A job shop scheduler combining knowledge based system with database

The objective of the authors is to investigate the combination of a knowledge based system (KBS) with a database management system (DBMS) for a job shop scheduling problem. This work is based on an existing DBMS established by a company for the purpose of information management only. The central idea is to realize a knowledge based scheduler by using the DataFlex program language for a job shop scheduling problem. The concept of hierarchy is introduced and developed to provide a bidirectional information exchange between the knowledge base and the database. The advantage of this method is that it is suitable for a dynamic environment, in which different heuristic rules and dispatching rules can be chosen according to changes in data stored in the database. The basic concept of the job shop scheduling and dispatching rules are given. The knowledge based system and heuristic rules are described. The authors present the combination of knowledge based system with database, using the concept of information hierarchy and the program implementation is illustrated