Production planning system and production planning method

Abstract

To allow for production planning which improves production efficiency in the whole of production lines and reduces facility energy consumption.SOLUTION: The present invention is applied to a production planning system which makes a plan for producing a product in a production line having processes before and after an in-process product storage place. The production planning system includes a component information storage unit 121a in which information of components constituting the product is stored; an in-process product storage place information storage unit 121c in which information of the size of the in-process product storage place is stored; a production planning unit 144 which creates a production plan including an arrangement plan for arranging the components in the in-process product storage place; a component group extraction unit 142 which groups components of which the arrangement and the sequence of picking up are restricted by the arrangement plan created by the production planning unit 144; and a production sequence planning unit 143 which plans a production sequence for assembling components, on the basis of a component group extracted by the component group extraction unit 142.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a production planning system and a production planning method. [Background technology]

[0002] When manufacturing various types of equipment, there is a demand for improving production efficiency and reducing equipment energy consumption. Specifically, it is desirable to predict the equipment energy consumption during production and to create an appropriate plan that reflects the know-how of workers to improve the efficiency of production equipment. For example, when bending sheet metal, it is necessary to change the die depending on the length and angle of the bend. However, when changing the die, the die setup time and the equipment idle time associated with the setup become problems in terms of productivity and energy consumption.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a technology for managing a parts group that includes multiple types of parts, in which a part priority is assigned to each part, and a combination of parts is determined so that the parts fall within a predetermined index value range when combined. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-22306 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] According to the technology described in Patent Document 1, when managing a group of parts including a plurality of kinds of parts, production can be managed based on the priority of parts. However, if the combination is determined simply based on the priority of the parts themselves, parts that have a chronological relationship when placed or taken out cannot be appropriately grouped. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not possible to perform optimal production management in order to improve production efficiency and reduce equipment energy consumption. In other words, even if a production plan is determined based on the priority of the parts themselves, if the placement in a warehouse or work-in-progress area where the parts are stored is not appropriate in accordance with the dependency relationship with other items when actually taking out the parts, production efficiency cannot be improved.

[0006] Furthermore, when manufacturing a wide variety of products in small quantities on a production line where the setup conditions differ for each process, even if the manufacturing process for each product is optimized, rearrangement of work-in-progress and changeover of setups at each process will increase equipment idle time, making it difficult to improve productivity and optimize energy consumption for the entire production line.

[0007] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a production planning system and a production planning method that can improve the production efficiency of the entire production line and reduce the equipment energy consumption. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, for example, the configurations described in the claims are adopted. The present application includes multiple means for solving the above-mentioned problems, and one example is a production planning system that is applied to a system that plans the production of a product on a production line that has processes before and after a work-in-progress yard, and includes a part information storage unit that stores information on the parts that make up the product, a work-in-progress yard information storage unit that stores information on the size of the work-in-progress yard, a production planning unit that creates a production plan including an arrangement plan for arranging the parts in the work-in-progress yard, a part group extraction unit that groups parts for which order constraints apply to the arrangement and removal of parts from the arrangement plan created by the production planning unit, and a production sequence planning unit that plans the production sequence for installing the parts based on the part groups extracted by the part group extraction unit. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, by minimizing the constraints on the processing sequence resulting from the layout of work-in-process storage areas, it is possible to realize an efficient processing sequence with low environmental impact, thereby improving the production efficiency of the entire production line and reducing energy consumption. Problems, configurations and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a production planning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a production planning process by a production planning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a manufacturing process according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example (plan 1, plan 2) of production planning in a production planning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of evaluation when a production plan is made in the production planning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an output screen of the production planning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] A production planning system and a production planning method according to one embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "this embodiment") will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0012] [Production planning system configuration] FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of the production planning system of this embodiment. The production planning system 100 of this embodiment is configured by a computer device, and includes an input / output unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a calculation unit . The input / output unit 110 performs input processing to acquire information necessary for the production plan, and output processing to output the created production plan, etc. Product information necessary for the production plan inputted by the input / output unit 110 is acquired, for example, from the design specification information storage unit 210 of the design system storage device 200 via the network NW.

[0013] Furthermore, the input / output unit 110 acquires information about work-in-progress storage locations within the factory that are necessary for the production of the product. Then, the input / output unit 110 transmits the production plan and the like to the work instructing device 300 via the network NW, and the work instructing device 300 displays the production plan and the like. Note that the input / output unit 110 may be provided with its own display unit so that the production plan and the like can be displayed in the production planning system 100.

