Workload control in FMS environments

A study is being made of the design of a highly automated production line for the assembly and test of certain electro mechanical products. It is prespecified that the line must be able to produce 240 different product types in a random sequence. A high performance is required with respect to throughput and throuphputtimes. The flexibility to meet these requirements can be obtained by using robots and programmable product identifiers. The desired throughput can be obtained by controlling the line with workload control. The advantage of this control system is that it can be implemented in a hierarchical control system.