Production plan method and production plan system

Abstract

To create a production plan to avoid a decline in productivity.SOLUTION: A production plan method is executed by a computer system. The computer system includes a processing unit and a storage unit. The storage unit holds a plurality of plan requests requesting to create a production plan at a factory and a plurality of transaction data corresponding to the plurality of plan requests and indicating a production situation at the factory. The production plan method includes: a step that the processing unit estimates urgency of a first plan request by comparing the transaction data corresponding to the first plan request among the plurality of plan requests with the transaction data corresponding to a second plan request, which is the previous plan request; and a step that the processing unit determines allocation of calculation resources for creating a production plan based on the first plan request based on the urgency.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for supporting production planning. [Background technology]

[0002] Technologies for managing project progress are disclosed, for example, in JP 2020-77250 A (Patent Document 1) and JP 2020-61104 A (Patent Document 2).

[0003] Patent Document 1 states, "A dynamic production planning system including a dynamic production planning device, the dynamic production planning device comprising: a process result storage unit including a record of the time spent in production for each item and process; a process plan result storage unit including the production equipment planned to be used for each item and process and the expected work time; and a recovery scenario generation unit that calculates an index showing the risk of delay for each item and process using the time spent in production, the production equipment planned to be used for each item and process and the expected work time."

[0004] Patent document 2 states, "The control device downloads at least one of one or more target programs (control program and information program) from the program distribution device via a network and one or more network ports, and at a timing different from the timing of the download, changes execution management data indicating the resource upper limit, which is the resource that the target program can use with respect to multiple computing resources of the control device. Each control program is a program that performs a scanning operation that outputs control information for a controlled device connected to an I / O port. Each information program is a program that performs information processing other than the scanning operation." [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-77250 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2020-61104 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Regarding production activities in a factory, a technique is known that creates a production plan in response to a planning request from the factory. The production plan is created based on, for example, information about orders, such as the type, quantity, and required delivery date of the product to be produced, and information about production resources, such as equipment that can be used for production. The planning requests from the factory may include, for example, a planning request for periodically creating a production plan based on an order, as well as a planning request for creating a production plan that reflects delays in a process that has already started, changes in the required delivery date, and changes in the operating status of equipment. In addition, the next planning request may be received before the creation of a production plan in response to one planning request is completed.

[0007] Here, in order to maintain productivity in a factory, the priority of production planning may differ depending on the cause of the planning request. For example, if there is a planning request resulting from a change in the requested delivery date, it is necessary to create a production plan that will meet the changed requested delivery date, and a delay in planning may cause a delay in the delivery date. For this reason, for example, if there are multiple planning requests resulting from a change in the requested delivery date, it is desirable to first create a production plan according to the planning request with the earlier changed delivery date in order to prevent a delay in the delivery date.

[0008] The above-mentioned Patent Document 1 describes a technology for formulating a production plan to recover from a production delay. Also, the above-mentioned Patent Document 2 describes a technology for allocating computational resources. However, in the past, no technology was disclosed for estimating the priority of planning based on the cause of a plan request, and it was not possible to manage computational resources based on the priority so as not to reduce productivity. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve at least one of the above problems, the present invention provides a production planning method executed by a computer system, the computer system having a processing unit and a memory unit, the memory unit holding a plurality of planning requests requesting the creation of a production plan in a factory and a plurality of transaction data corresponding to the plurality of planning requests and indicating the status of production in the factory, the production planning method including a first step in which the processing unit estimates a degree of urgency of a first planning request by comparing the transaction data corresponding to a first planning request of the plurality of planning requests with the transaction data corresponding to a second planning request which is a previous planning request to the first planning request, and a second step in which the processing unit determines an allocation of computing resources for creating a production plan based on the first planning request based on the degree of urgency. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, a production plan can be made so as not to decrease productivity.

