A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR MACHINE SELECTION WITH LOAD BALANCING

This paper presents a new approach towards the machine selection problem. This approach utilizes a decision support system (DSS) for advising the production manager which machine to select. The DSS is of special kind: its machine selection rules are modified to ensure equal load on the machines. The basic structure of the decision tree is defined by process experts and the rules threshold values are dynamically evaluated. The implementation domain is the aluminum extrusion process, with the objective of aiding the manager in selecting the appropriate extrusion press machine from a set of similar machines. These machines are the most expensive equipment in the process, and are expected to be fully utilized. The methodology presented in this paper was implemented in such a facility resulting in about 3% improvement on machine utilization.