototype to evaluate its feasibility are covered in this paper.

Design and development of a flexible workflow supply chain system

This paper attempts to suggest a methodology for the design and development of a flexible workflow supply chain (FWSC) system for achieving flexibility to cope with unexpected changes. In particular, a multi-agent approach, which provides the capability to meet the requirement of a FWSC system, is proposed. Such a system is characterized by its capability to cope with the increasing complexity setting of organizations and markets, providing effective information exchange between business partners. The methodology for the design and development of a workflow agent is also covered in this paper. This paper is concerned with the suggestion of a multi-agent methodology, which is able to enhance the effectiveness in terms of the information flow in a supply chain, thereby providing more alternatives and ideas for those researchers who are interested in this field of study.