[0011] Problems, configurations and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a production planning system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a planned request table held in a planned request storage unit of the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an item master table held in a master data storage unit of the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a resource master table held in a master data storage unit of the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5]FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a process master table held in a master data storage unit of the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a process sequence master table held in a master data storage unit of the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a shift master table held in a master data storage unit of the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an order information table held in a transaction data storage unit of the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a calendar information table held in a transaction data storage unit of the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a production performance information table held in a transaction data storage unit of the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 11] 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a production plan information table held in a transaction data storage unit of the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 12] 3 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the production planning system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] 4 is a flowchart showing a plan urgency estimation process executed by the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] 5 is a flowchart showing a calculation process of a plan urgency level executed by the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] 4 is a flowchart showing a planned resource allocation process executed by the planned request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] 1 is a flowchart showing a process of determining planned resource allocation executed by a planned request management device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17]5 is a flowchart showing a plan request management screen displayed by the plan request management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 18] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a planned request table held in a planned request storage unit of a planned request management device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 19] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an inter-factory logistics master table held in a master data storage unit of a plan request management device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 20] 10 is a flowchart showing a plan urgency estimation process executed by a plan request management device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 21] 11 is a flowchart showing an effect estimation process of the urgency of a front factory executed by a plan request management system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments with reference to the drawings. EXAMPLES

[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a production planning system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] The production planning system 100 is composed of a plan request management device 101 and a scheduling unit 112. The plan request management device 101 and the scheduling unit 112 are connected to each other via a network 113. In addition, the plan request management device 101 is connected to a production management system 115 via a network 114.

[0016] The plan request management device 101 is a computer system having a processing unit 102, a storage unit 105, a display unit 109, and a communication unit 111. The processing unit 102 is, for example, a processor that realizes various functions by executing a program stored in the storage unit 105. The processing unit 102 of this embodiment has functional units such as a plan urgency estimation unit 103 and a calculation resource allocation unit 104. These functional units may be configured with dedicated hardware, or may be realized by the processing unit 102 being a general-purpose processor that executes a program stored in the storage unit 105. The processing performed by each of these functional units will be described later.

[0017] The storage unit 105 is configured by a so-called main storage device such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and a so-called auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and has a plan request storage unit 106, a master data storage unit 107, and a transaction data storage unit 108. Information stored in these storage units will be described later.

[0018] The display unit 109 is an output device such as an image display device, and has a plan request management screen 110. For example, the processor constituting the processing unit 102 may generate image data and instruct the display unit 109 to display the image, thereby displaying the plan request management screen 110.

[0019] The communication unit 111 communicates with the scheduling unit 112 via a network 113 , and communicates with a production management system 115 via a network 114 .

[0020] The scheduling unit 112 formulates a production plan in response to the plan request. The scheduling unit 112 can be realized, for example, by a known general scheduler function, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted. For example, a service provided on the cloud can be used as the scheduling unit 112. In this case, the scheduling unit 112 may be treated as being outside the production plan system 100. Alternatively, the function of the scheduling unit 112 may be realized by a separate computer, or may be realized by the same computer as the plan request management device 101. In either case, the scheduling unit 112 can formulate a production plan using computational resources specified by the plan request management device.

[0021] The production management system 115 is a system that manages the production of products, etc. in a factory. Specifically, the production management system 115 transmits a request for creating a production plan (plan request) to the production planning system 100, and manages production in the factory based on the production plan acquired from the production planning system 100. The production plan includes, for example, the allocation of each process required for the production of products, etc. to production equipment, the start date and time, and the end date and time of the process, etc.

[0022] For example, the production management system 115 may periodically (for example, once a day) transmit a plan request for producing a product in accordance with an order. Also, for example, when an order is changed, a plan request may be transmitted to reflect the change. Also, for example, when a delay occurs in production based on an already drawn up production plan, a plan request may be transmitted to change the subsequent production plan. Also, when the status of the production equipment in the factory changes (for example, when emergency maintenance is performed due to equipment malfunction), a plan request may be transmitted to reflect the change.

[0023] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a planned request table held in the planned request storage unit 106 of the planned request management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] The planned request table 200 shown in FIG. 2 is made up of one or more records including a serial number 201 , a planned request ID 202 , a request date and time 203 , a factory ID 204 , a master information ID 205 , a transaction information ID 206 , a request cause 207 , an urgency 208 , and a status 209 .

