A method of operating a vehicle control device for an article transport system in a production factory include identifying a first access point that is disabled from communicating with the vehicle control device among access points for performing wireless communication with respective vehicles in the production factory, identifying a first vehicle positioned in a disabled communication region corresponding to a coverage of the first access point, and transmitting a first message, which is intended to be transmitted to the first vehicle, to a second vehicle connected to a second access point and transmitting a second message for instructing the second vehicle to move to the disabled communication region.