Method, system, computer program and storage medium for providing product

Abstract

The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method, system, computer program and computer-readable storage medium for providing a product at a target location at a predeterminable point in time. In particular, an improved method is provided which makes it easier, for example, to transport products in a resource-saving and rapid manner, the following method steps are proposed, in particular when the transport is performed over a long distance or at further future time points. Determining a respective resource consumption and a respective transport duration of a respective transport path of the product from the predeterminable origin point to the destination by simulating a plurality of transport paths from the predeterminable origin point to the destination, a first transport path is determined from among the transport paths that satisfies at least one predeterminable condition with respect to the resource consumption and the transport duration, and the provision of the product is initiated by the at least one transport device according to the first transport path.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method for providing a product at a target location at a predefined point in time.

[0002] Furthermore, the present invention relates to a system having a storage device with data relating to an operating system with a software application, wherein the system further has a computing device designed to execute the software application, and wherein the computing device is further designed to provide a product at a target location at a predefined point in time.

[0003] Furthermore, the present invention relates to a computer program comprising instructions which, when the computer program is executed by the aforementioned system, cause the aforementioned system to carry out the method mentioned.

[0004] Finally, the present invention relates to a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by the aforementioned system, cause the system mentioned to carry out the aforementioned method. Background Art

[0005] Such a device or such a method is used, for example, for various transport or conveyance tasks in the manufacturing industry. Typically, a plurality of alternatives for providing or transporting a product are available, where these alternatives can differ, in particular, in terms of the associated costs or the time required therefor. For example, the transport can be internal transport or external transport. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide an improved method, a corresponding system, a corresponding computer program and a corresponding computer-readable storage medium which, for example, facilitate the resource-saving and rapid transport of a product, and this is particularly facilitated in the case of long distances or at further future points in time in the case of transport.

[0007] This object is achieved by a computer-implemented method of the type mentioned at the beginning by the following method steps:

[0008] • Determining, by simulating a plurality of transport paths from a predefined origin point to a target location, the respective resource consumption and the respective transport duration of the respective transport path of the product from the predefined origin point to the target location,

[0009] • Determining a first transport path in the transport paths that satisfies at least one predefined condition regarding resource consumption and transport duration, and

[0010] • Initiating the provision of the product by at least one transport device according to the first transport path.

[0011] Another implementation of this object is achieved by a system of the above-mentioned type, i.e., the computing device is also designed to provide a product at a target location at a predeterminable point in time:

[0012] • determining, by simulating a plurality of transport paths from a predeterminable origin point to the target location, the corresponding resource consumption and the corresponding transport duration of the corresponding transport path of the product from the predeterminable origin point to the target location,

[0013] • determining a first transport path in the transport paths that meets at least one predeterminable condition regarding resource consumption and transport duration, and

[0014] • starting the provision of the product by at least one transport device according to the first transport path.

[0015] Furthermore, another implementation of this object is achieved by a computer program of the type mentioned at the beginning, wherein the computer program includes instructions that cause the system to perform the proposed method when the program is executed by the proposed system.

[0016] Finally, another implementation of this object is obtained by a computer-readable storage medium of the above-mentioned type, wherein the computer-readable storage medium includes instructions that cause the system to perform the proposed method when executed by the proposed system. Preferably, the storage medium is non-volatile.

[0017] The product can be general goods or bulk goods, wherein, for example, containers containing gases or liquids to be provided can also be transported accordingly. For example, the product can be designed as a machine or a system or a system component, for example, designed as a component of a drive system or system automation, such as an electric motor, a gearbox, an inverter, a transport device, etc. The corresponding product should be provided at the target location, for example, at a specific location in a factory, where additional processing steps are performed on the product. In other examples, the corresponding product is consumed at the target location or delivered to the (end) customer. Furthermore, the product should be provided at the target location at a predeterminable point in time, i.e., for example, provided on a determined date and at a determined time.