[0025] The serial number 201 is a number for identifying each record. The planned request ID 202 is identification information for each planned request. The request date and time 203 indicates the date and time when each planned request was generated.

[0026] The factory ID 204 is identification information of the factory to which the requested production plan is applied. The master information ID 205 and the transaction information ID 206 are identification information of the master information and the transaction information applied in each plan request, respectively. That is, a production plan based on each plan request is made based on the master information and the transaction information (both of which will be described later) specified by the master information ID 205 and the transaction information ID 206 corresponding to the plan request.

[0027] The request cause 207 indicates the cause of each planning request being generated. The urgency 208 indicates the urgency of making a production plan based on each planning request, which is set according to the request cause of that planning request. The status 209 indicates the progress of making a production plan based on each planning request. The value "not planned" of the status 209 indicates that making a production plan based on that planning request has not yet started (i.e., it is waiting to be executed). "Planning" indicates that making a production plan has already started but is not yet completed. "Planning completed" indicates that making a production plan has been completed. The information on this status 209 is acquired from the scheduling unit 112.

[0028] Here, the request cause 207 is the cause of the generation of each planned request estimated based on the master information and transaction information corresponding to each planned request. In the example of Fig. 2, "equipment maintenance", "change in delivery date", and "routine work" are written as the request cause 207.

[0029] "Equipment maintenance" indicates that a planning request was presumed to have been generated because a schedule for equipment maintenance was added due to some cause, such as equipment malfunction, and work could no longer be performed for the process assigned to that equipment during that scheduled period. "Delivery date change" indicates that a planning request was presumed to have been generated to create a production plan that will meet the changed delivery date, due to a change in the delivery date of an ordered product. "Regular work" indicates that a planning request was presumed to have been generated to create a production plan on a regular basis, such as once a day.

[0030] The request cause 207 may include causes other than those mentioned above, such as "production delay." "Production delay" indicates that it is estimated that production that has started based on an already prepared plan has been delayed relative to the plan, and therefore it is necessary to prepare a production plan that reflects the delay.

[0031] For example, in the record with the serial number 201 #1 in the planned request table 200 shown in FIG. 2, information on a planned request with a planned request ID 202 of "xxxx-20230216" (hereinafter, this will also be referred to as planned request "xxxx-20230216". The same applies to other ID information) is stored. The planned request "xxxx-20230216" is a request made for "20230216-172000" (i.e., 17:20:00 on February 16, 2023) for the production plan of the factory "xxxx".

[0032] The master information ID 205 and transaction information ID 206 of the record #1 are "Mst-xxxx" and "Trn-xxxx-20230216", respectively. These indicate that master data with a master information ID of "Mst-xxxx" (e.g., the values ​​of master information IDs 302, 402, 502, 602, and 702 described later) is specified as master data to be referenced when creating a production plan corresponding to the planning request "xxxx-20230216", and transaction data with a transaction information ID of "Trn-xxxx-20230216" (e.g., the values ​​of transaction information IDs 802, 902, 1002, and 1102 described later) is specified.

[0033] The master information ID 205 and transaction information ID 206 of the record #1 are "Mst-xxxx" and "Trn-xxxx-20230216", respectively. These indicate that the master data with the master information ID "Mst-xxxx" (e.g., the values ​​of master information IDs 302, 402, 502, 602, and 702 described later) is specified as the master data to be referred to when making a production plan corresponding to the plan request "xxxx-20230216", and the transaction data with the transaction information ID "Trn-xxxx-20230216" (e.g., the values ​​of transaction information IDs 802, 902, 1002, and 1102 described later) is specified. The identification information of the master data and the transaction data will be described later with reference to Figs. 3 to 11.

[0034] "Equipment maintenance" is stored in the request cause 207 of record #1, and "1" is stored in urgency 208. This indicates that the cause of the planned request "xxxx-20230216" estimated based on the master data and transaction data corresponding to record #1 is equipment maintenance, and the urgency estimated based on that cause is "1." In addition, the status 209 of record #1 being "unplanned" indicates that production planning based on the planned request "xxxx-20230216" has not yet started.