[0014] The storage unit 120 includes an input information storage unit 121 and an output information storage unit 122 . The input information storage unit 121 includes a part information storage unit 121a, a work-in-progress location information storage unit 121b, a process information storage unit 121c, and an evaluation index storage unit 121d. The part information storage unit 121a performs a part information storage process for storing information on parts to be assembled into a product. The process information storage unit 121c stores information related to the production process of the product. The work-in-progress place information storage unit 121b performs a work-in-progress place information storage process that stores information about the size of the work-in-progress place. The work-in-progress place is a location where products in the middle of production are placed before and after each process on the production line. In other words, each process is placed before and after the work-in-progress place. The work-in-progress place may be a cart on which parts are placed. In the case of a cart, the size that allows parts to be placed on the cart becomes the size of the work-in-progress place. The evaluation index storage unit 121d stores an evaluation index for production efficiency.

[0015] The output information storage unit 122 has a part order / group proposal storage unit 122a, a production plan proposal storage unit 122b, a proposal plan evaluation value storage unit 122c, and a work instruction proposal storage unit 122d. The information stored in the part sequence / group plan storage unit 122a, the production plan plan storage unit 122b, the plan plan evaluation value storage unit 122c, and the work instruction plan storage unit 122d is information generated by calculation in the calculation unit 130. This information is output to the work instruction device 300 by the input / output unit 110 and displayed. The information stored in the output information storage unit 122 will be described in detail later.

[0016] The calculation unit 130 executes a program for performing processing calculations as a production planning system under the control of a CPU (Central Processing Unit). That is, the calculation unit 130 executes a program stored in the memory unit 131, thereby configuring each processing unit of the calculation processing unit 132. The calculation processing unit 132 has a data acquisition unit 141 , a parts group extraction unit 142 , a production sequence planning unit 143 , a production plan formulation unit 144 , a production plan evaluation unit 145 , a work instruction proposal generation unit 146 , and a display control unit 147 .

[0017] The data acquisition unit 141 acquires the input information stored in the input information storage unit 121 . The component group extraction unit 142 performs a component group extraction process for extracting, from the input information acquired by the data acquisition unit 141, component group information indicating a group of components for which order constraints arise in placement and removal.

[0018] The production sequence planning unit 143 plans a production sequence, which is the order in which the parts are processed to produce products, based on the part groups extracted by the part group extraction unit 142. The production planning unit 144 performs a production planning process to create a production plan including an arrangement plan for arranging parts in a work-in-progress yard.

[0019] The production plan evaluation unit 145 evaluates the production efficiency and the environmental load when the products are produced according to the production sequence planned by the production sequence planning unit 143 . The work instruction proposal generating unit 146 makes a selection based on the evaluation by the production plan evaluating unit 145 and creates a production work instruction proposal in the production plan. The display control unit 147 creates a screen for displaying the output information. The screen created under the control of the display control unit 147 is displayed in the production planning system 100 and the work instructing device 300.

[0020] [Processing flow of the calculation unit] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the calculation unit 130. First, the production planning unit 144 acquires the part information and the work-in-progress storage location information as input information, and creates a layout plan for the work-in-progress storage location (step S11). The work-in-progress storage location for which the layout plan is created is an area that has processes before and after the location (work-in-progress storage location). When creating a work-in-progress yard placement plan, the production planning unit 144 creates a work-in-progress placement plan in which parts are divided as much as possible so as to reduce the number of part combinations that cause sequence constraint conditions. In other words, each part is divided into many groups so that it can be placed in the work-in-progress yard, and parts that have undergone the previous process can be placed in the work-in-progress yard and parts can be removed from the work-in-progress yard under conditions with fewer constraints.

[0021] When a layout plan for the in-process storage area is created, the part group extraction unit 142 groups parts for which order constraints arise in the placement and removal of parts from the layout plan created by the production plan creation unit 144 (step S12). In other words, the part group extraction unit 142 extracts part groups so that an in-process layout with the largest number of groups can be created when parts for which order constraints arise in the processing order of the previous and next processes are extracted as groups. Then, the production planning unit 144 creates production plans for the process before and after the work-in-progress yard (step S13). Note that the production planning unit 144 also creates an overall production plan other than the production plans for the processes before and after the work-in-progress yard. In addition, the production planning unit 144 creates multiple production plans for evaluation by the production plan evaluation unit 145.