[0018] In order to provide a product at a target location at a schedulable time point, first, multiple transportation routes are considered, by means of which the product can be transported from a schedulable origin point to the target location. For each transportation route, the corresponding resource consumption and the corresponding transportation duration are determined, and simulation is used for this purpose. For simulation, common software applications can be used, for example, for discrete event simulation or also for (combined) continuous simulation, such as the logistics platform AX4, the supply chain suite (SCS) or XCargo of Siemens Digital Logistics GmbH in Frankenthal, Germany, or similar software applications of other providers. In particular, in the case of supporting such software applications, the resource consumption and the transportation duration of the corresponding transportation route for the product can be determined. By means of the aforementioned simulation, the corresponding resource consumption and the corresponding transportation duration of at least two different transportation routes, preferably at least five, at least 20 or up to 100 different transportation routes are determined. It is also conceivable that the following transportation routes start at different locations if the (same) product is available for transportation to the target location at different origin points, as will be further elaborated below.

[0019] Among the considered transportation routes for which the corresponding resource consumption and the corresponding transportation duration are determined, a first transportation route is determined or selected. If 20 different transportation routes are determined in the previous step, one transportation route is selected from the 20 transportation routes as the first transportation route. If the transportation route to be selected meets at least one schedulable condition regarding resource consumption and transportation duration, one transportation route from the previously considered transportation routes is selected as the first transportation route. In other words, the resource consumption and the transportation duration associated with the transportation route to be selected meet the aforementioned conditions.

[0020] For example, the above condition for the transportation duration can include an acceptable maximum transportation duration, especially if the product is perishable or in the case of an urgent need for medicine. For perishable or urgent products to be transported, the acceptable maximum transportation duration can be, for example, 12 hours or 24 hours. For other products, such as heavy and bulky products without particular urgency, the acceptable maximum transportation duration can also be two to three weeks. In this case, the acceptable maximum transportation duration can be used in particular as a boundary condition for the simulation, which ensures the transportation of the product within a reasonable time. However, since the product should be provided at the target location at a schedulable time point in any case, in some examples, the acceptable maximum transportation duration may also be quite long, for example, several weeks or months.

[0021] In addition, the aforementioned conditions for resource consumption can, for example, include the maximum acceptable resource consumption. The maximum resource consumption can, for example, include the amount of fuel or energy or also include the duration of use of the corresponding transportation equipment, since the transportation equipment is then not available for transporting other products. For example, the corresponding resource consumption can thus be understood as a type of consumption that must be incurred in order to transport products along the corresponding transportation route. The corresponding resource consumption and the corresponding transportation duration often interact such that a short transportation duration requires a high resource consumption and vice versa.

[0022] In particular, depending on the respective situation, the predefined conditions can be used to find the best first transportation route among the available transportation routes. Depending on the situation and the corresponding predefined conditions, this can also be different transportation routes: for example, when delivering urgently needed medications, the maximum acceptable transportation duration can be relatively very short and the maximum acceptable resource consumption can be relatively very high. For example, the opposite is permitted in the case of transporting useful materials to be recycled to a recycling system.

[0023] If two or more transportation routes should meet the corresponding predefined conditions, for example, the transportation route among those transportation routes that best meets the corresponding conditions can be selected as the first transportation route. In particular, if two or more transportation routes, for example, equally well meet the corresponding predefined conditions, the transportation routes or the determined resource consumption and / or the determined transportation duration of the corresponding transportation routes can, for example, be displayed to an operator by means of a display device, and in particular the operator can be enabled to select one of these transportation routes as the first transportation route.

[0024] After determining the first transport path, the provision of the product is initiated by at least one transport device, and possibly multiple transport devices, according to the first transport path. The term "initiate" of the provision can be understood, for example, as causing the first transport path to be stored, for example, in a storage device and to be available to or transmitted to the transport device in order to perform the corresponding transport of the product according to the first transport path. For this purpose, the transport device can be notified, for example, that the first transport path is ready to be retrieved by the transport device. Preferably, especially if the first transport path is determined by the system or its computing device and the provision of the product is performed by the transport device, the system or its computing device or storage device is connected to the transport device via data technology. In some examples, the term "initiate" of the provision can also be understood as causing the transport device to directly implement the first transport path by transmitting corresponding instructions to the transport device via the system or its computing device or storage device. In particular, the initiation of the provision of the product by at least one transport device according to the first transport path can include: the initiation of the provision of the product at the origin point by the supplier. For example, the system or its computing device or storage device is connected to the supplier system via data technology and corresponding request information is transmitted from the system to the supplier system. The transmitted request information can especially include information about the product and the time point of the provision.

