A distributed scheduling framework

A distributed problem solving approach to job shop scheduling is described. The approach views the system as an organisation. Agents are assigned different roles and functions depending on their position within the structure of the organisation. In this organisation, agents of the same level state their interests independently of each other and therefore conflict is likely to occur. A major thesis of the research reported here is that not only is it important to deal with conflict but also that conflict as a consequence of the scheduling process should be exploited as a way of integrating different scheduling perspectives, as a way of allowing agents to express their own interests independently of each other and, thus, as a way of guaranteeing pluralism by providing agents with both empirical knowledge (heuristics, dispatch rules) and theoretical knowledge (optimal algorithms). >