Method for planning production process

Abstract

The invention relates to a method (200) for planning a production process of a product. Product planning data is provided (211) with respect to a production entity that produces a product. The product planning data indicates a production plan to be completed. Pre-product planning data is provided (210) with respect to production entities that produce pre-products. The pre-product planning data indicates a production plan to be completed. Product planning data and pre-product planning data are stored (220) on a sequential distributed database. A product state of the product production process is determined (230) by comparing the stored product planning data with the blockchain oracle data. A pre-product status of the pre-product production process is determined (231) by comparing the stored pre-product planning data with the blockchain oracle data. The product state is validated (240) relative to the pre-product state.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method, an apparatus and a computer program product for planning a production process. Background Art

[0002] Nowadays, production process planning usually involves planning the production of multiple products, in particular pre-products produced in different production entities. Such production entities can be part of the same industrial complex, but can also be located in completely different locations. Therefore, planning the production process (in particular, optimizing the production process, for example, for one or more resources consumed during the production process of the product) is a complex task that involves not only planning the final stage of production (for example, the final assembly stage from the pre-product to the product), but also planning the production process of the pre-product. For example, it is often meaningless if the resource consumption of the production process of the pre-product used to produce the final product is completely ignored when planning the resource saving of the final production process. However, such a production process not only needs to be planned, but also must be controlled. In particular, since multiple entities are involved in the production of the final product, it may be difficult to control that all entities actually complete the predetermined production plan (in particular with regard to resource consumption), and it is difficult to re-plan the production process when deviations from the corresponding plan are observed. Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a method that can efficiently (i.e. safely) control and optimize the production process when necessary. Summary of the invention

[0003] It is an object of the present invention to provide a computer-implemented method, a device and a computer program product which allow improved production planning, in particular with regard to more efficient control and re-planning of production processes.

[0004] In a first aspect of the present invention, a computer-implemented method for planning a production process is proposed, wherein the production process refers to producing a product based on a pre-product, wherein the pre-product and the product are produced by different production entities, wherein the method comprises: a) providing product planning data of the product with respect to the production entity producing the product, wherein the product planning data indicates one or more aspects of the production planning of the product that should be completed during the production process of the product, b) providing pre-product planning data of the pre-product with respect to the production entity producing the pre-product, wherein the pre-product planning data indicates one or more aspects of the production planning of the pre-product that should be completed during the production process of the pre-product, c) storing the product planning data and the pre-product planning data on a sequential distributed database, d) determining a product state of the production process of the product by comparing the product planning data stored on the sequential distributed database with blockchain oracle data of the production process, e) determining a pre-product state of the production process of the pre-product by comparing the pre-product planning data stored on the sequential distributed database with blockchain oracle data of the production process, and f) verifying the product state relative to the pre-product state.

[0005] Since the product planning data and the pre-product planning data are stored on a sequential distributed database and compared with the blockchain oracle data to determine the product status and the pre-product status, respectively, wherein the product status and the pre-product status can be verified relative to each other, the production process and the pre-production process can be controlled, and in particular, it can be determined whether the determined aspects of the production process and the pre-production process are completed during the production process and the pre-production process. In addition, the sequential distributed database and the blockchain oracle process provide higher security, especially in avoiding control manipulation. Further, the verification of the product status relative to the pre-product status allows to determine where the corresponding deviation from the product planning occurs, and to re-plan the production and / or pre-production process based on the verification if necessary. Therefore, the production process can be more easily optimized and controlled, especially in reducing resource consumption.

[0006] In general, the computer-implemented method can be executed on any general or special computer by any hardware and / or software. For example, the computer-implemented method can be executed by a computer or computer network including one or more processors by running a corresponding computer program. The computer-implemented method generally allows planning a production process, wherein the production process refers to the production of a product based on a pre-product. In particular, the production of a product can also be based on a variety of pre-products. Preferably, the production process refers to a recycling process, wherein, during the corresponding recycling process, at least a portion of the product is processed again into a pre-product that can be used again to produce the product. The product to be produced can refer to any product produced using one or more pre-products. For example, the product can refer to a product provided to a corresponding customer using the product after production. However, the product itself can also be a pre-product of other products. Specifically, the computer-implemented method is intended for situations where products and pre-products are produced by different, preferably independent production entities. In this regard, an independent production entity refers to a production entity that produces pre-products completely independently of the subsequent production of the product and / or the production of other pre-products. In general, a production entity can refer to any entity suitable for producing a product, such as an industrial plant or a part of an industrial plant. Even if the production entities are independent, they can be arranged, for example, on the same complex or in the same production plant. However, these production entities can also be located at locations far from each other. Furthermore, these production entities can be controlled by the same control system, for example, by a control system that controls all production processes of a complex or production plant network. However, these production entities can also be independent of each other in terms of control, i.e., they can be controlled by completely different control systems without affecting each other.