[0035] Similarly, information on the planned request "yyyy-20230216" is stored in the record #2 of the planned request table 200 shown in Fig. 2. This is a request made at 17:15:00 on February 16, 2023 for the production plan of the factory "yyyy".

[0036] Furthermore, the record #3 of the planned request table 200 shown in FIG. 2 stores information on the planned request "xxxx-20230215". This is a request made at 10:00:00 on February 15, 2023, targeting the production plan of the factory "xxxx". This is a request for the production plan of the factory "xxxx", similar to the planned request "xxxx-20230216" of the record #1. In this example, the previous planned request of the planned request "xxxx-20230216" is the planned request "xxxx-20230215". As will be described later, in the process of estimating the cause of the request, the previous and current planned requests for the same factory are compared.

[0037] Generally, once master data is generated for each factory, it is not frequently changed, but new transaction data is acquired from time to time. Therefore, a new planning request for the same factory often refers to the same master data as the previous planning request, but the transaction data generally refers to the latest data that is different from the previous request.

[0038] FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an item master table held in the master data storage unit 107 of the plan request management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] The item master table 300 shown in FIG. 3 is made up of one or more records, each of which includes a serial number 301 , a master information ID 302 , and an item ID 303 .

[0040] A serial number 301 is a number for identifying each record. A master information ID 302 is identification information for associating each record with a planning request. An item ID 303 is identification information for an item of a product produced in a factory to which the master information of each record is applied.

[0041] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a resource master table held in the master data storage unit 107 of the plan request management system 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] The resource master table 400 shown in FIG. 4 is made up of one or more records, each of which includes a serial number 401, a master information ID 402, and a resource ID 403.

[0043] A serial number 401 is a number for identifying each record. A master information ID 402 is identification information for associating each record with a planned request. A resource ID 403 is identification information for a production resource (specifically, equipment used in a process for producing a product) of a factory to which the master information of each record is applied.

[0044] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a process master table held in the master data storage unit 107 of the plan request management system 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] The process master table 500 shown in FIG. 5 is made up of one or more records including a serial number 501 , a master information ID 502 , an item ID 503 , a process ID 504 , a resource ID 505 , and an operation time 506 .

[0046] Serial number 501 is a number that identifies each record. Master information ID 502 is identification information for associating each record with a planned request. Item ID 503 is identification information for the item of the product produced in the factory to which the master information of each record is applied. Process ID 504 is identification information for the process that is executed to produce the product of each record in the factory to which the master information of each record is applied. Resource ID 505 is identification information for the production resource assigned to the process of each record. Operation time 506 indicates the time required for the process of each record.

[0047] FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a process sequence master table held in the master data storage unit 107 of the plan request management system 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0048] The process sequence master table 600 shown in FIG. 6 is made up of one or more records including a serial number 601 , a master information ID 602 ​​, an item ID 603 , a previous process ID 604 , and a next process ID 605 .

[0049] A serial number 601 is a number that identifies each record. A master information ID 602 ​​is identification information for associating each record with a planning request. An item ID 603 is identification information for the item of a product produced in a factory to which the master information of each record is applied. A pre-process ID 604 and a post-process ID 605 are information indicating the order of processes to be executed for producing the product of each record in a factory to which the master information of each record is applied.

[0050] For example, the first and second rows of the process sequence master table 600 shown in FIG. 6 indicate that the process for manufacturing the product "ProdA" in the factory to which the master information "Mst-xxxx" is applied includes at least the processes "ProdA1", "ProdA2", and "ProdA3", and that the processes are executed in the order of "ProdA1", "ProdA2", and "ProdA3".

[0051] FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a shift master table held in the master data storage unit 107 of the plan request management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0052] The shift master table 700 shown in FIG. 7 is made up of one or more records including a serial number 701, a master information ID 702, a shift ID 703, a start time ID 704, and an end time ID 705.

[0053] A serial number 701 is a number for identifying each record. A master information ID 702 is identification information for associating each record with a planned request. A shift ID 703 is identification information for the type of shift applied in the factory to which the master information of each record is applied. A start time 704 and an end time 705 indicate the start time and end time of each shift.

