INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT DEVICE AND PRODUCTION SYSTEM

Abstract

The present invention provides an industrial machine maintenance management device that enables maintenance management of industrial machines taking into account the inventory status of replacement components.The industrial machinery maintenance management device manages the maintenance of a plurality of industrial machines and comprises: an operational information acquisition unit that acquires operational information relating to the plurality of industrial machines; a failure prediction unit that predicts the failure of components of the plurality of industrial machines and their failure prediction times based on the acquired operational information; an inventory information acquisition unit that acquires inventory information relating to the stock and procurement of replacement components of the plurality of industrial machines; and a maintenance priority sequence or rank determination unit that establishes a maintenance priority sequence or rank.-rank for the components with predicted failure of the majority of industrial machines is determined based on the predicted failure prediction times of the components with predicted failure and the inventory information collected relating to the replacement components.

Description

TECHNICAL AREA

[0001] The present invention relates to a maintenance management device and a production system for industrial machines. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

[0002] In a production system comprising multiple industrial machines, the failure of one machine can cause the entire system to shut down for an extended period, resulting in significant damage. To prevent such situations, a technique is known for predicting the failure of an industrial machine in advance and implementing preventive maintenance, such as replacing a component whose failure is predicted (see, for example, patent document 1). List of references Patent document

[0003] Patent document 1: Unexamined Japanese patent application, publication no. 2006-285884 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be solved by the invention

[0004] However, if no replacement component is in stock and the lead time (time from order to delivery) for procuring the replacement component is long, the component with a predicted failure may fail before maintenance. Therefore, the aim is to manage the maintenance of the industrial machine taking into account the inventory status of the replacement component. Means to solve the problems

[0005] A maintenance management device for industrial machinery of the present disclosure is a maintenance management device for managing the maintenance of a plurality of industrial machines. The maintenance management device includes an operational information acquisition unit configured to acquire operational information of the plurality of industrial machines; a failure prediction unit configured to predict the failure of a component with a predicted failure, its predicted failure time, and the predicted downtime of the component with a predicted failure based on the acquired operational information; an inventory information acquisition unit configured to acquire inventory information regarding the stock and procurement of replacement components for the components of the plurality of industrial machines; and a maintenance priority sequencer.-rank determination unit configured to determine a maintenance priority sequence or rank of the component with predicted failure of the majority of industrial machines based on the predicted downtime of the component with predicted failure and the captured inventory information of the replacement components.

[0006] A production system of the present disclosure includes a plurality of industrial machines; the maintenance management device for industrial machines described above; and an inventory management device configured to manage an inventory and procurement of replacement components for the plurality of industrial machines. Effects of the invention

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to perform maintenance management of an industrial machine taking into account the inventory status of a replacement component. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. Figure 1 shows an example of a production system that includes a maintenance management device for industrial machinery according to the present embodiment. PREFERRED OPERATING MODE FOR REALIZING THE INVENTION

[0008] An embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawing. The same or corresponding sections in the drawings are identified by the same reference numerals.

[0009] Fig. Figure 1 shows an example of a production system that includes a maintenance management device for industrial machinery according to the present embodiment. As shown in Fig. Figure 1 shows a production system 100 comprising a plurality of industrial machines 30, a maintenance management device 10 and an inventory management device 20.

[0010] Each of the industrial machines 30 includes, for example, a robot 32 and a robot control device 34. The robot 32 includes a plurality of drive shafts J1, J2, J3, J4, J5, and J6, and, for example, a hand H capable of holding a workpiece or a tool H capable of machining a workpiece is provided at the distal end of the robot 32. The robot 32 can perform a desired operation by moving the hand H or the tool H by driving the drive shafts J1 to J6. The robot 32 can be a vertical articulated robot as shown in the drawing, but is not limited to this and can, for example, be a robot with orthogonal coordinates, a scalar robot, a parallel-jointed robot, or the like.

