Design and simulation of manufacturing systems facing imperfectly defined information

Due to the constant evolution of the environment and to the complexity of the needs, the specifications of a manufacturing system are often imperfectly known. The initial design data are uncertain, inaccurate and even vague. We propose to represent the quantifiable needs using fuzzy quantities. The data are propagated during the activity of engineering to lead to the parameters of the target system. In this context, simulation techniques, based on fuzzy parameters, are used to verify the exactness of the design. We choose to use a commercial discrete event simulator and Response Surface Methodology to perform fuzzy simulation, (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.