[0025] The transport device can include, for example, an automation or programmable logic controller (SPS, PLC in English) and optionally also a drive and an electric motor. In addition, a support structure for supporting or holding the product can be included in the transport device. The electric motor can be driven by the drive, controlled by the automation controller, and connected to the support structure. Thus, in particular, the transport device is equipped and configured to transport the product according to the first transport path. In particular, multiple transport devices can also be provided, which are used to transport the product according to the first transport path. The transport devices can be used simultaneously and / or sequentially, where sequential use is especially conceivable for different sections of the first transport path.

[0026] In some examples, the method step of initiating the provision of the product by at least one transport device according to the first transport path is not an essential part of the computer-implemented method for providing the product, and this similarly applies to the proposed system, the proposed computer program, and the proposed computer-readable storage medium.

[0027] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the predefined conditions are designed as the optimal conditions of an objective function that takes into account the resource consumption with a first weighting factor and the transport duration with a second weighting factor.

[0028] As described above, the corresponding resource consumption and the corresponding transport duration can interact such that a short transport duration requires a high resource consumption and vice versa. For many examples, this objective conflict can be resolved by a target weighting that usually cannot satisfy both low resource consumption and short transport duration. The corresponding weighting factors represent the value or priority of the corresponding quantities and can also be obtained differently depending on the situation or context, where a higher value of the weighting factor expresses a higher value or priority.

[0029] For the above two examples of urgently needed drugs and valuable materials to be recycled, weighting can be applied, for example, such that in the case of drugs, the weight given to the transport duration will be ten times the weight given to the resource consumption, i.e., the second weighting factor (for the transport duration) will be ten and the first weighting factor (for the resource consumption) will be one. On the other hand, in the case of valuable materials, the weight assigned to the resource consumption will be ten times the weight given to the transport duration, i.e., the first weighting factor (for the resource consumption) will be ten and the second weighting factor (for the transport duration) will be one. Assuming that other parameters (such as the corresponding target location, the corresponding origin, the corresponding schedulable time points, and other potentially relevant parameters) are the same for transporting drugs and valuable materials, different transport paths can be determined as the corresponding first transport paths for drugs and valuable materials only due to different weighting factors. Thus, for example, a particularly fast or efficient transport device, courier, or aircraft can be selected to transport drugs or simply provide drugs individually, which, however, consumes more resources. However, for valuable materials, it may be possible to wait until a transport device becomes available later, or a slower transport via train or container ship can be selected, which significantly consumes fewer resources.

[0030] In a further advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the corresponding transport path includes a plurality of transfer points at which the product is transferred from one transport device to another transport device in the transport path.

[0031] Transfer means receiving the transported goods into a means of transport (i.e., loading) or unloading them from the means of transport (i.e., discharging), where the product corresponds to the transported goods and the transport device corresponds to the means of transport. In particular, transfer can include all transport processes and warehousing processes during the transition of the transported goods to a means of transportation or transport device and during the departure of the goods and their change of transport means.

[0032] In particular, a corresponding transfer duration is assigned to each transfer point, which extends the transport duration because the product is not being transported during this transfer duration and thus delays the provision of the product at the target location by the corresponding transfer duration. In addition, each transfer point is assigned a corresponding transfer resource consumption, for example, because the transfer consumes resources, such as the energy required for the transfer or the use of the corresponding transport equipment that cannot be used otherwise during the transfer duration. For example, the transfer can also cause greenhouse gases, such as the emission of the greenhouse gas CO2, which can also be regarded as a resource consumption.

[0033] In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the corresponding resource consumption includes at least one of energy consumption, material consumption, use of the corresponding transport equipment, greenhouse gas emissions or expenses, where the energy consumption, energy consumption, use of the corresponding transport equipment, greenhouse gas emissions or expenses are each related to the transport of the product.

