Coupling order release methods with autonomous control methods – an assessment of potentials by literature review and discrete event simulation

Abstract

Production planning and control faces increasing uncertainty, dynamicsand complexity. Autonomous control methods proved themselves as apromising approach for coping with these challenges. However, there is alack of knowledge regarding the interaction between autonomous controland precedent functions of production planning and control. Inparticular, up to now previous research has paid no attention to theinfluence of order release methods on the efficiency of autonomouscontrol methods. Thereby, many researchers over the last decadesprovided evidence that the order release function has great influence onthe logistic objective achievement in conventional production systems.Therefore, this paper examines the influence of order release methods onthe efficiency of autonomous control methods by both theoreticevaluation and discrete event simulation. The simulation resultsindicate an overall high influence. Moreover, the logistic performancediffers considerably depending on the implemented order release methodsand the combinations of order release methods with autonomous controlmethods. The findings highlight demand for further research in thisfield.