[0022] Next, the production plan evaluation unit 145 acquires all process information planned by the production plan planning unit 144 and the evaluation index for production efficiency stored in the evaluation index storage unit 121d as input information, and evaluates the created production plan (step S14). Here, the production plan evaluation unit 145 evaluates the production plan by comprehensively determining the production efficiency (productivity) that reduces equipment idle time, the environmental load that reduces the amount of energy consumption required for production, and the like.

[0023] Then, the work instruction plan generation unit 146 creates a work instruction plan that includes the part group and production plan created by the production plan creation unit 144 and the evaluation result by the production plan evaluation unit 145, and outputs the created work instruction plan to the work instructing device 300 as display information (step S15). In the work instructing device 300 where this display information is displayed, one plan is selected from the work instruction plans by user input, and is reflected in the production plan 301 held by the work instructing device 300 (step S16).

[0024] [Production line overview] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of a production line for which a production plan is created by the production planning system 100 of this embodiment. In the example shown in Fig. 3, holes are drilled in materials prepared in material storage areas 11a and 11b in drilling processes 12a and 12b, and the drilled materials are then placed on a cart and transported to other work-in-progress storage areas 13a and 13b. Then, in the subsequent bending processes 14a and 14b, the materials are bent, and finally, the materials are assembled 15. In each process, not only are holes drilled and bent, but also the installation of parts is performed in association with each process.

[0025] [Example of a specific production plan] Next, an example in which the production planning system of this embodiment creates a specific production plan will be described with reference to FIGS. First, when creating a work-in-process storage location plan based on parts information and work-in-process storage location information, the production planning unit 144 of the production planning system 100 creates a work-in-process storage location plan that separates parts as much as possible so as to reduce the number of part combinations that cause sequence constraint conditions.

[0026] Specifically, when extracting parts for which a sequence constraint occurs in the processing order of the preceding and following processes as a group, the production planning unit 144 plans an in-process allocation that maximizes the number of groups. Then, the production planning system 100 performs processing to plan and evaluate production plans for the preceding and following processes that satisfy the sequence constraint.

[0027] For example, suppose two production plans, Plan 1 and Plan 2, are prepared as shown in Figure 4. In plan 1, part 1 is placed on part 3 in the trap storage area, and parts 2 and 4 are placed in different locations from parts 1 and 3, respectively. In this case, in Proposal 1, the work is performed in the order of part 3 → part 1 as the pre-process, and the work is performed in the order of part 1 → part 3 as the post-process. Parts 2 and 4 are taken out of the storage area as is in the previous and next processes, respectively, and work is performed there, with no sequence constraints. That is, in Plan 1, three part groups are generated: Group 1: Parts 1 and 3, Group 2: Part 2, and Group 3: Part 4.

[0028] In contrast, in Plan 2, part 1 is placed on part 3 in the trap storage area, which is the same as Plan 1, but part 2 is placed on top of part 4. At this time, in Plan 2, as the pre-process, work needs to be done in the order of part 3 → part 1, and also part 4 → part 2, and as the post-process, work needs to be done in the order of part 1 → part 3, and also part 2 → part 4. That is, in Plan 2, two part groups are generated: Group 1: parts 1 and 3, and Group 2: parts 2 and 4.

[0029] When comparing these two plans, Plan 1 has two sequence constraints: the front-end process is to work on part 3 → part 1, and the back-end process is to work on part 1 → part 3. On the other hand, Plan 2 has two sequence constraints: the front-end process is to work on part 3 → part 1, and the back-end process is to work on part 4 → part 2, and two back-end processes are to work on part 1 → part 3, and the back-end process is to work on part 2 → part 4, for a total of four sequence constraints. Also, Plan 1 has three part groups, while Plan 2 has two. Therefore, in the case of Plan 1 and Plan 2 shown in FIG. 4, Plan 1, which has the fewer number of order constraints, becomes the candidate.

[0030] The production planning system 100 of this embodiment further prepares and evaluates production plans for the preceding and following processes that satisfy sequence constraints. FIG. 5 further shows an example of the detailed evaluation when selecting Plan 1. In Proposal 1, there are three part groups (a group of parts 1 and 3, a group of part 2, and a group of part 4), and there is a sequence constraint that the work must be performed in the order of part 3 → part 1 in the previous process, and part 1 → part 3 in the next process.