[0054] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an order information table held in the transaction data storage unit 108 of the plan request management system 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0055] The order information table 800 shown in FIG. 8 is made up of one or more records, each of which includes a serial number 801 , a transaction information ID 802 , an order ID 803 , an item ID 804 , a delivery date 805 , and a status 806 .

[0056] The serial number 801 is a number for identifying each record. The transaction information ID 802 is identification information for associating each record with a planned request. The order ID 803 is identification information for the received order. The item ID 804 and the delivery date 805 are identification information for the item of the product to be produced by the received order, and the required delivery date of the product. The status 806 indicates the progress of the production by the received order, for example, whether the production is completed or not. Although omitted in FIG. 8, the order information table 800 may further include a possible start date and time indicating the earliest date and time when the production corresponding to each order can be put into the manufacturing line. The possible start date and time may be determined based on the date and time when the materials, parts, etc. used in the production corresponding to each order are delivered to the factory, for example.

[0057] FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a calendar information table held in the transaction data storage unit 108 of the plan request management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0058] The calendar information table 900 shown in FIG. 9 is made up of one or more records, each of which includes a serial number 901 , a transaction information ID 902 , a resource ID 903 , a date 904 , and a shift ID 905 .

[0059] A serial number 901 is a number for identifying each record. A transaction information ID 902 is identification information for associating each record with a planned request. A resource ID 903, a date 904, and a shift ID 905 indicate the shift of each production resource for each day.

[0060] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a production performance information table held in the transaction data storage unit 108 of the plan request management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0061] A production performance information table 1000 shown in FIG. 10 is made up of one or more records including a serial number 1001 , a transaction information ID 1002 , a date and time 1003 , an order ID 1004 , a process ID 1005 , a resource ID 1006 and a status 1007 .

[0062] The serial number 1001 is a number for identifying each record. The transaction information ID 1002 is identification information for associating each record with a planned request. The date and time 1003, the order ID 1004, the process ID 1005, the resource ID 1006, and the status 1007 indicate the production results. That is, this indicates that, at the date and time indicated by the date and time 1003, the process indicated by the process ID 1005, which was assigned to the production resource indicated by the resource ID 1006, of the order indicated by the order ID 1004, reached the state indicated by the status 1007 (for example, started or completed).

[0063] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a production plan information table held in the transaction data storage unit 108 of the plan request management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0064] A production plan information table 1100 shown in FIG. 11 is made up of one or more records each including a serial number 1101 , a transaction information ID 1102 , a date and time 1103 , an order ID 1104 , a process ID 1105 , a resource ID 1106 and a status 1107 .

[0065] The serial number 1101 is a number for identifying each record. The transaction information ID 1102 is identification information for associating each record with a plan request. The date and time 1103, the order ID 1104, the process ID 1105, the resource ID 1106, and the status 1107 indicate a drawn up production plan. That is, it indicates that a production plan has been drawn up such that the process indicated by the process ID 1105, which is assigned to the production resource indicated by the resource ID 1106, of the order indicated by the order ID 1104, will reach the state indicated by the status 1107 (for example, start or complete) at the date and time indicated by the date and time 1103.

[0066] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the process executed by the production planning system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0067] When the plan urgency estimation unit 103 of the plan request management device 101 receives a plan request from the production management system 115, it estimates the plan urgency based on the received plan request (step 1201). Details of this process will be described later with reference to Figs. 13 and 14.

[0068] Next, the computational resource allocation unit 104 of the plan request management device 101 sets the allocation of computational resources (step 1202). Details of this process will be described later with reference to FIGS.

[0069] The plan request management device 101 transmits the allocation of computational resources set in step 1202 and the plan request received from the production management system 115 to the scheduling unit 112 via the network 113. The scheduling unit 112 uses the allocated computational resources to create a production plan according to the plan request (step 1203). The creation of the production plan executed by the scheduling unit 112 can be executed by a known method, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0070] The scheduling unit 112 transmits the drawn up production plan to the plan request management device 101. The plan request management device 101 transmits the production plan acquired from the scheduling unit 112 to the production management system 115 via the network 114.