[0007] In one step, the method includes providing product planning data of a product with respect to a production entity that produces the product. Specifically, providing product planning data may refer to obtaining product planning data from a storage device, or, for example, receiving product planning data from an input unit (into which a user may input product planning data). In general, product planning data indicates one or more aspects of product production planning that should be completed during the production process of the product. For example, the aspects that should be completed in the production planning may refer to the amount of product produced, the amount of pre-product consumed, the increase or decrease of one or more resources consumed, production timing, etc. Preferably, the product planning data and pre-product planning data involve a planned reduction in resources utilized in the production process and / or involve reducing waste generated during the production process. Therefore, preferably, one or more aspects involve reducing the consumption of one or more resources and / or reducing the generation of waste. For example, product planning data may indicate a reduction in CO2 output during product production compared to a previous production process of the same product. In another example, product planning data may indicate a reduction in the use of certain plastic materials in product production. In addition, in the example, product planning data may indicate a specific amount of pre-products that should be consumed during the production process. Therefore, product planning data may refer to any type of data that allows the derivation of corresponding aspects of the production planning that should be completed during the product production process. For example, product planning data may refer to a recipe or synthesis specification that indicates how the corresponding product should be produced. However, product planning data may also directly refer to one or more aspects that should be completed during the product production process. For example, product planning data may directly include values ​​for the amount of resources that should be consumed during production or values ​​or ranges of values ​​for the amount of waste that should not be exceeded during product production. The same principles as described above apply to the provision of pre-product planning data. In general, pre-product planning data and product planning data may refer to the same aspects, such as reducing the consumption of the same resources, or may refer to completely different aspects, such as reducing the consumption of different resources.

[0008] In a further step, the product planning data and the pre-product planning data are stored on a sequential distributed database. In this context, a sequential distributed database refers to a database in which entries can only be stored and accessed in sequence, wherein the storage of the entries is distributed on different networked computers that communicate and coordinate access to the database. Preferably, the sequential distributed database further includes at least one of the following characteristics: append-only, immutable, tamper-proof and tamper-resistant. In this context, append-only refers to a characteristic of a database in which new data can be appended to a storage device, but existing data is immutable, i.e., it cannot be modified after creation. In general, preferably, the sequential distributed database itself is immutable, so that data cannot be changed after creation. In addition, preferably, the sequential distributed database is tamper-resistant, so that it is easy to detect whether the data stored on the database is accessed or manipulated by, for example, an unauthorized party. In addition, preferably, the database is tamper-resistant, i.e., it can resist manipulation by unauthorized parties. In particular, there are a variety of database technologies that can provide these preferred characteristics. Preferably, the sequential distributed database refers to a blockchain database provided, for example, in the form of a smart contract. These characteristics of the database allow product planning data and pre-product planning data to be stored in a secure, easily controlled and trusted environment.

[0009] In a further step, the product status of the production process of the product is determined by comparing the product planning data stored on the sequential distributed database with the blockchain oracle data of the production process. Specifically, the blockchain oracle data refers to the data utilized during the blockchain oracle process. The blockchain oracle process refers to the process of determining and verifying events that occur in the real world and submitting information about the events that occur in the real world to the sequential distributed database in the form of blockchain oracle data, which can be added to the corresponding sequential distributed database and provide the possibility of verifying the product planning data based on the real world data. Specifically, the blockchain oracle data can refer to physical sensor data, which indicates the measured values ​​of one or more quantities of the production process (e.g., CO2 emissions, the amount of waste generated, the amount of pre-product consumed, etc.). In addition, the blockchain oracle data can also refer to more complex data, such as information provided by a certification, verification or investigation process, a licensing process, etc. In general, the determination of the product status of the product production process can be performed at any time when the blockchain oracle is available, such as before, during and after the production process. For example, if the planned production process has been through a certification process before the production itself, indicating that the production process will produce a certain amount of CO2, the product status can be determined before the production has started. However, the product status can also be determined during the production process, for example based on current sensor measurements, or after the production process is finished based on final overall measurements during the production process. Preferably, the product status indicates whether one or more aspects of the production plan that should be completed were completed when the product status was determined. However, the product status can also be more detailed and determine the degree of completion of the production plan.

[0010] The same principles described above with respect to product status can be applied to the determination of pre-product status. Therefore, based on the product status and pre-product status, it can be determined whether one or more aspects of the production plan for the product and / or pre-product have been completed.

[0011] In a final step, the method comprises then verifying the product state relative to the pre-product state. The verification of the product state relative to the pre-product state may be performed according to one or more verification rules. Specifically, the verification comprises comparing the product state with the pre-product state to determine whether the production process of the product, the production process of the pre-product, or both completes or fails to complete the aspects that should be completed in the production plan. Based on the comparison, the verification may include providing a corresponding verification result based on a predetermined rule. For example, the rule may indicate that if one of the production processes of the product or the pre-product does not complete one or more aspects that should be completed in the production plan, the entire production process of the product is invalid, for example, it should be replanned. However, the verification rule may also indicate that if both production processes do not complete one or more aspects of the production plan, the production plan may not be completed, so the verification can produce a valid production process. In addition, more complex rules for verifying the product state relative to the pre-product state may be determined depending on the corresponding product and pre-product and the corresponding application context. Preferably, the verification result is also stored in a sequential distributed database together with the product planning data and the pre-product planning data, in particular, preferably as part of the blockchain of the corresponding product planning data and the pre-product planning data. This allows tracking and understanding of the corresponding verification results about the production process, preferably in a publicly available manner.