[0011] The robot control device 34 controls the robot 32. Specifically, the robot control device 34 operates the robot 32 according to a predefined work program. More precisely, the robot control device 34 can have a known configuration in which the position or rotational speed of each of the robot 32's drive shafts J1 to J6, necessary for performing the operation according to the machining program, is calculated for each time period, and the required current is applied to each of the robot 32's drive shafts J1 to J6. Furthermore, the robot control device 34 transmits the operating information, including the current operating status and past operating performance with respect to the robot 32's operating time, as well as the cumulative operating time, to the maintenance management device 10.

[0012] The maintenance management device 10 and the inventory management device 20 can be located on the factory side where the industrial machines 30 are located, or they can be located on the server device side, which is connected to the industrial machines 30 via a network. Alternatively, the maintenance management device 10 can be located on the factory side, the inventory management device 20 can be located on the server device side, and the maintenance management device 10 and the inventory management device 20 can be connected via a network.

[0013] The inventory management device 20 manages the inventory and procurement of replacement components for the components of the robot 32 in the majority of industrial machines 30. Examples of components include a drive component (for example, a motor) of the robot 32 and a maintenance component such as a hand or a tool. The inventory management device 20 manages, for example, inventory information regarding the inventory and procurement of replacement components as described below. - Component ID - Product number and product name - Price per unit - Inventory quantity - Quantity of the next order (unit) - Input and output data - Inventory date - Cumulative stock value - Procurement lead time (time from order to delivery) - Suppliers

[0014] Inventory Management Device 20 can provide Maintenance Management Device 10 with inventory information regarding the stock and procurement of replacement components that are out of stock or have a low stock level, in particular the stock quantity (stock status) and the procurement lead time (procurement status). Alternatively, in response to a query from Maintenance Management Device 10, Inventory Management Device 20 can transmit inventory information regarding the stock and procurement of the queried component, in particular the stock quantity (stock status) and the procurement lead time (procurement status), to Maintenance Management Device 10.

[0015] The maintenance management device 10 monitors and diagnoses the majority of industrial machines 30 and manages the maintenance (preventive and servicing) of the majority of industrial machines 30. Specifically, the maintenance management device 10 aggregates the operating information of the majority of industrial machines 30, predicts the failure times of components among the majority of industrial machines 30 based on the aggregated operating information, and determines the maintenance priority order of these components with predicted failure based on the predicted failure times of the components with predicted failure.At this point, the maintenance management device 10 cooperates with the inventory management device 20 to determine the maintenance priority order of predicted failure components based on the inventory status of replacement components for the predicted failure components, or based on the procurement status (for example, procurement lead times) of replacement components for the predicted failure components if no inventory is available. The maintenance management device 10 includes an operations information acquisition unit 11, an inventory information acquisition unit 12, a failure prediction unit 14, a maintenance priority order determination unit 15, a storage unit 16, and a notification unit 18.

[0016] The operational information acquisition unit 11 is a communication interface that conforms to a known standard for wireless or wired communication. The operational information acquisition unit 11 acquires the operational information of each of the industrial machines 30 from the robot control device 34 of each of the industrial machines 30. Examples of operational information include the current operational status and past operational performance with respect to the operating time of the robot 32 of the industrial machine 30, and the cumulative operating time.

[0017] The Inventory Information Acquisition Unit 12 is a communication interface that conforms to a known standard for wireless or wired communication. The Inventory Information Acquisition Unit 12 receives inventory information from the Inventory Management Device 20 regarding the stock and procurement of replacement components that are out of stock or have a low stock level. Alternatively, the Inventory Information Acquisition Unit 12 queries the Inventory Management Device 20 and retrieves inventory information from the Inventory Management Device 20 regarding the stock and procurement of replacement components for those components with predicted failure, as predicted by the Failure Prediction Unit 14, which is described below.The inventory information acquisition unit 12 can periodically query the inventory management device 20 and periodically capture the latest inventory information. Examples of inventory information include an inventory status, which includes the stock quantity of replacement components, and a procurement status, which includes the procurement lead times for replacement components.

[0018] The failure prediction unit 14 and the maintenance priority sequence determination unit 15 each contain, for example, an arithmetic processor such as a CPU (central processing unit), a DSP (digital signal processor), or an FPGA (field-programmable gate array). Various functions of the failure prediction unit 14 and the maintenance priority sequence determination unit 15 are implemented, for example, by executing predefined software (programs) stored in the memory unit 16. Various functions of the failure prediction unit 14 and the maintenance priority sequence determination unit 15 can be implemented through hardware and software cooperation or can be implemented solely by hardware (electronic circuits).

