In: International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 39, No. 2, pages 225-253. 2001.
Abstract: Support for the efficient design and operation of complex manufacturing system requires an integrated modeling, analysis, and control methodology as well as its implementation in a software tool. In this paper, the Petri net base design engine TimeNET is presented for this task. Petri nets are able to capture the characteristic features of manufacturing systems in a concise form. A subclass of colored Petri nets is used, which has been developed especially for the application area of manufacturing. Structure and work plans are modeled separately. Stochastic as well as deterministic and more general distributions are adopted for the firing times of transitions. Fundamental questions about system properties can be answered using qualitative analysis. For an efficient performance and dependability prediction, different evaluation techniques are proposed: direct numerical analysis, approximate analysis, and simulation. Finally, the model can be used to evaluate different control strategies and to control the manufacturing system directly. There is no need to change the modeling methodology, thus avoiding additional effort, for example, for model conversion.
Keywords: colored Petri nets, dependability prediction, manufacturing systems, performance prediction.