Mon, 29.02.2016

    Control Theoretic Modeling of Logistic Systems

    Prof. Neil Duffie, PhD

    University of Madison-Wisconsin, USA

     
    As markets continue to become increasingly more dynamic and turbulent, new types of logistic systems and networks will be required that are agile, changeable and robust in the presence of turbulence. At the same time, information and computing technologies enabling future cyber-physical systems and Industry 4.0 will improve support for strategies such as joint use of resources by different companies, flexible capacity and active countermeasures against low due date reliability. To accomplish this, powerful tools are needed for designing, modeling, analyzing and understanding the dynamic behavior of logistic systems and networks.
     
    The tools of control systems engineering offer a wide spectrum of potential contributions to understanding this dynamic behavior. However, for many reasons including the nature of operational decision-making and a lack of data and suitable dynamic models, relatively few examples are available outside the field of supply chain dynamics as to how classical control theory, much less advanced control theory, can be applied.
     
    The main focus points of this lecture include:
    • opportunities for applying classical control theoretical modeling and analysis of the transient behavior and fundamental dynamics of logistic systems and networks including scheduling, sequencing, loading and controlling.
    • The basic theory and history of work in this research area will be reviewed, especially research related to production systems and networks, and several recent examples of progress will be discussed.
    • These will illustrate the potential that exists and obstacles that need to be overcome in applying tools from the field of control systems engineering and the kinds of approaches that may be required in the future as the need for dynamic modeling and analysis of logistic systems and networks continues to grow.
     
    Note: Some basic material on control theory and the Matlab/Simulink control systems toolbox will be presented during the lecture to enable progress to be made during the lab. 
     
     
     
    Short Profile
     
    Neil A. Duffie received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 1980, M.S. in Engineering in 1976, and B.S. in Computer Science in 1974, all from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. He is an Emeritus Professor and past Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
     
    His main research interests are distributed system control and manufacturing process automation. He is the acting Director of the Manufacturing System Engineering Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Professor Duffie is a Fellow of ASME, CIRP and SME. He is a member of the CIRP Editorial Committee, and is past chair of its Scientific Technical Committee for Production Systems and Organizations. He is a Past President of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (2008). In 2008 he was Mercator Guest Professor at the University of Bremen, Germany. He also has been a visiting researcher at the University of Stuttgart, Jacobs University, Cranfield University, James Cook University, and the AIST Mechanical Engineering Laboratory in Japan.
     
    In 2012 he received the SME Frederick W. Taylor Research Medal for publishing significant seminal research findings based on the application of modern control theory to manufacturing operations leading to a better understanding of processes, equipment and facilities. Since 2014 he has been the Editor-In-Chief of the SME Journal of Manufacturing Systems.