Multiagent decision support system

We discuss a new decision support system (DSS) for scheduling integrated steel processing based on multiagent technology. A mathematical model of integrated steel scheduling was presented. In order to solve the extremely complex problem, we integrate various algorithms using a new multiagent architecture in which each agent embodies a special approach and multiple solution methods cooperate by evolving a shared population of solutions. Our system considers multiple scheduling objectives, generates multiple scheduling alternatives and relieves the schedulers of mundane computational tasks. The scheduler, as the final decision maker, can work cooperatively with the system to explore alternatives, to improve solution quality and choose the best alternative for the enterprise.