[0031] Based on this order constraint, the order constraint of part 3 → part 1 is satisfied by setting the order of the front-end processes to part 3, part 1, part 2, and part 4, as shown in Figure 5. Also, the order constraint of part 1 → part 3 is satisfied by setting the order of the back-end processes to part 1, part 2, part 4, and part 3, as shown in Figure 5. Parts that are not related to the order constraint may be in a different order, but the appropriate order is determined by evaluation.

[0032] For example, assuming that simultaneous processing is possible in the upstream process depending on the plate thickness, if four parts can be processed in three machining operations by machining part 3 with a plate thickness of 1.0 mm, simultaneously machining part 2 with a plate thickness of 2.0 mm and part 1 with a plate thickness of 2.0 mm, and machining part 4 with a plate thickness of 1.5 mm, then processing the four parts in three machining operations, the machining in the order shown in Figure 5 will reduce the number of machining operations and contribute to shortening working time and idle time.

[0033] As for the post-processing, for example, if the order is Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 3, then the setup (such as die change) will be required only once between the processing of Part 2 and the processing of Part 4. In this case, by selecting this order of the post-processing in the work plan, the equipment idle time will be minimized and power consumption will also be minimized.

[0034] [Example of output screen] FIG. 6 shows an example of an output screen that displays a production plan created by the production planning system 100. Here, three plans, plan 1, plan 2, and plan 3, are created and displayed as the output screen as a summary screen 410. As for the component group plans 411, plan 1 has group 1: part 1 and part 3, group 2: part 2, and group 3: part 4. Plan 2 has group 1: part 1 and part 3, and group 2: part 2 and part 4. Furthermore, plan 3 has group 1: part 3, and group 2: part 1, part 2, and part 4.

[0035] The evaluation values ​​for the plan proposal are the utilization rate of front-end materials, total power consumption, total lead time (manufacturing time), and KPI (Key Performance Indicator). The lower the KPI value, the higher the evaluation. In the example of Fig. 6, as shown by the evaluation values ​​of the plan proposals, Plan 1 has the highest front-end material utilization rate, and is also excellent in terms of total power consumption, total lead time, and KPI, so Plan 1 is selected. Note that these evaluation values ​​are evaluated comprehensively to select the optimal plan, but depending on the work process, it may be possible to select one (or more) of all of these items with priority.

[0036] The summary screen 410 has a details button 412 for each plan, and in the example of FIG. 6, a details screen 420 for plan 1 is displayed. The details screen 420 displays a production plan 430 and work instructions 440 for plan 1. The production plan 430 shows details of a production plan 431 for a previous process, a parts layout 432 for a work-in-progress yard, and a production plan 433 for a subsequent process.

[0037] Specifically, the production plan 431 for the previous process indicates the input time of part 3, the input times of parts 1 and 2, and the input time of part 4. The part layout in the work-in-progress yard 432 indicates the layout of parts in each part group in the work-in-progress yard. Furthermore, the production plan 433 for the next process indicates the input time of part 1, the input times of parts 2 and 4, and the input time of part 3. The work instructions 440 displayed are specific work instructions such as "Previous process: Process part 3, then part 1; In-process: Load part 1 on top of part 3, and load parts 2 and 4 separately; Next process: Process part 1, then part 3." A user (worker) who checks the display shown in FIG. 6 knows that plan 1 is an appropriate work plan, and can adopt plan 1 to start production work.

[0038] As described above, the production planning system 100 of this embodiment can minimize the constraints on the processing sequence caused by the layout of work-in-progress areas, and realize an efficient processing sequence with low environmental impact. Therefore, the production planning system 100 of this embodiment can improve the production efficiency of the entire production line and reduce energy consumption. Moreover, the production planning system 100 of this example is equipped with a production plan evaluation unit 145 that evaluates the environmental impact when production is carried out according to the production sequence planned by the production sequence planning unit 143. By evaluating plans such as those shown on the output screen in FIG. 6, it becomes possible to formulate an appropriate production plan based on the environmental impact.

[0039] Furthermore, the production planning unit 144 can plan the in-process placement so as to maximize the number of part groups, thereby making it possible to create a plan that optimizes the placement and removal of parts from the in-process storage area. Furthermore, the production planning system 100 of this example is equipped with a work instruction proposal generation unit 146 that presents to a worker the part groups and sequences planned by the part group extraction unit 142 and the production sequence planning unit 143, making it possible to present appropriate work instructions to the worker. Furthermore, the production plan evaluation unit 145 evaluates the environmental load using at least one of the power, manufacturing time, and material usage rate in each process during production according to the production sequence planned by the production sequence planning unit 143, thereby enabling appropriate evaluation based on each item.

