The automotive and aeronautics industries have particular throughput requirements. To meet these requirements, process tasks must be scheduled in a specific way. Tasks are scheduled to ensure that production is as efficient as possible. And scheduling factors in a multitude of parameters, from the human and material resources available to safety restrictions that would prevent two tasks from being completed simultaneously, for example. Finally, task scheduling, often based on experience, is very complicated to do manually. CEA List, a CEA Tech institute, recently completed an R&D project at FactoryLab with the goal of automating task scheduling.
FactoryLab community members PSA and Safran partnered with List on a joint project called GECO. The project’s objectives were to reduce the amount of time it takes to optimize and validate task scheduling on PSA’s automotive assembly lines and on Safran’s motor maintenance lines. The researchers tailored their Papyrus-based software suite, which creates a digital twin of a production line, to the specific needs of the two cases addressed here.
This digital twin uses models and simulations to generate variants of all parameters and constraints, accurately analyze a complex situation, and predict and resolve any conflicts between tasks. This smart, automated system allocates resources and plans tasks, using heuristics developed with artificial intelligence. Unforeseen events (orders requiring fast turnarounds, a change in human or material resources) can be factored in to rapidly update the task schedule.
FactoryLab, a consortium whose members represent industrial companies and academic research institutions, has the capacity to very rapidly integrate technological solutions and to build prototypes and demonstrator systems to support its members’ transformation strategies. The consortium facilitates the adoption of these new solutions and helps shorten time to market.
FactoryLab spans diverse industries and markets, making it a novel space where ideas cross traditional barriers and where members can access shared resources. Whether they are technology providers, integrators, or industrial end-users, FactoryLab positions all of its users to create value.
Website: http://factorylab.fr/
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