[0071] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a plan urgency estimation process executed by the plan request management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0072] The process shown in FIG. 13 is executed in step 1201 in FIG.

[0073] First, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 adds information about a newly received plan request (i.e., a plan request for which urgency is to be estimated) to the plan request table 200 (step 1301). At this time, if there is a plan request in the plan request table 200 that has the same value of factory ID 204 as the newly received plan request and has a value of "unplanned" in status 209, it is deleted (step 1302).

[0074] Next, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 acquires, from the transaction data storage unit 108, transaction data used in creating the previous production plan for the same factory as the target plan request (step 1303).

[0075] For example, when a newly received planned request is stored in record #1 of the planned request table 200 shown in FIG. 2, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 identifies record #3, which has the status 209 value of "unplanned" and the request date and time 203 of the latest record other than #1 that has the same value of the factory ID 204 value "xxxx". Then, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 acquires the value "Trn-xxxx-20230215" of the transaction information ID 206 of the record #3. Then, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 refers to the order information table 800 (FIG. 8), the calendar information table 900 (FIG. 9), and the production performance information table 1000 (FIG. 10) stored in the transaction data storage unit 108, and acquires the data of the record whose transaction information ID is "Trn-xxxx-20230215".

[0076] The plan urgency estimation unit 103 also acquires transaction data corresponding to the current plan request. Specifically, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 acquires the value "Trn-xxxx-20230216" of the transaction information ID 206 of the record #1 of the plan request table 200, and acquires data of the record whose transaction information ID is "Trn-xxxx-20230216" by referring to the order information table 800 (FIG. 8), calendar information table 900 (FIG. 9), production result information table 1000 (FIG. 10), and production plan information table 1100 (FIG. 11) stored in the transaction data storage unit 108.

[0077] Next, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 acquires the changed parts of the production result information (step 1304). Specifically, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 compares the data acquired from the production result information table 1000 and the data acquired from the production plan information table 1100 among the transaction data corresponding to the current plan request.

[0078] For example, the data of record #1 acquired from the production result information table 1000 shown in Fig. 10 is compared with the data of record #1 acquired from the production plan information table 1100 shown in Fig. 11. Since the order ID, process ID, and resource ID all match, it can be seen that they show the results and plan for the same process of the same product based on the same order.

[0079] In this example, the status 1107 of the record in the production plan information table 1100#1 is "Completed" and the date and time 1103 is "February 16, 2023, 17:00:00", whereas the status 1007 of the record in the production result information table 1000#1 is "Completed" and the date and time 1003 is "February 16, 2023, 17:15:00". This indicates that the actual work of the process of the product based on the order was completed 15 minutes later than planned (i.e., there was a production delay). In step 1304, such a difference between the production plan and the production result is acquired.

[0080] Next, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 acquires the changed portion of the calendar information (step 1305). Specifically, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 compares the data acquired from the calendar information table 900 of the transaction data corresponding to the current plan request with the data acquired from the calendar information table 900 of the transaction data used in the previous plan.

[0081] For example, in record #2 of the calendar information table 900 shown in Fig. 9, "Trn-xxxx-20230216", "Res1", "20230218", and "Shift-Night" are stored as the transaction information ID 902, resource ID 903, date 904, and shift ID 905, respectively. In contrast, in record #101, "Trn-xxxx-20230215", "Res1", "20230218", and "Shift-Full" are stored in the above items, respectively.

[0082] Here, the master information ID 205 "Mst-xxxx" corresponding to the current plan request is obtained from the plan request table 200 shown in Fig. 2. When referring to the record with the master information ID 702 "Mst-xxxx" stored in the shift master table 700 shown in Fig. 7, it is understood that "Shift-Full" indicates a shift from "00:00:00" to "00:00:00" (i.e., from 00:00:00 to 00:00:00 of the next day), and that "Shift-Night" indicates a shift from "17:00:00" to "21:00:00" (i.e., from 17:00:00 to 21:00:00 of the same day).

