Labor and machine sizing through a Simulation-Expert-System-based Approach

This work presents the development of an enhanced version of the Simulation-Expert-System-based Approach (SESA) previously used to solve the manufacturing system (MS) machine sizing problem. The SESA is improved by considering operator sizing along with machine sizing. The proposed approach consists in coupling an expert system (ES) with a simulation tool. The main performance measures considered in this work are related to the manufacturing orders due dates. Accordingly, labor resources are now implemented in the MS simulation model and ES reasoning mechanism is adjusted in order to optimise both machine and operator quantities. Finally, an illustrative example showed the potential benefits of the approach enhancements through the enrichment of both simulation model and the expert system reasoning mechanism.