An integrated knowledge-based/simulation approach to production planning: An application to the pre-cast industry

Production planning, in general, is the allocation of resources to jobs in a manner that should satisfy the criteria of minimizing cost and satisfying customers. It is a complicated process and demands well-defined techniques, time and experience to achieve satisfactory results. An integrated knowledge-based/simulation approach to production planning is introduced and discussed in this paper as a possible alternative to traditional operational research methods. Based on this approach a computer-based simulation model is developed to model production facilities of a pre-casting factory and integrated with knowledge-based rules that mimic the decision-making process of a human planner. The knowledge rules which were developed by eliciting knowledge from a production manager and previously published literature are of three different types: product selection rules, plant selection rules and allocation rules. In order to verify and validate the model, a thorough industrial case study has been conducted through comparing the performance of the model to that of a human planner. From the results of the study it is concluded that the model is a valuable and considerable managerial tool for exploring and testing options open to production managers.