Knowledge-based Multi-site Capacity Planning using Agents

Because of current strong globalization trend, manufacturers are more willing to go to regional or globalism by setting-up plants closer to customers in order to reduce operation costs. Accordingly, mid-term capacity planning paradigm has shifted from algorithm-based solutions for single production site to collaboration-oriented planning in multiple production sites. This paper presents an agent-based multi-site capacity planning framework for autonomous plants within an organization by exploiting the features of agents (autonomy, social ability, re-, and pro-activeness). The creation of a "community of practice", where explicit knowledge in knowledge base and tacit knowledge are shared among systems and people, will facilitate the knowledge flow across department walls and plants\´ boundaries, supporting the generation of "global optimal" capacity plans. This paper also demonstrates quantitative benefits in reduction of tardy jobs in multi-site capacity planning through a simulation.