[0083] Therefore, the example of records #2 and #3 in the calendar information table 900 shown in FIG. 9 indicates that the equipment "Res1" was scheduled to be available for 24 hours on February 18, 2023 in the previous planning, but was changed to only be available for four hours from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm in the current planning. Such a change may occur, for example, when a new maintenance schedule for the equipment "Res1" is created. For example, there may be cases where maintenance is suddenly required due to equipment malfunction. Therefore, the current production plan needs to be created based on the changed shift.

[0084] Next, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 acquires the changed parts of the order information (step 1306). Specifically, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 compares the data acquired from the order information table 800 of the transaction data corresponding to the current plan request with the data acquired from the order information table 800 of the transaction data used in the previous plan.

[0085] For example, in record #2 of the order information table 800 shown in Fig. 8, "Trn-xxxx-20230216", "Customer1-Order2", "ProdA", and "20230218" are stored as the transaction information ID 802, order ID 803, item ID 804, and delivery date 805. In contrast, in record #101, "Trn-xxxx-20230215", "Customer1-Order2", "ProdA", and "20230219" are stored in the above items, respectively.

[0086] This example shows that the production delivery date for the product "ProdA" based on the order "Customer1-Order2" was February 19, 2023 when the previous plan was created, but was changed to February 19, 2023 when the current plan was created. Therefore, the current production plan needs to be created to meet the changed delivery date.

[0087] Next, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 calculates the urgency of creating a production plan based on the changes acquired in steps 1304 to 1306 (step 1307). This process will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

[0088] This ends the plan urgency estimation process.

[0089] FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a calculation process of the plan urgency executed by the plan request management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0090] The process shown in FIG. 14 is executed in step 1307 in FIG.

[0091] First, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 detects a change in the calendar information of a facility with a production schedule (step 1401). For example, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 detects the presence or absence of a change by referring to the changed portion of the calendar information acquired in step 1305 of Fig. 13. Then, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 determines whether or not there is a change in the calendar information for today (step 1402).

[0092] In the example of Fig. 14, a change in today's calendar information (e.g., a change in shift time, and so on) of equipment "Res1" is detected, and further, a change in tomorrow's calendar information of equipment "Res2" is detected. In this case, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 determines that there is a change in today's calendar information (step 1402: Yes), estimates that the cause of the plan request is "equipment maintenance", and sets the urgency to "1" (step 1403). In this embodiment, the urgency level "1" indicates the highest urgency level, and the urgency levels decrease in the order of urgency levels "2", "3", and "4".

[0093] If the plan urgency estimation unit 103 determines that there is no change in the calendar information for today (step 1402: No), it then executes step 1404.

[0094] In step 1404, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 detects an express order. For example, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 detects whether or not the requested delivery date has been changed by referring to the changed portion of the order information acquired in step 1306 of Fig. 13. Then, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 determines whether or not there is a change that causes the requested delivery date after the change to be today (step 1405).

[0095] 14, it is detected that the requested delivery date after the change of the order "Customer1-Order1" is today, and the requested delivery date after the change of the order "Customer1-Order2" is next Monday. In this case, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 determines that there is a change that the requested delivery date after the change will be today (step 1405: Yes), estimates that the cause of the plan request is a "change in delivery date" (especially a change in delivery date for rush production), and sets the urgency to "2" (step 1406).

[0096] If the plan urgency estimation unit 103 determines that there is no change in which the requested delivery date after the change becomes today (step 1405: No), the plan urgency estimation unit 103 next executes step 1407.

[0097] In step 1407, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 detects a production delay. For example, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 detects the presence or absence of a production delay by referring to the changed portion of the production result information acquired in step 1304 of Fig. 13. Then, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 determines whether there is a production delay (step 1408).

[0098] 14, a production delay is detected in the process "ProcA1" corresponding to the order "Customer1-Order1." In this case, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 determines that there is a production delay (step 1408: Yes), estimates that the cause of the plan request is the "production delay," and sets the urgency to "3" (step 1409).

[0099] If it is determined that there is no production delay (step 1408: No), the plan urgency estimation unit 103 estimates that the cause of the plan request is a "regular job" and sets the urgency to "4" (step 1410).