[0012] In an embodiment, the method further includes generating control data for controlling the production process of the product and / or pre-product based on the verification of the product state relative to the pre-product state. Specifically, the control of the production process may refer to controlling the production process so that one or more production parameters are modified during the production process or for the next production process. For example, if the production process is a batch production process, and if the first batch of products has been produced at the time of verification, the control may refer to controlling the production process of the next batch of products. However, if the production process refers to a continuous production process, the control may refer to controlling the production process so that the production process is continued after verification, for example, using different production parameters. In general, if the control of the production process includes modifying one or more parameters of the production process, the control may also be regarded as a re-planning of the production process. Specifically, preferably, control data is generated to allow the production process to be controlled so that if the verification of the product state relative to the pre-product state indicates that at least one production process has not completed the aspects that should be completed during the production process, one or more process parameters are changed.

[0013] In an embodiment, the verification of the product state relative to the pre-product state includes determining the balance between the product state and the pre-product state. Specifically, determining the balance between the product state and the pre-product state may refer to determining the amount by which the pre-product production and the product production complete the corresponding production plan, and determining the difference relative to the amount for the corresponding production entity. For example, if the product state and the pre-product state indicate that both production processes have not completed the production plan, but wherein the production process of the product completes the production plan better than the production process of the pre-product, the determined balance may indicate that the balance of the product entity is positive because it has completed its production plan better, while the balance of the pre-production entity is negative because it has not completed the production plan. Preferably, the control data is generated further taking into account the balance, thereby indicating that, for example, providing control data for changing the production process of a production entity with a negative balance is more important than providing control data for changing the production process of a production entity with a positive balance. Preferably, the verification of the product state relative to the pre-product state further includes distributing verification tokens to these production entities based on the balance. Specifically, preferably, the distribution of verification tokens includes: if the difference indicates that the product status or pre-product status of a certain production entity has completed the production plan or pre-production plan less than other entities, the token is added to the token score of the production entity. Using tokens and token scores to track which production entity has completed or failed to complete the production plan compared to other entities allows to easily determine which aspects of the production process are most effective in changing. In addition, using such a token score system allows the production process to be optimized for clearly quantified variables, resulting in an overall improvement of the production process in one or more aspects of the production process. In addition, preferably, control data is further generated based on the token score of the production entity. For example, if the corresponding production entity for producing the pre-product must be determined in order to produce a batch of products next, control data can be generated so that the pre-products used come from these production entities that indicate that the production entity has completed the corresponding production plan based on the token score. Therefore, the token score allows the production process to be easily re-planned when necessary by indicating that the production entity is trustworthy in completing its production plan.

[0014] In an embodiment, production and pre-product planning data are stored in the form of a chemical product pass, which includes a decentralized identifier for identifying a product and / or pre-product and product planning data and / or pre-product planning data. In this case, the term "decentralized identifier" should be understood broadly and includes any unique identifier uniquely associated with the data owner and chemical product data. Decentralized identifiers may include universal unique identifiers (UUIDs) or digital identifiers (DIDs). Decentralized identifiers may be issued by centralized or decentralized identity issuing agencies. Decentralized identifiers may include authentication information. Access to chemical product data may be controlled by the data owner via decentralized identifiers and their unique association with the data owner and chemical product data. This is in contrast to centralized agency solutions, in which identifiers are provided by such centralized agencies, and access to data is controlled by such centralized agencies. In this context, decentralized refers to the use of identifiers controlled by the data owner when implemented. In this case, the term "chemical product pass" should be understood broadly and includes digital representations of chemical product planning data. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing chemical product planning data or a portion thereof. The digital representation may include a representation of chemical product planning data or a portion thereof. The chemical product pass may also include data related to the chemical product planning data, a public key and a decentralized identifier. The data related to the chemical product planning data may include a digital representation of any data related to the chemical product planning data. In another aspect of the present invention, a device for planning a production process is proposed, wherein the production process refers to producing a product based on a pre-product, wherein the pre-product and the product are produced by different production entities, wherein the device includes i) an input unit configured to: a) provide product planning data of the product with respect to a production entity producing the product, wherein the product planning data indicates one or more aspects of the production planning of the product that should be completed during the production process of the product, b) provide pre-product planning data of the pre-product with respect to the production entity producing the pre-product, wherein the pre-product planning data indicates one or more aspects of the production planning of the pre-product that should be completed during the production process of the pre-product. One or more aspects, ii) one or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to: a) store the product planning data and the pre-product planning data on a sequential distributed database, b) determine the product state of the production process of the product by comparing the product planning data stored on the sequential distributed database with the blockchain oracle data of the production process, c) determine the pre-product state of the production process of the pre-product by comparing the pre-product planning data stored on the sequential distributed database with the blockchain oracle data of the production process, and d) verify the product state relative to the pre-product state, and iii) an output unit, the output unit being configured to output the verification.

