Abstract :
Manufacturing and production systems represent a relatively new class of dynamic systems which cannot be easily modeled by the familiar tools of differential equations. the evolutions of the system are governed by the occurence of discrete events, such as, the arrival of a part, or the completion of an operation. The "state" of the system changes only at such discrete instants of time based on complex logical conditions or rules of operation. The interesting and challenging aspect of the analysis of such systems are the dynamics resulting from interactions of the states and events of the system. In this talk, we shall on the one hand outline the needs and opportunities in this important engineering area, and on the other hand, provide some glimpses into possible conceptual and theoretical advances that are waiting to be made.
