Characterizing nervousness at the shop-floor level in the context of Industry 4.0

Abstract

Manufacturing systems are shifting from nonflexible to dynamic, self-aware, and self-adaptable ones. Scheduling systems, as the production activities' core, are turning online, with response capabilities. Nevertheless, even when immediate rescheduling actions are performed each time a disruption occurs, aimed at getting a new feasible and/or good quality solution, this adaptation-to-change response mechanism might not be well accepted on the shop floor. Repeated changes could lead to a continuous rearrangement of predefined manufacturing plans through different levels, from MRP to the control system. Traditionally, this behavior is known as schedule nervousness (SN). There are many contributions about nervousness at the planning level, as well as recent advances tackling it at the control level. Yet, further specification of nervousness happening at the shop floor (Shop-Floor Schedule Nervousness, SFSN), where a short-term on-going schedule drives the production, is needed. In this chapter, the SFSN issue is identified, characterized, and a first SFSN framework is proposed.