[0015] In another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product for planning a production process is proposed, wherein the computer program product comprises program code means for causing the apparatus as described above to execute the method as described above.

[0016] A method as described above, an apparatus as described above and a computer program product as described above have similar and / or identical preferred embodiments, in particular as defined in the dependent claims.

[0017] It shall be understood that a preferred embodiment of the present invention may also be any combination of the dependent claims or the above-described embodiments with the corresponding independent claim.

[0018] These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 An embodiment of a device for planning a production process is shown schematically and exemplarily.

[0020] Figure 2 A flow chart schematically and exemplarily shows an embodiment of a method for planning a production process,

[0021] Figure 3 A possible production entity network utilizing the present invention is schematically and exemplarily shown,

[0022] Figure 4 schematically and exemplarily shows possible material flows between production entities, and

[0023] Figure 5 A flow chart of a detailed example of a method for planning a production process is shown schematically and exemplarily. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Figure 1A system 100 is schematically and exemplarily shown, which includes a production entity 120 for producing a product. Further, the system 100 may include one or more production entities symbolized by a production entity 121 that produces one or more pre-products, or may be communicatively coupled to these production entities. Typically, the production entities 120 and 121 may be independent production entities, which may be located in the same complex or in completely different locations and may be controlled independently of each other, for example, may be managed by different product suppliers. The system 100 further includes a device 110, which may be part of the production entity 120 or be communicatively coupled to the production entity. Typically, the functions provided by the device 110 may be distributed over multiple processors, and in particular, may be executed by a network of processors, at least some of which may also be part of the production entity 121. Therefore, the functions provided by the device 110 and therefore the device 110 itself may be executed by each participating production entity, and may also be executed by one or more third-party providers.

[0025] Production entities 120, 121 can refer to industrial plants or be part of industrial plants. Generally, such industrial plants can refer to any technical infrastructure for industrial purposes. Industrial purposes can be the manufacture or processing of one or more industrial products, i.e., the manufacturing process or processing performed by industrial plants. Preferably, industrial purposes refer to the production of products or pre-products. For example, the product or pre-product can be any physical product, such as chemicals, biological products, medicines, food, beverages, textiles, metals, plastics or semiconductors. Additionally or alternatively, the product or pre-product can even be a service product, such as electricity, heating, air conditioning, waste treatment (such as recycling), chemical treatment (such as decomposition or dissolution) or even incineration. Therefore, industrial plants can be one or more of chemical plants, processing plants, pharmaceutical plants, fossil fuel processing facilities (such as oil and / or gas valves), refineries, petrochemical plants, cracking plants, etc. Industrial plants can even be any one of breweries, incinerators or power plants. Industrial plants can even be a combination of any of the examples given above.

[0026] In order to perform the production process, the industrial plant includes a technical infrastructure that can be controlled by production parameters implemented, for example, by a process control system in the technical infrastructure. The technical infrastructure may include equipment or process units, such as heat exchangers, towers such as fractionation towers, furnaces, reaction chambers, cracking units, storage tanks, precipitators, pipelines, chimneys, filters, valves, actuators, transformers, circuit breakers, machinery (e.g., heavy rotating equipment (such as turbines)), generators, pulverizers, compressors, fans, pumps, motors, etc. In addition, the industrial plant typically includes a plurality of sensors that allow the measurement of operating parameters of the technical infrastructure. The process control system can then store the measured operating parameters in a database of the industrial plant. Further, the process control system can also use product parameters to control the production process in the industrial plant. Generally speaking, such measured operating parameters can be used as part of the blockchain oracle data.

[0027] The device 130 is adapted to control a production process of a product performed by the production entity 110. Preferably, the production process is a recycling process, in which at least a part of the pre-product used to produce the product is reused from a previous product. The device 130 comprises a product production data providing unit 131, a pre-production data receiving unit 132, an optimization unit 133 and a production control unit 134. Optionally, the device 130 may further comprise a communication unit 135 for communicating with other devices of other existing production entities.

