Event-Based Receding Horizon Control for Two-Stages Multi-Product Production Plants

In this paper, we present a receding horizon control approach for multi-product production plants. Two-stage multi-product plants are considered. In the first stage, a set of parallel production lines generates intermediate products from raw materials. In the second stage, intermediate products are assembled together into final products through an assembly line. A set of buffers for the intermediate products connects the production lines and the assembly line and allows a continuous production flow. We propose a systematic event-based and control-oriented approach to this class of problems. We employ receding horizon control (RHC) techniques to control the production line flow in order to satisfy the time-varying request from the assembly line and optimize a certain performance criterion which includes the minimization of the intermediate products storage and the reduction of the processing time. Experimental data show the benefits deriving from the application of the proposed approach, to a process of car engine manufacturing