Resource planning support system

An approach to facilitating the task of resource planning by using knowledge-based techniques is attempted and examined. Resources are taken to mean manpower, materials, tools, and money. It is assumed that plans are made for each year. The goal of this system is not to make plans automatically, but to do so with the deep understanding of a planner. To achieve this goal, a bidirectional calculation feature and a rule-based simulation feature with heuristics are adopted. These features make it possible to examine the side-effects of modifying a plan, and thus enable a planner to confirm his decisions. The system has been applied to resource planning in an IBM-Japan factory, and has been shown to be helpful in improving the quality of the plan