[0028] The device 110 is configured to plan a production process, for example, to produce one or more of the above-mentioned products based on at least one pre-product. The device 110 includes an input unit 111, which may, for example, refer to a communication interface that allows communication between the production entity 120, 121 and the device 110. Specifically, the input unit 111 is suitable for receiving data and then providing the data to one or more processors 112 of the device 110. For example, the data received by the input unit may be received by the production entity 120, 121, but may also refer to data directly received from a user via a user input interface, for example. The data received by the input unit 111 includes product planning data and pre-product planning data. The product planning data is provided for a specific product to be produced by the production entity 120. In general, the product planning data indicates one or more aspects of the product production planning that should be completed during the production process of the product. Similarly, the pre-product planning data indicates one or more aspects of the pre-product production planning that should be completed during the production of the pre-product. In general, one or more aspects of the pre-product and the product may include the same aspects that should be completed, but may also refer to different aspects. In general, these aspects may refer to any aspects of the production process. However, in a preferred embodiment, these aspects relate to reducing resource consumption and reducing waste generation during the production process of products and / or pre-products. The input unit 111 then provides such received product planning data and pre-product planning data to one or more processors 112. Then, the one or more processors 112 are adapted to store the product planning data and pre-product planning data on a sequential distributed database 114. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the sequential distributed database 114 refers to a blockchain database. Preferably, the sequential distributed database 114 (e.g., a blockchain database) is an extended sequential distributed database that also includes a portion (e.g., a key-value store or a wide column store or a document store) involving a non-sequential distributed database. Then, preferably, the product planning data and the pre-product planning data are stored as separate records on a blockchain on a distributed database. The tamper-proof connection between two such sequential distributed database records of a certain transaction (e.g., a transaction for comparing two records including product data and pre-product data) is created by generating a hash value of all data related to these records and writing the hash value as data to the blockchain entry of the record and / or transaction. In general, a transaction can include database operation commands, database keys, and / or data and metadata access. Compared to the traditional blockchain used as a "database", the extended sequential distributed database allows for flexible decision at runtime which of the above data should be stored in a sequential distributed form, such as in the blockchain, and which data should be stored in a non-distributed database. Preferably, the product planning data and pre-product planning data can then be stored, for example, in the form of a blockchain-based smart contract.Therefore, such stored product planning data and pre-product planning data are stored in an unmanipulable manner, so they can be safely used in further verification processes. Then, one or more processors 112 are configured to determine the product status and pre-product status. For example, this part of the function of the device 110 can be performed by a process provided by a production entity 120, 121 that can access a sequential distributed database 114 storing product planning data and pre-product planning data. However, the one or more processors that perform the determination of the product status and pre-product status can also be provided independently of the production entity 120, 121, for example, by an independent provider. The product status of the production process of the product produced by the production entity 120 is determined by comparing the product planning data from the sequential distributed database 114 with the blockchain oracle data of the production process. Accordingly, the pre-product status of the production process of the pre-product produced by the production entity 121 is determined by comparing the pre-product planning data stored in the sequential distributed database 114 with the blockchain oracle data of the production process of the pre-product. In this case, the blockchain oracle data can be understood as real-world data indicating the production process executed in the real world. For example, the blockchain oracle data may include sensor measurements performed by the production entities 120, 121 during the corresponding production process. However, the blockchain oracle data may also refer to verification data or authentication data determined during a verification or authentication process performed before, during or after the production process of the product and / or pre-product. Therefore, the determination of the product state and the pre-product state may also be performed using different blockchain oracle data at different times before, during and after the production of the product and / or pre-product, respectively. Generally, preferably, the product state and the pre-product state are determined at predetermined times before, during and after the production process, wherein the product state and / or the pre-product state are determined each time using the corresponding available blockchain oracle data, respectively. Specifically, preferably, the predetermined time for determining the product state and the pre-product state is determined based on whether the production of the product or pre-product refers to batch production or continuous production. For example, if the production of the product or pre-product refers to batch production, it may be predetermined that the product state or the pre-product state is determined after the entire batch of the product or pre-product has been produced. If the production process of the product or preproduct refers to a continuous production, it can be predetermined that the product state or preproduct state is determined after at least some (in particular a statistically relevant amount) of the product or preproduct has been produced.

[0029] The product status and pre-product status then indicate whether the corresponding production entity has completed one or more aspects that should be completed with respect to the product planning data or pre-product planning data, respectively. For example, the product status or pre-product status may refer to a simple indicator, such as a plus sign or a minus sign, indicating that the comparison of the product planning data with the blockchain oracle data or the comparison of the pre-product planning data with the blockchain oracle data indicates that the planned aspects have been completed or not completed, respectively. For example, if the product planning data involves reducing CO2 output by more than 10% compared to the standard production process during the product production process, and the CO2 sensor in the production entity 120 indicates a corresponding CO2 value involving such a 10% reduction, the product status may indicate that the corresponding aspects have been completed. However, the product status and pre-product status preferably indicate not only whether one or more aspects have been completed, but also the extent to which these aspects have been completed or not completed. In this case, using the same example as above, the product status may indicate that the aspect of the 10% reduction in CO2 has even been exceeded, for example, the CO2 reduction exceeded by 5%, resulting in an overall CO2 reduction of 15%.

[0030] Then, one or more processors 112 are adapted to verify the product state relative to the pre-product state. In particular, verification may refer to comparing the product state with the pre-product state and determining which production entity has completed its production plan with respect to one or more previously predetermined aspects. Thus, verification may refer to outputting a signal that simply indicates whether both production entities 120, 121 have completed their production plans stored in the sequential distributed database. However, verification may also involve more complex processes. For example, the difference between the product state and the pre-product state may be determined. In this case, a quantity is determined for each participating production entity, which indicates the performance of the corresponding production entity in completing the production plan relative to the other production entities. For example, if a production entity has completed its production plan and at least one of the other participating production entities has not yet completed its production plan, such a difference may be positive for the production entity. If all production entities have completed their production plans or none of them have completed their production plans, the difference may be neutral for these production entities; and if a production entity has not completed its production plan and other production entities have completed their production plans, the difference may be negative. However, the difference can also be determined to be more complex, especially if the product status and pre-product status provide a quantification of the completion or non-completion of the production plan. In these cases, a set of more complex rules can be determined to determine the corresponding difference.

