Real-time rescheduling of production systems using relational reinforcement learning

Abstract

Most scheduling methodologies developed until now have laid down good theoretical foundations, but there is still the need for real-time rescheduling methods that can work effectively in disruption management. In this work, a novel approach for automatic generation of rescheduling knowledge using Relational Reinforcement Learning (RRL) is presented. Relational representations of schedule states and repair operators enable to encode in a compact way and use in real-time rescheduling knowledge learned through intensive simulations of state transitions. An industrial example where a current schedule must be repaired following the arrival of a new order is discussed using a prototype application – SmartGantt®- for interactive rescheduling in a reactive way. SmartGantt® demonstrates the advantages of resorting to RRL and abstract states for real-time rescheduling. A small number of training episodes are required to define a repair policy which can handle on the fly events such as order insertion, resource break-down, raw material delay or shortage and rush order arrivals using a sequence of operators to achieve a selected goal.