Automated Petri-net modelling based on production management data

Abstract

Timed Petri nets can be used for the modelling and analysis of a wide range of concurrent discrete-event systems, e.g. production systems. The present paper describes how to do so while starting from the information about the structure of a production facility and about the products usually given in production-data management systems. We describe a method for using these data to algorithmically build a Petri-net model. The timed Petri-net simulator, which was built in Matlab, is also described. This simulator makes it possible to introduce heuristics, and in this way production operations can be scheduled. To demonstrate the applicability of our approach, we applied it to a scheduling problem in a multi-product batch plant.