[0031] Then, the output unit 113 can output the result of the verification, for example, the difference and / or also the product state and the pre-product state can be output to, for example, the output unit for visualization by the user. However, in a preferred embodiment, the output unit 113 provides the verification result so that it can be further processed, for example, provided to the control unit to generate control data for controlling the production process of the product and / or pre-product based on the verification result. For example, in the case where the verification result involves a negative difference of the production entity, such control data can be generated to modify the production process so that the negative difference can be converted into at least a neutral or positive difference, in particular by better completing the predetermined production plan. In general, in the case of batch production, control data can be generated so that it controls the production process of the same product of the next batch of production. For example, one or more process parameters can be changed for the next batch of the same product in order to obtain better results during the verification process. In addition, the control data can also refer to changing the production entity used to produce the product, in particular by changing the production entity of the pre-product used to produce the product by using another production entity that may be more suitable for completing the corresponding production plan.

[0032] Figure 2 An embodiment of a computer-implemented method 200 for planning a production process is schematically and exemplarily shown, wherein the method can be implemented, for example, according to Figure 1 The method 200 includes providing 211 product planning data and providing 210 pre-product planning data. Further, the method 200 includes storing 220 the product planning data and the pre-product planning data in a sequential distributed database, preferably in the form of a blockchain database. In addition, in steps 231 and 230, the product status and the pre-product status are determined respectively. Specifically, the product status is determined by comparing the product planning data with the blockchain oracle data, and the pre-product status is determined by comparing the pre-product planning data with the blockchain oracle data. In step 240, the product status and the pre-product status are then verified relative to each other. Preferably, in optional step 250, the result of the verification is used to generate control data for controlling the production process of the product and / or pre-product.

[0033] Figure 3 A possible production entity network utilizing the present invention is schematically and exemplarily shown. Specifically, Figure 3Each worker node shown in can refer to one or more production entities that produce a product, which itself can be used again as a pre-product for the product of another worker node. Specifically, preferably, these worker nodes (i.e., production entities) are connected in a recycling process, and at least a portion of the waste of one worker node can be used as a pre-product for the production of a product of another worker node. Preferably, each worker node and therefore each production entity includes its own product pass generator and its own token wallet. Generally, preferably, the product planning data and / or pre-product planning data of the worker node are provided to other worker nodes in the form of a product pass, and therefore provided to other production entities, and the product pass includes a decentralized identifier that identifies the product and / or pre-product. The decentralized identifier preferably refers to a UUID or a DID. Therefore, the pass generator can be regarded as a providing unit that provides product planning data and / or pre-product planning data, respectively. In a preferred embodiment, for a certain worker node, the difference used to verify the product status according to the pre-product status is quantified in the form of a token, which can be added or deducted from the token wallet provided by the corresponding worker node. Utilizing such a token to quantify the difference allows for easy tracking and quantification of the individual contributions of worker nodes to the completion of the production plan.

[0034] All worker nodes are communicatively coupled to a smart contract platform, for example, to an independent provider that provides a sequential distributed database in the form of a smart contract database in this example and further provides a platform based on the smart contract database that also provides other functions for verifying the production process of the worker nodes, such as regarding Figure 1 As described by the device 110 in . For example, the smart contract platform may also provide the functionality of determining the product state and / or pre-product state of the worker node, and further provide the functionality of verifying the corresponding product state and pre-product state of the worker node relative to each other to determine the difference. In addition, the platform may then determine whether tokens need to be added or subtracted from the corresponding token wallet of the worker node based on the difference.

[0035] Figure 4 The material flow between different worker nodes (i.e., production entities) is schematically and exemplarily shown. Specifically, Figure 4The usually complex relationship between different worker nodes (i.e., production entities that allow products to be provided for consumers) is shown. Specifically, the material flow shown refers to a recycled material flow, in which at least a portion of the waste generated when the consumer consumes the product is reused as a product or pre-product for the production of one or more products of one or more worker nodes. In general, this more complex relationship can also be mapped by a verification process as described above. Specifically, the corresponding product and pre-product status of different worker nodes can be determined, and the corresponding status can be mutually verified by providing corresponding rules to determine which position in the corresponding supply chain of the worker node has completed or not completed the corresponding production plan. Therefore, for example, in such a supply chain, it can be determined whether there is a worker node that has never completed the production plan and will not modify its production for future completion of the production plan, wherein other worker nodes can avoid the appearance of such worker nodes in their own supply chain to improve their own credibility and complete their own production plans. In addition, the corresponding verification process can also be easily provided to enable consumers to learn more about the worker nodes and whether they have completed the production plan.

