This book contains the results of an Advanced Research Workshop that took place in Grenoble, France, in June 1988. The objective of this NATO ARW on Advanced Information Technologies for Industrial Material Flow Systems (MFS) was to bring together eminent research professionals from academia, industry and government who specialize in the study and application of information technology for material flow contro!' The current world status was reviewed and an agenda for needed research was discussed and established. The workshop focused on the following subjects: The nature of information within the material flow domain. Status of contemporary databases for engineering and material flow. Distributed databases and information integration. Artificial intelligence techniques and models for material flow problem solving. Digital communications for material flow systems. Robotics, intelligent systems, and material flow contro!' Material handling and storage systems information and contro!' Implementation, organization, and economic research-issues as related to the above. Material flow control is as important as manufacturing and other process control in the computer integrated environment. Important developments have been occurring internationally in information technology, robotics, artificial intelligence and their application in material flow/material handling systems. In a traditional sense, material flow in manufacturing (and other industrial operations) consists of the independent movement of work-in-process between processing entities in order to fulfill the requirements of the appropriate production and process plans. Generally, information, in this environment, has been communicated from processors to movers.

Inhalt

1. The Nature of Information in Material Flow Systems.- Managing Information Complexity in Material Flow Systems.- Information Dynamics for Computer Integrated Product Realization.- Some Interactions of Information and Control in Integrated Automation Systems.- 2. Data and Knowledge Methodologies in Material Flow Systems.- Distributed, Intelligent Information System for Automated, Integrated Manufacturing Systems.- Applying Distributed Artificial Intelligence to Flexible Manufacturing.- Combining Predicate Transition Nets and Rule Based Systems for Planning, Programming and Exception Handling in Manufacturing Process Control.- A Knowledge-Based System for Production Equipment Selection and Layout.- Specifications for Knowledge Representation in Intellligent Systems Layout Design Environments.- 3. Intelligent Robotics and Communications.- The Impact of Advances in Information Technology on Interactive Robotics.- The Karlsruhe Autonomous Mobile Assembly Robot.- Knowledge Representation and Integration of Robot Assembly Applications.- Results of the Development of a Manipulator with a Very Large Reach.- Global Path Planning Approaches for Material Movements in a Worksite.- The Need for a Generic Framework for Systems Integration.- 4. Modeling Issues of Material Flow Functions.- Some Issues in Controlling Integrated WIP Material Handling Systems.- Tool Management and Its Implications for Material Flow.- Issues in Design and Control of AS/RS.- Knowledge Models for the Design and Management of Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems.- Guided Vehicle Systems: Information/Control System Implications of Alternative Design and Operation Strategies.- 5. Integration Models and Techniques.- Materials Handling and Storage in Logistics Systems.- GRAI Approach to Designing and Controlling Advanced Manufacturing System in CIM Environment.- LLAMA: A Layered Logical Architecture for Material Administration.- Simulation Techology for the Design and Scheduling of Material Handling and Storage Systems.- Knowledge Based Approaches for Production Control: An Assessment.- 6. Implementation and Management Issues.- Information Processing in Material Flow System Management.- CIM System Development for Small to Medium Size Discrete-Parts Manufacturing Companies.- An Approach to Solve Workshop Real Time Scheduling Problems.- Cybernetics Approach to Material Flow Control.- 7. Research Panel Reports.