A generic production rules-based system for on-line simulation, decision making and discrete process control.

The paper presents and discusses a structure and components of a distributed decision making system for complex discrete systems and processes control. The decision-making nucleus of the system – System Dynamics Builder (SD Builder) – is described. The SD Builder is based on a hierarchical object-based representation of a complex discrete system and on a production rules based representation of discrete processes. It allows the using of on-line simulations, state-graph search, expert systems and other methods for decision making. A conceptual prototype of a sawmill in a timber factory illustrates the concepts described in the paper. In a case of a manufacturing system, the decision making system makes a part of a manufacturing execution system (MES).