[0034] The corresponding resource consumption can, for example, take into account: the energy consumed for transporting the product, where the energy can be measured, for example, in kWh or can also be measured in energy equivalents or fuel quantities, etc.; the materials consumed for transporting the product, in particular wear or fuel quantities; the use of the corresponding transport equipment required for transporting the product, where this use can be taken into account using a defined factor or a defined weight that takes into account the availability or value or priority of the corresponding transport equipment; the greenhouse gas emissions caused in particular by the corresponding transport equipment for transporting the product, where the greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) and, for example, CO2 equivalents can be considered for the transport of the product; and the expenses incurred for operating for transporting the product, where the expenses include in particular the work expenses required by the personnel involved in the transport or the financial expenses expressed in terms of the costs or prices for transporting the product.

[0035] In particular, the corresponding resource consumption can depend on the quality and size of the product, for example, because transporting heavier and larger products is more complex with regard to the resource consumption required therefor. In addition, the corresponding resource consumption can in particular depend on one or more transport equipment that is available or will be used for transporting the product. In particular, the transport type, i.e., by AGV / truck / ship / airplane or the transport mode or transport equipment and the utilization rate of the transport mode or the corresponding conveying equipment can be considered. The term AGV is understood to mean an autonomous transport vehicle (Automated Guided Vehicle, English: AGV), i.e., a ground-fixed transport means with its own driving drive, automatic control and non-contact guidance. A low utilization rate of the transport mode or the corresponding conveying equipment usually results in a higher resource consumption per transported product and vice versa.

[0036] Preferably, one or more of the foregoing aspects of resource consumption are considered. If multiple foregoing aspects of resource consumption are considered, the first weighting factor for resource consumption set forth above can be advantageously decomposed more finely by defining the contribution to the first weighting factor for different aspects of resource consumption, where the contribution represents the value or priority of the corresponding aspect.

[0037] In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, multiple origin points are available for manufacturing a product with corresponding original resource consumption, where the resource consumption of the corresponding transport path of the product includes the corresponding initial source resource consumption for manufacturing the product especially at the predefinable origin points, and where the corresponding transport duration of the corresponding transport path of the product takes into account the corresponding origin points.

[0038] In some examples, the product can be available not only at the origin point but also at multiple different origin points, where it is assumed that the product is manufactured at the corresponding origin points. In addition, a corresponding initial source resource consumption can be assigned to the manufacture of the product, which expresses how high the resource consumption is for manufacturing the product. Even if the product is not or not only manufactured at the corresponding origin point but is, for example, only provided at the corresponding origin point before it can be transported to the target location, the product can still be assigned the corresponding initial source resource consumption for the corresponding origin point, which each takes into account the resource consumption from the manufacture of the product to the provision at the corresponding origin point.

[0039] In particular, for a more comprehensive consideration, the initial source resource consumption set forth can also be considered in the resource consumption set forth for transporting according to the corresponding transport path. In particular, the above-described aspects of resource consumption can also be broken down and weighted if necessary for the initial source resource consumption. For a more comprehensive consideration for illustration, the corresponding transport duration of the corresponding transport path can also take into account the corresponding origin points, whereby in particular different lengths of transport paths can be obtained and thus also different lengths of transport durations.

[0040] Such a more comprehensive consideration can, for example, lead to a change of the supplier who provides for transporting the product from the corresponding origin point to the target location. This can be the case, for example, if the supplier at the origin point with an advantageous transport path for the product has a high initial source resource consumption, but another supplier at a different origin point with a rather disadvantageous transport path has a very low initial source resource consumption of the product. However, at least in the overall trade-off, the rather disadvantageous transport path of the other supplier must still be covered within an acceptable transport duration.

[0041] In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the predeterminable time point is in a number of years in the future, wherein the corresponding resource consumption is scaled to the future by means of at least one macroeconomic parameter, and wherein the corresponding macroeconomic parameter takes into account in particular the productivity increase, productivity progress, inflation rate, gross domestic product or purchasing power parity along the corresponding transport path of the product.

[0042] In particular, for the long-term supply security of the product, the (simulated) predeterminable time point can be in the coming years. In order to actually determine the first transport path in the future, the corresponding future resource consumption of different transport paths can be estimated at least. For this purpose, the corresponding resource consumption is scaled to the future by means of at least one macroeconomic parameter, wherein, for example, the corresponding current (or most recently available) resource consumption can form the basis for the scaling.