[0040] [Variations] It should be noted that the embodiment examples described so far have been described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easily understandable manner, and are not necessarily limited to those having all of the configurations described. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the production planning system 100 outputs multiple candidate plans, and the user (operator) selects the plan to adopt as the production plan. Alternatively, the production planning system 100 may automatically select the optimal plan.

[0041] In addition, in the configuration diagram of the production planning system 100 shown in Fig. 1, only control lines and information lines that are considered necessary for explanation are shown, and not all control lines and information lines in the product are necessarily shown. In reality, it can be considered that almost all components are interconnected. Furthermore, the flow of processing shown in the flowchart in FIG. 2 is also one example, and as long as the processing results are the same, the order of some of the processing may be changed or multiple processing may be executed simultaneously. The display examples shown in FIG. 6 are also merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these displays.

[0042] In addition, the production planning system 100 shown in FIG. 1 being configured by a computer on which a program (a program that realizes a production planning method) is implemented is also an example, and the production planning system 100 may be realized in other configurations. For example, a part or the whole of the production planning system 100 may be realized by dedicated hardware such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0043] In addition, a portion of the configuration of production planning system 100 may be placed in another processing device, such as a server connected via a network, and data may be exchanged between multiple processing devices to perform analysis processing similar to that of production planning system 100. Furthermore, the program for executing the production planning method may be stored in a storage device within the computer, or may be stored in a recording medium such as an external memory, an IC card, an SD card, or an optical disk, and then transferred. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 11a, 11b...material storage area, 12a, 12b...drilling, 13a, 13b...work-in-progress storage area, 14...bending, 15...assembly, 100...production planning system, 110...input / output unit, 120...storage unit, 121...input information storage unit, 121a...part information storage unit, 121b...work-in-progress storage area information storage unit, 121c...process information storage unit, 121d...evaluation index storage unit, 122...output information storage unit, 122a...part order / group proposal storage unit, 122b...production plan storage unit, 122c...evaluation value storage unit, 122d...work instruction proposal storage unit, 130...calculation unit, 131...memory unit, 132...arithmetic processing unit, 141...data acquisition unit, 142...part group extraction unit, 143...production sequence planning unit, 144...production plan formulation unit, 145...production plan evaluation unit, 146...work instruction proposal generation unit, 147...display control unit, 200...design system storage device, 210...design specification information storage unit, 300...work instruction device, 301...production plan, 410...summary screen, 411...part group proposal, 412...detail button, 420...detail screen, 430...production plan, 431...pre-process production plan, 432...part placement, 433...post-process production plan, 440...work instructions

Claims

1. A production planning system for planning the production of products on a production line having processes before and after a work-in-progress storage area, a parts information storage unit that stores information on parts that constitute the product; a work-in-progress storage area information storage unit that stores information on the size of the work-in-progress storage area; a production planning unit that creates a production plan including a layout plan for arranging parts in the in-process storage area; a parts group extraction unit that groups parts for which order constraints arise in the placement and removal of parts from the placement plan created by the production planning unit; a production sequence planning unit that plans a production sequence for installing parts based on the part groups extracted by the part group extraction unit. Production planning system.

2. The production system further includes a production plan evaluation unit that evaluates production efficiency and / or environmental load when production is carried out according to the production sequence planned by the production sequence planning unit. The production planning system according to claim 1 .

3. The production planning unit plans an in-process allocation so as to maximize the number of part groups. The production planning system according to claim 2.

4. The production system further includes a work instruction plan generating unit that presents the part groups and production sequences planned by the production sequence planning unit to a worker. The production planning system according to claim 3.

5. The production plan evaluation unit evaluates production efficiency and / or environmental load using at least one of power, production time, and material usage rate in each process during production according to the production sequence planned by the production sequence planning unit. The production planning system according to claim 4.

6. A production planning method for planning the production of products in a production line having processes before and after a work-in-progress storage area, comprising the steps of: A part information storage process for storing information on parts constituting the product; A work-in-progress storage area information storage process for storing information on the size of the work-in-progress storage area; a production planning process for creating a production plan including a layout plan for arranging parts in the in-process storage area; a part group extraction process for grouping parts for which sequence constraints arise in the placement and removal of parts from the placement plan created by the production planning process; a production sequence planning process for planning a production sequence of parts based on the part groups extracted by the part group extraction process. Production planning methods.

Images