INVESTIGATING THE APPLICATION POTENTIAL OF SIMULATION TO REAL-TIME CONTROL DECISIONS

Using simulation for real-time scheduling and control of manufacturing systems shows good potential. However, because real-time decisions must be made very quickly, it is important to understand how different physical system factors affect the amount of time it takes to perform simulations of individual manufacturing systems to properly assess amenable conditions for this application. This study serves as an investigation into the applicability of simulation for the real-time control of manufacturing systems. The study identifies several important factors in the operation of manufacturing systems and determines their effects on the amount of actual cpu time it takes to perform simulation runs for a given physical manufacturing system at a given level of precision desired for statistical accuracy of the simulation output. A uniquely structured analysis methodology is presented, which accounts for possible affects of the particular test system being used. The results of this analysis will provide a foundation for evaluating the appropriateness of using simulation for real-time control for different types of systems.