[0043] Advantageously, the scaling is carried out according to the corresponding macroeconomic parameter, which is also known or at least can be estimated for further future time points and for different countries or geographical regions. In particular, predictions of the future values of the corresponding macroeconomic parameters can thus also be used.

[0044] For example, productivity growth can be used as a parameter, which describes the increase in output per unit of input, i.e., over time, the positive change in the ratio of the production result to the production factors used (e.g., labor, capital, and the environment). In particular, productivity increases can be achieved from more efficient work processes, improved organizational structures, improved national framework conditions, overall technological progress, and by increased utilization of the production factors labor and capital. The productivity growth associated with product transport is particularly relevant to technological progress, due to which the resource consumption for product transport tends to decrease over time. In addition, productivity growth can be used for scaling, i.e., to increase labor productivity. Further scaling parameters can in particular be the inflation rate (which can also be the price increase rate or inflation; referring to the increase in the general price level), the gross domestic product (i.e., the total value of all goods and services produced as final products within the economic territory of a country during a fiscal year, after deducting all advances), or the purchasing power parity. There is a purchasing power parity between two geographical regions in the same currency area if the goods and services in a basket of goods can be purchased for the same monetary amount. If two different currency areas are compared, the exchange rate can be used to compare the monetary amounts.

[0045] Preferably, two or more of the mentioned parameters can be used for the calibration and weighted if necessary. Furthermore, especially in the case where the transport route passes through multiple countries or geographical regions, the corresponding parameters mentioned can be determined locally and then summed over the entire corresponding transport route (especially weighted appropriately according to the route length, for example), so that the local contributions to the resource consumption for the calibration can be fully taken into account.

[0046] As mentioned above, the consideration of long-term supply security can also be used especially to identify the need for long-term or strategic changes and initiate corresponding measures, such as the above-mentioned supplier changes or the establishment of new suppliers.

[0047] The advantage of using the corresponding macroeconomic parameters is especially that, although detailed knowledge about the individual aspects of the corresponding resource consumption of the corresponding transport route is often not available in the future, relatively reliable conclusions and results about the future corresponding resource consumption can be achieved. Although the corresponding macroeconomic parameters may seem rather rough, a good and at the same time easily executable estimate of the above-mentioned calibration can still be made.

[0048] In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the computer-implemented method further comprises the method steps:

[0049] • Provide information about the corresponding resource consumption of internal or external transport or transport by road, rail, ship or air traffic or transshipment or warehousing processes, especially via at least one programming interface to a corresponding information database or to a corresponding web server, the information database or web server having the corresponding information at its disposal.

[0050] Generally, various aspects of the corresponding resource consumption are available in a specific information database or via a web server and can therefore be called by the proposed system to determine the corresponding resource consumption and, if necessary, the corresponding transport duration.

[0051] Information for internal transport can usually also be obtained internally, for example in a MES, SCADA or ERP system, which is, for example, connected to the proposed system in terms of data technology. MES (Manufacturing Execution System in English, usually Production Management System in German) is understood as the process-related operating level of a multi-layer manufacturing management system; SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition in English, German: Monitoring, Control and Data Acquisition) is understood as a computer system or software for monitoring and controlling technical processes in the context of an industrial control system or industrial control equipment; and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is to plan, control and manage enterprise tasks, personnel, resources, capital, production means, materials as well as information technology and communication technology in a timely and on-demand manner in the sense of enterprise purposes.

[0052] For example, information on external transportation can be obtained via an external information database or a web server. For example, the proposed system can refer to the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) for air and sea freight transport routes, which is published by the Baltic Exchange in London and is an important price index for the global transport of dry bulk goods (mainly coal, iron ore and grain) on standard routes and an indicator of the state of the world economy.

[0053] For land transport routes, the proposed system can, on the one hand, refer to diesel or electricity prices, labour costs and depreciation costs, especially for transport on roads, and, on the other hand, to a general route planner, which is also available in a special information database or via a web server. The corresponding information is available, for example, for rail transport by means of a calibration factor based on information on transport on roads.

