Abstract

This paper discusses the added value of prioritizing machine breakdowns, taking into account future planned downtime. For this purpose, an online-optimization problem with lookahead is formulated, whereby the information about planned downtimes is available as lookahead. To solve the problem a simulation-based optimization system is presented. By implementing this system in a simulation environment and performing a simulation study of a multidimensional flow production system it is shown that a prioritization with lookahead can reduce the occurrence of momentary bottlenecks due to planned downtimes, so that the overall performance of a production system can be increased.