Http:// European Network of Excellence in AI Planning 24 October 2003PLANET Bilbao I-day1 Potential Applicability of Intelligent P&S

24 October 2003 PLANET Bilbao I-day 1http://www.planet-noe.org

European Networkof Excellence in

AI Planning

Potential Applicability of Intelligent P&S in Production

& Logistics

Prof. dr. Tim GrantAtos Origin Nederland / University of Pretoria, RSA

[email protected] / [email protected]

24 October 2003 PLANET Bilbao I-day 2

Overview

• Goal:– To identify industrial sectors & activities that can

benefit from intelligent planning & scheduling

• Structure:– Introduction– What is IP&S– Industrial sectors & activities– IP&S features & benefits– Key case studies in production & logistics– IP&S products & services


Introducing myself

• Qualifications:– BSc Aeronautical Engineering, Univ. Bristol, UK– Chartered Engineer, UK– PhD Artificial Intelligence, Univ. Maastricht, NL

• Experience:– 1966-87: Royal Air Force officer

• UK & Singapore: Aircraft maintenance & logistics

– 1987-date: Principal Consultant, Atos Origin• NL: Aerospace, defence, motorway traffic control

– 2001-date: Professor Extraordinary, Univ. Pretoria• RSA: Advanced ICT in Planning & Control


Introducing Atos Origin

• Atos Origin:– Leading European IT services supplier:

• 28K staff worldwide (50K from 1 Jan 04)• 50% Dutch (Origin), 50% French (Atos)• Financially stable

– Technical Automation (TA) business unit:• Co-creating next-generation of intelligent, software-

intensive systems & products together with our clients• In Utrecht (NL):

– Aerospace, Defence, Road & Rail Traffic, Telecoms

• In Veldhoven (NL):– Consumer & industrial electronics, Semiconductors,

Medical equipment, Document processing

http://www.atosorigin.com\


Introducing University of Pretoria

• University of Pretoria (“Tukkies”):– Front-rank South African university– Computer Science:

• Java, .NET, AI• Swarm intelligence• Information & computer security• Risk management

• My research interests:– Decentralised planning & control– Generation of Standard Operating Procedures– Mixed-initiative, collaborative planning– Dynamic risk management

http://www.cs.up.ac.za\


What is IP&S (1)

RequirementsNeed

Design

Specification

Production

Design

Usage

Products

Decommission

Obsolete productsPlanning &Scheduling

Monitoring& ControlSchedule

Current state & past experience

MachiningRaw materials Product

Sensor data Instructions


What is IP&S (2)

Transportation& logistics

Planning &Scheduling



Loading, driving & unloadingPackage at A Package at B



What is IP&S (3)




ActionInitial state Goal state


Goals / objectives+ domain model

Domain

Domain knowledge (in human planner’s head)

Generalising:


What is IP&S (4)

Term:• Domain• Action

Changing domain

• PlanningDefining valid action-sequence

• SchedulingAllocate resources

& time to actions

Example:• Factory / fleet of trucks• Machining / loading & driving

Changes product / truck

• Constructing recipe / routeMake plan (action-sequence) for

machining / driving

• Resource allocationAllocate machines & times /

trucks+drivers & times


Industrial sectors & activities (1)

• Potential industrial sectors:– Industry:

• Construction & civil engineering• Capital & household goods• Automotive, rail, shipping• Aerospace• Machine tools & equipment

– Logistics & transportation– Utilities (electricity, water, gas)– Telecommunications– Agriculture– Finance & banking– Medical– Other services


Industrial sectors & activities (2)

• Potential activities:– In complex processes:

• Wherever there are human planners:– Industrial

» E.g. production, logistics, & transportation– Military & emergency services

» Police, fire-fighting, ambulance

– In products with autonomous capabilities:• Lifts / elevators• Driverless trains• Spacecraft• Unmanned air vehicles• Mobile robots


IP&S features & benefits (1)



Input

Output


Current methods:Schedule

Planning SchedulingAction-sequence

• Supported by products (eg ARTEMIS, MS-Project)• Based on PERT / CPA algorithms (1950s technology)• Slow & inflexible

• Done manually (+ office software)• No tools• Very time-consuming & inflexible

IP&S methods:Schedule

Planning SchedulingAction-sequence

• Supported by products (eg ILOG Scheduler)• Based on CSP algorithms (1990s technology)• Fast & flexible

• Supported by tools (eg PRODIGY)• Based on 1990s/2000s technology• Fast & flexible


IP&S features & benefits (2)Why planners have grey hair:

Common-sense knowledge

Domain knowledge(on factory floor or in control room)

P&S knowledge

Age (years)

20

10

30

40



• Where does benefit come from?– Capturing knowledge in planner’s head– Applying it to support human planner:

• Automate boring routine problems• Free human planner to work on difficult problems:

– Where creativity & ingenuity needed

• Remind human planner of domain constraints:– So human planner avoids errors

• Conventional software:– Either “hard-codes” industry-specific knowledge:

• Inflexible & very expensive (limited market)

– Or unable to capture or apply domain knowledge:• Cheaper, but cannot give intelligent support



• IP&S approach:– Capture, apply & maintain domain knowledge:

• Knowledge engineering tool• Can be interfaced to related software, e.g. CADCAM• N.B. Significant effort needed = the price you pay for the

gains in the planning & scheduling processes

– Planning:• Provide support for human planner:

