Dynamic priority based dispatching of AGVs in flexible job shops

Abstract In this paper a scheduling and dispatching approach for a flexible job shop incorporating travel times of autonomous guided vehicles is analyzed. Considering multi-purpose machines, routing flexibility is also included. Knowing the calculation of the optimal schedule in this complex manufacturing system is NP-hard, multiple priority dispatching rules for machines and vehicles are compared under the influence of uncertainty. Evaluation shows that, regarding static dispatching, general improvement can be achieved applying this smart dispatching approach in flexible job shop scenarios.