[0036] Figure 5A detailed example of the method for planning a production process as described above is schematically and exemplarily shown. In this example, a worker node (i.e., a production entity C) requests other worker nodes (here, production entities S1 to Sn) to provide materials (i.e., pre-products M1 to Mn) for producing product P. In this case, worker nodes S1 to Sn provide pre-product planning data indicating that the corresponding pre-product is produced with a predetermined environmental impact (e.g., with a predetermined CO2 output per unit of pre-product). Therefore, the pre-product production plan provided may refer to the commitment of nodes S1 to Sn to the corresponding environmental impact. In this example, the corresponding production entity node C itself provides product planning data to produce products with a predetermined per-unit product impact (e.g., with a certain CO2 output per unit of product produced) using a specific amount of the corresponding pre-product. Therefore, in this example, all production entities are committed to executing a specific production plan that includes specific resources or environmental impacts per unit of product produced. In this example, the corresponding commitments (i.e., product planning data and pre-product planning data) are stored as product passes in the form of smart contracts. In this case, at the end of the production activity, i.e. after the final product is produced based on the pre-product, the corresponding oracle data (e.g., in this case in the form of a corresponding measured value of the impact of the product or pre-product per unit produced) will be provided, and the oracle data will also be stored as part of the corresponding smart contract of the corresponding product or pre-product. In addition, the product status and pre-product status of each corresponding pre-product are then determined using the oracle data so determined. Specifically, for this case, the pre-product status is determined as the impact difference by subtracting the promised impact from the measured impact, and determining whether the corresponding difference is positive or negative to determine the pre-product status. Therefore, also for the product in this case, the corresponding impact difference is determined by subtracting the measured impact on production from the promised impact and determining whether the corresponding commitment has been completed. Preferably, in this example, based on the corresponding product status and pre-product status, a token quantifying the determined product status and / or pre-product status is provided to the production entity (i.e., the worker node). Based on the product status and pre-product status so determined, the corresponding status is verified in a final step. Specifically, in this case, the impact difference is determined as the difference between the consumption impact and the production impact by subtracting the corresponding determined state of the pre-product from the product state. Wherein, in this case, the validation rule indicates that if the difference is positive, the worker node producing the product will be penalized by receiving a corresponding number of impact tokens indicating that the worker node producing the product has not completed its production plan. However, in other examples, depending on the corresponding application context, other rules can also be used to verify and determine the corresponding difference.

[0037] Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.

[0038] For the processes and methods disclosed herein, the operations performed in the processes and methods may be implemented in different orders. In addition, the operations outlined are provided only as examples, and some of the operations may be optional, may be combined into fewer steps and operations, may be supplemented with more operations, or may be expanded into more operations without departing from the essence of the disclosed embodiments.

[0039] In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality.

[0040] A single unit or device may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

[0041] Processes such as providing product planning data and pre-product planning data, determining product status and pre-product status, verifying product status and pre-product status, etc., which are performed by one or several units or devices, can be performed by any other number of units or devices. These processes can be implemented as program code means of a computer program and / or dedicated hardware.

[0042] The computer program product may be stored / distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium provided together with or as a part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms, such as via the Internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems.

[0043] Any unit described herein may be a processing unit as part of a classical computing system. The processing unit may include a general-purpose processor, and may also include a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other dedicated circuit. Any memory may be a physical system memory, which may be volatile, non-volatile, or some combination of the two. The term "memory" may include any computer-readable storage medium, such as a non-volatile mass storage device. If the computing system is distributed, the processing and / or storage capabilities may also be distributed. The computing system may include multiple structures as "executable components". The term "executable component" is a structure that is fully understood in the computing field as a structure that can be software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, when implemented in software, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the structure of the executable component may include software objects, routines, methods, etc. that can be executed on the computing system. This may include executable components in the computing system stack or on a computer-readable storage medium. The structure of the executable component may exist on a computer-readable medium so that when interpreted by one or more processors of the computing system (e.g., by a processor thread), the computing system performs a function. Such a structure may be directly computer-readable by a processor, for example, as in the case where the executable component is binary, or it may be constructed to be interpretable and / or compiled, for example, whether in a single level or multiple levels, thereby generating such binary that can be directly interpreted by a processor. In other cases, the structure may be hard-coded or hard-wired logic gates that are implemented exclusively or almost exclusively in hardware, such as in a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other dedicated circuit. Therefore, the term "executable component" is a term for a structure that is well known to those of ordinary skill in the field of computing, whether implemented in software, hardware, or a combination. Any embodiment herein is described with reference to actions performed by one or more processing units of a computing system. If such actions are implemented in software, one or more processors direct the operation of the computing system in response to having executed the computer-executable instructions that constitute the executable component. The computing system may also include a communication channel that allows the computing system to communicate with other computing systems, such as through a network. "Network" is defined as one or more data links that enable electronic data to be transmitted between computing systems and / or modules and / or other electronic devices. When information is transferred or provided to a computing system over a network or another communications connection (e.g., hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired or wireless), the computing system properly views the connection as a transmission medium. Transmission media may include networks and / or data links that may be used to carry desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and may be accessed by general purpose computing systems or special purpose computing systems or a combination thereof.Although not all computing systems require a user interface, in some embodiments, a computing system includes a user interface system for interacting with a user. The user interface serves as an input or output mechanism for the user, for example, via a display.

