A control method to save machine energy in production

Abstract

Nowadays, energy saving is one of the most talked about issues in our life, it is also increasingly important in the manufacturing industry. This research considers the dynamic flexible flow shop scheduling (DFFS) problem, which is an extended version of the classical flow-shop scheduling problem. A flexible flow shop has multiple stages with multiple machines at each stage for processing multiple products. Previous research on DFFS aimed to achieve just-in-time production, or reducing difference between the actual completion time and the due date of each job. However, little research has been made on energy saving of machines in production. To address such a need, this paper proposes a method that dynamically turns on and off machines so as to reduce energy consumption while achieving JIT production. The proposed method has been tested on different environments, and the results show that it is high performing for both JIT production and energy saving.