[0019] Storage unit 16 is, for example, a memory device such as a ROM (read-only memory), an HDD (hard disk drive), or an SSD (solid-state drive). Storage unit 16 stores predefined software (programs) for executing various functions of the failure prediction unit 14 and the maintenance priority sequencing unit 15, as described above. Storage unit 16 can temporarily store operational information acquired by the operational information acquisition unit 11 and inventory information acquired by the inventory information acquisition unit 12. Storage unit 16 can temporarily store the components with predicted failures and their predicted failure times, as predicted by the failure prediction unit 14, and the maintenance priority sequencing determined by the maintenance priority sequencing unit 15.

[0020] The failure prediction unit 14 predicts components with predicted failure, whose failure is predicted, among the components of the majority of industrial machines 30 and predicted downtimes of these based on the operational information acquired by the operational information acquisition unit 11.

[0021] For example, a maintenance component such as a hand or a tool may have a recommended operating time based on a supplier recommendation or past usage data. Therefore, the failure prediction unit 14 predicts, for example, a failure and downtime of a maintenance component such as a hand or a tool based on the cumulative operating time.

[0022] The maintenance priority sequence determination unit 15 determines the maintenance priority sequence of the components with predicted failure of the majority of industrial machines 30 based on the predicted failure times of the components with predicted failure predicted by the failure prediction unit 14 and the inventory information of the replacement components recorded by the inventory information acquisition unit 12.

[0023] For example, the maintenance priority sequence determination unit 15 determines the maintenance priority sequence of components with predicted failure of the majority of industrial machines 30 primarily based on the predicted downtimes. In this case, even if no replacement component is available, if the lead time for procuring the replacement component is relatively short, the availability of the replacement component can be ensured before maintenance. However, if the lead time for procuring a replacement component is relatively long, the availability of the replacement component cannot be ensured during maintenance, and the maintenance date must be adjusted. Therefore, if no replacement component is available and the lead time for procuring the replacement component is longer than a predetermined value, the maintenance priority sequence determination unit 15 lowers the maintenance priority sequence.-rank of the component with predicted failure.

[0024] For example, if the maintenance management device 10 is located on the factory side where the industrial machines 30 are located, the communication unit 18 can be a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. The communication unit 18 displays (communicates) the maintenance priority sequence of the components predicted to fail most of the industrial machines 30, as determined by the maintenance priority sequence determination unit 15. The communication unit 18 can also display (communicate) the components predicted to fail most of the industrial machines 30 and the predicted downtimes, as predicted by the failure prediction unit 14. If the inventory information for a replacement component, as recorded by the inventory management device 20, indicates a shortage, the communication unit 18 can display (communicate) information regarding the shortage.

[0025] Alternatively, for example, if the maintenance management device 10 is located on the server device side, which is connected to the industrial machines 30 via a network, the communication unit 18 can be a communication interface conforming to a known standard for wireless or wired communication. The communication unit 18 transmits (communicates) the maintenance priority sequence of the components with predicted failure of the majority of the industrial machines 30, determined by the maintenance priority sequence determination unit 15, to the factory side where the industrial machines 30 are located. Thus, on the factory side, the maintenance priority sequence of the components with predicted failure can be displayed on a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display.Furthermore, the communication unit 18 can transmit (notify) the components with predicted failure of the majority of industrial machines 30 and the predicted downtimes, as forecast by the failure prediction unit 14, to the factory site where the industrial machines 30 are located via the internet. Accordingly, the components with predicted failures and the predicted downtimes can be displayed on the factory site, for example, on the same display device. If the inventory information of a replacement component, as recorded by the inventory management device 20, indicates a shortage, the communication unit 18 can transmit (notify) information regarding the shortage to the factory site where the industrial machines 30 are located via the internet.Consequently, on the factory side, information regarding the shortage of the replacement component can be displayed, for example, on the display device.