[0054] For data exchange with the corresponding information sources, the proposed system preferably has a programming interface. The programming interface is also known as an application interface, more precisely an interface for programming applications, or simply as an API (Application Programming Interface) and is the part of the software system that is provided to other programs to connect to the system. For example, the proposed system can receive information on the corresponding resource consumption from the corresponding information database or web server via the API, where the web server (Latin servire "to serve"; English server "servant", "service") is a server that transfers documents to a client, such as a web browser. A computer with web server software or just the web server software itself is referred to by the term web server. The web server can be used locally, in a company network and mainly as a WWW service on the Internet. Thus, documents, such as the information mentioned here, can be provided locally, within an organisation and globally for the required purpose.

[0055] In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the computer-implemented method further comprises one or more method steps:

[0056] • Displaying the determined resource consumption and / or the determined transport duration of the first transport route of the product and optionally the corresponding origin on a display device, and / or

[0057] • Storing the determined resource consumption and / or the determined transport duration of the first transport route of the product together with the product and optionally the corresponding origin in a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) database.

[0058] In particular, for the operator, displaying the determined resource consumption and / or the determined transport duration of the first transport path of the product and optionally the corresponding origin point on a display device enables the planning and execution of the transport of the product to be facilitated. In particular, by means of the display device, it is also possible to display corresponding information on a second optimal or alternative transport path and to provide the operator with two or more transport paths for selection. As already mentioned above, it is possible to display a plurality of transport paths or the determined resource consumption and / or the determined transport duration of the corresponding transport paths to the operator by means of the display device and in particular to enable the operator to select one of these transport paths as the first transport path. The selection of one of the transport paths by the operator can be carried out here, for example, by means of an input device, such as a keyboard, a computer mouse or a microphone in the case of voice input.

[0059] Additionally or alternatively, the determined resource consumption and / or the determined transport duration of the first transport path of the product can be stored together with information on the product and optionally the corresponding origin point in a PLM database and preferably linked to other product life cycle information of the product. PLM is understood here as a solution for seamlessly integrating all information generated during the life cycle of a product, in particular from product development to production release. For example, this information can be further linked to the corresponding information of the product in relevant MES, SCADA or ERP systems, which enables complete traceability of the product from brainstorming to delivery to the customer and possibly further. Preferably, the transmission of information from the proposed system to a PLM or MES, SCADA or ERP system is achieved by means of an API or a web server, where the information is available in a JSON file and is transmissible for the information. JSON is understood here as JavaScript Object Notation, a compact data format in a simple readable text form for data exchange between applications. JSON is independent of the programming language. There are parsers and generators in all common languages.

[0060] In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the computer-implemented method further comprises the method steps:

[0061] • Providing the product by at least one transport device according to the first transport path.

[0062] Preferably, the transport device directly implements the first transport path. For example, corresponding instructions are transmitted to the transport device through the system or its computing device or storage device, and the transport device executes the received instructions for transporting the product. In addition, in particular, the supplier can initiate the provision of the product at the origin point. For example, the system or its computing device or storage device is connected to the supplier system in terms of data technology, and the corresponding request information is transmitted from the system to the supplier system. In some examples, the proposed system includes a corresponding transport device.

[0063] Preferably, the proposed computer-implemented method, the corresponding system, the corresponding computer program, and the corresponding computer-readable storage medium are used to provide more than one product. The multiple products can be of the same type or different types. In particular, if the aforementioned products have the same origin point, the same destination point, or at least a segmentally identical first transport path. For example, the first transport path can be determined and the corresponding transport for the multiple products can be executed simultaneously according to the determined first transport path. In this case, it is possible to achieve a particularly resource-saving and fast transport of the products. For this purpose, the described method steps can be executed for each product to be transported and then the optimization of the product transport can be performed, for example, also by means of corresponding additional weighting factors for the respective products. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0064] The present invention will be described and explained in more detail below with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings. It is shown:

[0065] Figures 1 to 4 Schematic diagrams showing the first to fourth exemplary embodiments of the proposed system, and

[0066] Figure 5 Schematic diagrams showing the flowcharts of the exemplary embodiments of the proposed method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0067] Figure 1 Schematic diagram showing the first exemplary embodiment of the proposed system 44.

