Manufacturing algebra. Part I: modelling principles and case study

Manufacturing Algebra provides a set of mathematical entities together with composition rules, that are conceived for modeling and controlling a manufacturing system. Here only modeling capabilities are outlined together with a simple case study. The scope is to familiarize the reader with the proposed methodology, and to highlight some peculiarities. Formulation is reduced to a minimum. Among the algebra peculiarities, both manufacturing process and the factory layout are neatly defined in their basic elements, and the link between them is given. A manufacturing model (parts, operations) must include time and space coordinates for being employed by factory elements like Production Units and Control Units. This calls for the definition of event and event sequence. A further peculiarity to be clarified in the second part, is the capability of aggregating algebra elements into higher level components, thus favoring hierarchical description and control of manufacturing systems.