Manufacturing Algebra. Part II: aggregation, control and simulation

Manufacturing Algebra provides a set of mathematical entities together with some composition rules, that are specially conceived for modelling and controlling a manufacturing system. Here only the modelling capabilities are outlined together with a simple case study. The scope of the paper 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 defined in their basic elements, and the link between them is given. Specifically the Manufacturing Model (parts, operations) includes time and space coordinates in order it could be employed by factory elements like Production units and Control Units. This calls for the definition of event and event sequence and of the relevant discrete-event elements and operators. 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.