The system generator concept for FMS research and analysis

In the research area of FMS, much past work has concentrated upon unique systems analysing production control strategies. In some cases, no physical system was available as reference, necessitating a variety of system assumptions by researchers. It has been very difficult to compare control strategy effectiveness among applications or among researchers due to many different system assumptions and a general lack of standardization among system definitions. This paper discusses development of a system generator procedure, which would greatly enhance generic control strategy research by allowing rapid generation of test system environments. The basic issues and considerations involved in development of a system generator are discussed. Considering these issues, an implementation of a system generator procedure is presented along with an example of output system representations for given inputs to the generator procedure.