[0068] The system 44 has a storage device 46 with an operating system 48 and data 52 related to a software application 50, and the data is also included in the operating system 48. In addition, the system 44 has a computing device 30 which is designed to execute the implementation of the software application 50. In addition, the computing device 30 is designed to execute the following steps at a predetermined time point for providing the product 1 at the destination point 20:

[0069] • Determine the respective resource consumption and the respective transport duration of the corresponding transport path 22 of the product 1 from a predeterminable origin 24 to a target location 20 by simulating a plurality of transport paths 22 from the predeterminable origin 24 to the target location 20.

[0070] • Determine a first transport path 22A in the transport paths 22 that satisfies at least one predeterminable condition regarding resource consumption and transport duration, and

[0071] • Initiate the provision of the product 1 by at least one transport device 10 according to the first transport path 22A.

[0072] To perform the described steps, the system 44 has an additional memory 56 in which information about the product 1, the transport device 10, the target location 20, and the origin 24 can be provided or stored. The determined first transport path 22A is also stored in the additional memory 56. In addition, the system 44 optionally has a display device 40 on which, for example, the determined resource consumption and / or the determined transport duration of the first transport path 22A of the product 1 and also optionally the corresponding origin 24 can be displayed to an operator.

[0073] In some examples, the method step of initiating the provision of the product 1 by at least one transport device 10 corresponding to the first transport path 22A is not an essential part of the proposed computer-implemented method for providing the product 1, and this similarly applies to the proposed system 44, the proposed computer program 52, and the proposed computer-readable storage medium 54.

[0074] In Figure 1 a computer-readable storage medium 54 and a computer program 52 are also shown. In this case, the computer program 52 is stored on the computer-readable storage medium 54, where the computer program 52 includes instructions that, when executed by the system 44, cause the system 44 to perform the proposed method.

[0075] Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing a second exemplary embodiment of the proposed system 44, where the same reference numerals as in Figure 1 denote the same objects.

[0076] In a modification of the first exemplary embodiment, in the second exemplary embodiment, two transfer points 26 are provided for each of the two transport paths 22. At the first transfer point 26, the product 1 is transferred from the first transport device 10A to the second transport device 10B and at the second transfer point 26 from the second transport device 10B to the third transport device 10C.

[0077] Information about the transfer point 26 and the transport devices 10A, 10B, 10C is also stored in a separate memory 56.

[0078] Figure 3 Schematic diagram showing a third exemplary embodiment of the proposed system 44.

[0079] In a modification of the first or second exemplary embodiment, in the third exemplary embodiment, a plurality of origin points 24 can be used for manufacturing or providing the product 1. In this case, a corresponding initial source resource consumption is allocated to each origin point 24 of the product 1. When determining the corresponding resource consumption of the corresponding transport path 22 from the corresponding origin point 24 of the product 1 to the target location 20, the corresponding initial source resource consumption is included and taken into account simultaneously. In addition, the corresponding origin point 24 also takes into account the corresponding transport duration of the corresponding transport path 22 for the product 1.

[0080] Information about the origin point 24 and, if necessary, about the corresponding initial source resource consumption is also stored in a separate memory 56.

[0081] Figure 4 Schematic diagram showing a fourth exemplary embodiment of the proposed system 44.

[0082] In the fourth exemplary embodiment, the system 44 also has a programming interface 32, by means of which the system 44 is connected to the data technology and the information database 34 and the network server 36. The information database 34 and the network server 36 can provide information 38 to the system 44, in particular about the corresponding resource consumption of internal or external transport or transport by road, rail, ship or air traffic, or transshipment or warehousing processes.

[0083] In addition, the system 44 is connected to the PLM database 42 by data technology, wherein the determined resource consumption and / or the determined transport duration of the first transport path 22A of the product 1 can be stored together with information about the product 1 and optionally the corresponding origin point 24.

[0084] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of a flowchart showing an exemplary embodiment of the proposed method. For example, for Figures 1 to 4 the system shown in, the process M can start from step M02 and can include a plurality of steps that can be executed by a processor (in particular the above-mentioned computing device).