[0044] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that at least part of the present invention can be practiced in a network computing environment with various types of computing system configurations, including personal computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, message processors, handheld devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, mobile phones, PDAs, pagers, routers, switches, data centers, wearable devices (such as glasses), etc. The present invention can also be practiced in a distributed system environment, where, for example, a local computing system and a remote computing system linked by a network by a hardwired data link, a wireless data link, or a combination of hardwired and wireless data links perform tasks together. In a distributed system environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

[0045] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that at least part of the present invention can be practiced in a cloud computing environment. The cloud computing environment can be distributed, but this is not necessary. When the cloud computing environment is distributed, it can be distributed in multiple countries within an organization and / or have components across multiple organizations. In this specification and the appended claims, "cloud computing" is defined as a model for implementing on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (such as networks, servers, storage devices, applications and services). The definition of "cloud computing" is not limited to any of the other numerous advantages that can be obtained from this model when deployed. The computing system of the accompanying drawings includes various components or functional blocks that can implement various embodiments disclosed herein as explained. Various components or functional blocks can be implemented on a local computing system, or can be implemented on a distributed computing system that includes elements residing in the cloud or implementing various aspects of cloud computing. Various components or functional blocks can be implemented as software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The computing system shown in the figure can include more or fewer components than those shown in the figure, and some of these components can be combined as needed according to the situation.

[0046] Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

[0047] The present invention relates to a method for planning a production process for a product. Product planning data is provided with respect to a production entity that produces a product. The product planning data indicates a production plan that should be completed. Pre-product planning data is provided with respect to a production entity that produces a pre-product. The pre-product planning data indicates a production plan that should be completed. The product planning data and the pre-product planning data are stored on a sequential distributed database. The product state of the product production process is determined by comparing the stored product planning data with blockchain oracle data. The pre-product state of the pre-product production process is determined by comparing the stored pre-product planning data with blockchain oracle data. The product state is verified relative to the pre-product state.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method (200) for planning a production process, wherein: The production process refers to producing a product based on a pre-product, wherein the pre-product and the product are produced by different production entities, wherein the method comprises: - providing (211) product planning data for the product in relation to a production entity producing the product, wherein the product planning data indicates one or more aspects of a production plan for the product that should be completed during a production process of the product, - providing (210) pre-product planning data for the pre-product in relation to a production entity producing the pre-product, wherein the pre-product planning data indicates one or more aspects of a production plan for the pre-product that should be accomplished during a production process of the pre-product, - storing (220) the product planning data and the pre-product planning data in a sequential distributed database, - determining (230) a product status of the production process of the product by comparing the product planning data stored on the sequential distributed database with the blockchain oracle data of the production process, - determining (231) a pre-product state of the production process of the pre-product by comparing the pre-product planning data stored on the sequential distributed database with the blockchain oracle data of the production process, and - verifying (240) the product state relative to the pre-product state.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The method further includes generating (250) control data for controlling a production process of the product and / or the pre-product based on the verification of the product state relative to the pre-product state.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 and 2, wherein: Verification of the product state relative to the pre-product state includes determining a difference between the product state and the pre-product state.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: Verifying the production state relative to the pre-production state further includes distributing verification tokens to the production entities based on the difference.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The distribution of the verification token includes adding a token to a token score of a production entity if the difference indicates that the production status or pre-production status of a production entity is less complete than the other entity for the production plan or the pre-production plan.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The sequential distributed database further includes at least one of the following characteristics: append-only, immutable, tamper-proof, and tamper-resistant.

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: This sequential distributed database refers to the blockchain database.

8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The product planning data and the pre-product planning data relate to a planned reduction in resources utilized in the production process and / or to a reduction in waste generated during the production process.

9. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The product planning data and the pre-product planning data are stored in the form of a chemical product pass, which includes a decentralized identifier identifying the product and / or pre-product and the product planning data and / or pre-product planning data.

10. A device (110) for planning a production process, wherein: The production process refers to producing a product based on a pre-product, wherein the pre-product and the product are produced by different production entities, wherein the equipment includes: - an input unit (111), the input unit being configured to a) providing product planning data for the product in relation to a production entity producing the product, wherein the product planning data indicates one or more aspects of a production plan for the product that should be completed during a production process of the product, b) providing pre-product planning data for the pre-product in relation to a production entity producing the pre-product, wherein the pre-product planning data indicates one or more aspects of a production plan for the pre-product that should be accomplished during a production process of the pre-product, - one or more processors (112), the one or more processors configured to a) storing the product planning data and the pre-product planning data in a sequential distributed database, b) determining the product status of the production process of the product by comparing the product planning data stored on the sequential distributed database with the blockchain oracle data of the production process, c) determining a pre-product status of a production process of the pre-product by comparing the pre-product planning data stored on the sequential distributed database with the blockchain oracle data of the production process, and d) verifying the product state relative to the pre-product state, and - an output unit (113) configured to output the verification.

11. A computer program product for planning a production process, wherein: The computer program product comprises program code means for causing an apparatus according to claim 10 to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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