[0026] As described above, according to the maintenance management device 10 of the present embodiment, the operating information of the majority of industrial machines 30 is aggregated, components with predicted failure, whose failure is predicted, are identified among the majority of industrial machines 30 and their predicted downtimes are predicted based on the aggregated operating information, and the maintenance priority order of the components with predicted failure of the majority of industrial machines 30 is determined based on the predicted downtimes of the components with predicted failure.At this point, the maintenance management device 10 cooperates with the inventory management device 20 to determine the maintenance priority sequence of predicted failure components based on the inventory status of replacement components for the predicted failure components, or based on the procurement status (for example, procurement lead times) of replacement components for the predicted failure components if no inventory is available. As described above, according to the maintenance management device 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to perform maintenance management of the industrial machines taking into account the inventory status of replacement components.

[0027] Furthermore, according to the maintenance management device 10 of the present embodiment, the maintenance priority sequence of the components with predicted failure of the majority of industrial machines 30, as determined by the maintenance priority sequence determination unit 15, can be communicated; the components with predicted failure of the majority of industrial machines 30 and the predicted downtimes, as predicted by the failure prediction unit 14, can be communicated; and the information regarding the shortage of the replacement component, as recorded by the inventory management device 20, can be communicated. Consequently, even if no replacement component is in stock and the lead time for procuring the replacement component is long, it is possible to reduce the failure of the component with predicted failure before maintenance.

[0028] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and various changes and modifications can be made. For example, the embodiment described above illustrates an operating mode in which a robot is included as an industrial machine, but the industrial machine can have different operating modes. That is to say, the maintenance management of the robot's components is illustrated by way of example in the embodiment described above, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to the maintenance management of components of various industrial machines, such as machine tools. Reference symbol list 10 Maintenance Management Device 11 Operational Information Acquisition Unit 12 Inventory Information Acquisition Unit 14 Failure Prediction Unit 15 Maintenance priority sequence determination unit 16 storage units 18 communication unit 20 Inventory Management Device 30 industrial machines 32 robots 34 Robot control or regulating device 100 industrial systems QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents cited by the applicant was automatically generated and is included solely for the reader's convenience. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA accepts no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] JP 2006-285884

[0003]

Claims

[1] A maintenance management device for industrial machines for managing maintenance of a plurality of industrial machines, the maintenance management device comprising: an operation information acquisition unit configured to acquire operation information of the plurality of industrial machines; a failure prediction unit configured to predict a predicted failure component whose failure is predicted among components of the plurality of industrial machines and a predicted failure time of the predicted failure component based on the acquired operation information; an inventory information acquisition unit configured to acquire inventory information regarding an inventory and procurement of replacement components for the components of the plurality of industrial machines; and a maintenance priority order or rank determining unit configured to determine a maintenance priority order or rank of the predicted failure component of the plurality of industrial machines based on the predicted failure time of the predicted failure component and the acquired inventory information of the replacement components. [2] The maintenance management device for industrial machinery according to claim 1, wherein the inventory information acquisition unit is notified of inventory information regarding an inventory and procurement of a replacement component which is out of stock or whose inventory is low. [3] The maintenance management device for industrial machinery according to claim 1, wherein the inventory information acquisition unit acquires inventory information regarding an inventory and procurement of a replacement component for the predicted failure component. [4] Maintenance management device for industrial machines according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the inventory information includes an inventory status including an inventory quantity of each of the exchange components and a procurement status including a procurement lead time of each of the exchange components, and wherein when there is no inventory of a replacement component and the procurement lead time of the replacement component is longer than a predetermined value, the maintenance priority order determining unit lowers the maintenance priority order or rank of the component with predicted failure. [5] Maintenance management device for industrial machines according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the operating information includes a cumulative operating time of each of the plurality of industrial machines, and wherein the failure prediction unit predicts the component with predicted failure and the predicted failure time thereof based on the cumulative operating time. [6] The maintenance management device for industrial machinery according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a notification unit configured to notify the determined maintenance priority order. [7] Production system comprising: a majority of industrial machines; the maintenance management device for industrial machines according to any one of claims 1 to 3; and an inventory management device configured to manage inventory and procurement of replacement components for components of the plurality of industrial machines.

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