Analysis on Energy Efficient Switching of Machine Tool With Stochastic Arrivals and Buffer Information

One of the measures for saving energy is the implementation of control strategies that reduce energy consumption during the machine idle periods. This paper proposes a framework that integrates different control policies for switching the machine off when the production is not critical, and on when the part flow has to be resumed. A general policy is formalized by modeling explicitly the power consumed in each system state. With this policy, the service can be resumed according to time threshold and when N parts have accumulated in the buffer. The behavior of the control strategy under different scenarios is numerically evaluated. Numerical results are based on data acquired with dedicated experimental measurements on a real machining center. A comparison with the common practice in manufacturing and with control policies that do not consider buffer information is also reported.