– “Mixed-initiative” planning tool– 1990s/2000s technology

– Scheduling:• Replace 1950s algorithm with 1990s technology:

– CSP-based scheduling tool / engine



• Expected benefits:– Planning:

• Increased productivity of human planner• Better quality plans:

– Makes “what-if” possible

– More consistent plans

– Scheduling:• Faster scheduling process:

– Runs inside production cycle

– Less idle time & overtime

• Better-quality schedules:– More “what-if” within same time

– More robust schedules


Key case studies (1)

• Production (1):– Aircraft assembly:

• 570 tasks, 17 resources• Conventional method:

– ARTEMIS

– 20 hours to generate schedule

• IP&S method:– Replace ARTEMIS by CSP

– 30 mins to generate optimum schedule

– 10 to 15% shorter makespan

• Saving:– 4 to 6 days floor-time per aircraft

– US$ 0.2 to 1 million per day



• Production (2):– Submarine construction:

• 1.4 million tasks per boat• Conventional method:

– ARTEMIS

– 6 weeks to generate schedule

– Highly non-uniform profiles

• IP&S method:– Replace ARTEMIS by CSP

– 1 day to generate schedule

– More uniform profiles

• Savings:– 30% reduction in overtime & sub-contracting



• Logistics:– Military build-up to 1991 Gulf War:

• Conventional method:– Hundreds of human planners

– Months to generate plans/schedules

• IP&S method:– Aid planners with O-PLAN2

• Savings:– Faster logistics build-up

– Fewer airlift missions

– Financial pay-back >> all US Government AI research:

» From 1956

» Not just IP&S research – all AI research


IP&S products & services (1)

• List of European products on following slides:– Commercial vs. academic products– Planning vs. scheduling products

• Sources:– PLANET & UK PlanSIG web-sites

• Conclusions:– No commercial planning product– Schedulers:

• Twice as many commercial as academic

– Academic focus:• More than twice as many planners as schedulers



ProductCHIP V5ILOG SolverILOG SchedulerCPLEXEvolver/Blue Kaizen - optimisationiBundleriAuctionMakerConstraint optimisation toolkitXpressMP – optimization suiteElectrical power generationINORDA - APS for productionJOBWISE - APS for manpower

SupplierCosytec (FR)ILOG (FR)ILOG (FR)ILOG (FR)MASA (FR)iSOCO (E)iSOCO (E)BT (UK)Dash Optimization (UK/US)Power Optimisation (UK)Workplace Systems (UK)Workplace Systems (UK)

Commercial scheduling products (1):



ProductHARMONY – shift schedulingPEARLSHORTREC – routing & schedulingModelEnterprise – plant designSERVICEPower schedulerTimetabling softwareScheduling softwareDAYSY – flight schedulingPrescient5 – production schedulingTASKFORCE – workforce schedulerXimesPDC Staffplan

SupplierORTEC (NL/US)ORTEC (NL/US)ORTEC (NL/US)Process Systems Enterprise (UK)ServicePower (UK)Lantiv (?)COMSEC (?)SEMA Group (UK/FR)Prescient (?)APSolve (UK)XIMES (AU)PDC (DK)

Commercial scheduling products (2):



Product

ChariTime – dynamic appointment

ConBATT – timetabling

INTERDIP – nurse scheduling

WISPRO

CSP-Lab & CS-Lib

PAVE – patient scheduling

ECOPT – vehicle & crew scheduling

LiSA – scheduling algorithms

TOSCA – factory scheduling (job-shop)

Supplier

U. Humboldt (GE)

U. Humboldt (GE)

U. Munich (GE)

GMD First (GE)

U. Strathclyde (UK)

Demokritos (GR)

Erasmus (?)

U. Magdeburg (GE)

U. Edinburgh (UK)

Academic scheduling products:



Product

IxTET

IPP

Fast-Forward

GRT & MO-GRT

DDPLAN

Model-Based Planner (MBP)

Prodigy

IMPLAN

MACHINE – manufacturing

TRP-Planner – temporal planning

MIME – mixed-initiative modeller & planner

University/Institute

LAAS-CNRS (FR)

U. Freiburg (GE)

U. Freiburg (GE)

UoM (GR)

U. Perugia (IT)

IRST (IT)

UC3M (E)

U. Humboldt (GE)

UGR (E)

U. Piraeus (GR)

Mid Sweden U. (SE)

Academic planning products (1):



Product

STAN

TIM – domain analysis tool

O-PLAN

PLANFORM – planning environment

GIPO

CAPplan

INT-OP – operating procedure synthesis

MACTA – planning for interacting robots

Plan 95 – distributed planner

CHARADE – interactive planning

I-Rescue –disaster relief planning

University/Institute

U. Durham (UK)

U. Durham (UK)

U. Edinburgh (UK)

U. Huddersfield (UK)

U. Huddersfield (UK)

U. Kaiserlautern (GE)

U. Salford (UK)

U. Salford (UK)

U. Uppsala (SE)

U. UGR (E)

U. Edinburgh (UK)

Academic planning products (2):

Documents

Http:// European Network of Excellence in AI Planning 24 October 2003PLANET Bilbao I-day1 Potential Applicability of Intelligent P&S