Task allocation using case‐based reasoning for distributed manufacturing systems

Introduces a case‐based management system (CBMS) for decision making such as allocating tasks under a distributed manufacturing environment. The distributed manufacturing environment can be viewed as a multi‐agent system in which each manufacturing plant is an agent to produce the whole or part of the products ordered by the customers. The knowledge is represented as cases in the system which can be reused to produce new solutions. This learn‐by‐experience approach provides a particular strength to case‐based reasoning over most other AI methods. The effectiveness of the proposed concept is demonstrated by applying the CBMS to a task allocation example. By using the CBMS approach, tasks or jobs can be assigned to appropriate agents effectively. Moreover, CBMS can be used locally or globally via WAN or Internet with high‐security protection as a knowledge management system in small and medium enterprises.