A Holonic Manufacturing System for a Copper Smelting Process

In this article, a holonic manufacturing system to coordinate the activities in a copper concentrate smelting process is designed. The system was developed and compared with a simulation of the current system in use. Four scenarios with different feeding levels of copper concentrate were considered. The results show an increase in the amount of processed ore in the four studied scenarios because of a reduction in the total waiting time and more efficient use of the plant equipment. Thus, the better use of resources and a decrease in idle time because of improved coordination of activities and different components of the system is highlighted. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.