[0085] These steps include step M04, according to which the corresponding resource consumption and the corresponding transport duration of the corresponding transport path of the product from a predefinable origin point to a target location are determined by simulating a plurality of transport paths from the predefinable origin point to the target location; step M06, according to which a first transport path among the plurality of transport paths that satisfies at least one condition of predefinable resource consumption and transport duration is determined; and step M08, according to which the provision of the product is started by at least one transport device according to the first transport path. The process can be ended using step M10.

[0086] In some examples, the illustrated process M can include additional steps, which are illustrated above in connection with the proposed method or the proposed system.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing a product (1) at a target location (20) at a predeterminable point in time, wherein: The method comprises: By simulating a plurality of transport routes (22) from a predeterminable origin point (24) to the destination point (20), a respective resource consumption and a respective transport duration of a respective transport route (22) of the product (1) from the predeterminable origin point (24) to the destination point (20) are determined, determining a first transport path (22A) of the transport paths (22) that meets at least one predeterminable condition regarding the resource consumption and the transport duration, and The provision of the product (1) is initiated by at least one transport device (10) according to the first transport path (22A).

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, in, The predefinable condition is designed as an optimization condition for an objective function which takes into account the resource consumption with a first weighting factor and the transport duration with a second weighting factor.

3. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, in, The respective transport path (22) includes a plurality of transfer points (26) at which the product (1) is transferred from one of the transport facilities (10A) to another of the transport facilities (10B).

4. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, in, The respective resource consumption comprises at least one form of energy consumption, one form of material resource consumption, use of the respective transport equipment (10), greenhouse gas emissions or costs, which can each be attributed to the transport of the product (1).

5. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, in, A plurality of origin points (24) can be used for the manufacture of the product (1) with corresponding initial resource consumption, wherein the respective resource consumption of the respective transport path of the product (1) comprises the respective initial resource consumption for the production of the product (1), in particular at a predeterminable origin point, and In this case, the respective transport duration of the respective transport route (22) of the product (1) takes into account the respective origin point (24).

6. A computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, in, The time point that can be scheduled is many years in the future. wherein a calibration into the future is performed for the respective resource consumption based on at least one macroeconomic parameter, and In this case, the respective macroeconomic parameter takes into account, in particular, productivity increases, productivity growth, inflation rates, gross domestic product or purchasing power parity along the respective transport path of the product (1).

7. The computer-implemented method of any preceding claim, further comprising: Information (38) about internal or external transport or transport by land, road, rail, ship or air traffic or about the corresponding resource consumption of a transshipment or storage process is provided, in particular via at least one programming interface (32) to a corresponding information database (34) or a corresponding web server (36) which respectively has the information (38).

8. The computer-implemented method of any preceding claim, further comprising: Displaying the determined resource consumption and / or the determined transport duration of the first transport path (22A) of the product (1) and optionally the corresponding origin point (24) on a display device (40), and / or The determined resource consumption and / or the determined transport duration of the first transport route (22A) of the product (1) is stored in a product lifecycle management (PLM) database (42) together with information about the product (1) and optionally information about the corresponding origin point (24).

9. The computer-implemented method of any preceding claim, further comprising: The product (1) is provided by at least one of the transport devices (10) according to the first transport path (22A).

10. A system (44) having a storage device (46) and a computing device (30), The memory device has an operating system (48) with data (52) relating to the software application (50), The computing device is designed to execute the software application (50), in, The computing device (46) is further designed to: provide the product (1) at a target location (20) at a predeterminable time, determining the respective resource consumption and the respective transport duration of the respective transport path (22) of the product (1) from the predeterminable origin (24) to the destination (20) by simulating a plurality of transport paths (22) from the predeterminable origin (24) to the destination (20), determining a first transport path (22A) of the transport paths (22) that satisfies at least one predeterminable condition regarding the resource consumption and the transport duration, and The provision of the product (1) is initiated by at least one transport device (10) according to the first transport path (22A).

11. A computer program (52) comprising instructions which, when executed by a system (44) according to claim 10, cause the system to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

12. A computer-readable storage medium (54) comprising instructions which, when executed by a system according to claim 10, cause the system to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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