[0100] In the above example, the highest urgency is set when the cause of the planning request is "equipment maintenance," and the next highest urgency is set when the cause is "change in delivery date." However, this correspondence between the cause of the planning request and the urgency is only an example, and other correspondences may be adopted, such as setting the highest urgency when the cause is "change in delivery date." When the cause of the planning request is at least one of "equipment maintenance," "change in delivery date," and "production delay," a higher urgency is set than when the cause of the planning request is "routine work."

[0101] This completes the calculation process of the plan urgency.

[0102] FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a planned resource allocation process executed by the planned request management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0103] The process shown in FIG. 15 is executed in step 1202 in FIG.

[0104] First, the computation resource allocation unit 104 acquires a list of computation requests (step 1501). For example, the computation resource allocation unit 104 may acquire the planned request table 200 shown in Fig. 2. Next, the computation resource allocation unit 104 acquires the computation resources currently in use (step 1502). For example, if the computation resource allocation to be performed is the allocation of the number of CPUs, the number of CPUs currently available may be acquired.

[0105] Next, the computational resource allocation unit 104 determines the allocation of computational resources based on the urgency of the planned request estimated by the plan urgency estimation unit 103 (step 1503). Details of this process will be described later with reference to FIG.

[0106] Next, the computational resource allocation unit 104 reflects the determined allocation of computational resources in the cloud environment in which the scheduling unit 112 is realized (step 1504). Note that, although an example in which the function of the scheduling unit 112 is realized in a cloud environment is shown here, for example, when the scheduling unit 112 is implemented in a specific server device, the computational resources of the server device are allocated as determined above. Also, when the scheduling unit 112 is implemented in the plan request management device 101, the computational resources of the plan request management device 101 are allocated as determined above.

[0107] FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a process of determining planned resource allocation executed by the planned request management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0108] The process shown in FIG. 16 is executed in step 1503 in FIG.

[0109] The computational resource allocation unit 104 executes steps 1601 to 1605 for each planned request (for example, each record in the planned request table 200) extracted in step 1501 of FIG.

[0110] First, the computation resource allocation unit 104 acquires the urgency estimated by the plan urgency estimation unit 103 for each plan request (step 1601). Next, the computation resource allocation unit 104 judges whether the acquired urgency is 1 to 4 (step 1602). If the urgency is 1, the computation resource allocation unit 104 sets the number of CPUs in use to 4 (step 1603). If the urgency is 2, the computation resource allocation unit 104 sets the number of CPUs in use to 2 (step 1604). If the urgency is 3 or 4, the computation resource allocation unit 104 sets the number of CPUs in use to 1 (step 1605).

[0111] When the above process is completed for all acquired planned requests, the process of determining the planned resource allocation is completed. As a result, more computing resources are allocated to planned requests with higher urgency, and the corresponding production plans are created with priority.

[0112] In the above example, the allocation of computational resources is the allocation of the number of CPUs used by the scheduling unit 112 to create a production plan, but the computational resources to be allocated are not limited to the number of CPUs, and other resources may be allocated as long as the calculation time can be shortened by allocating a large amount of resources. For example, the number of threads may be allocated, or the number of computers to be started for creating a production plan may be allocated.

[0113] Furthermore, the above-mentioned correspondence between urgency and the number of CPUs is also an example, and computational resources can be allocated so that more computational resources are allocated to the creation of production plans in response to computation requests with higher urgency.

[0114] FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a plan request management screen displayed by the plan request management device 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0115] The plan request management screen 110 is displayed by the display unit 109 of the plan request management device 101. The example of the plan request management screen 110 shown in FIG. 17 includes a plan request display section 1700 showing plan requests that are being executed or waiting to be executed, and a completed plan request display section 1710.

[0116] The planned request display section 1700, which is being executed or waiting to be executed, displays information about planned requests for which production planning based on the planned requests has not yet been completed (i.e., has not yet started, or has started but not completed) among the planned requests stored in the planned request table 200. Specifically, the planned request display section 1700, which is being executed or waiting to be executed, includes a serial number 1701, a planned request ID 1702, a request date and time 1703, a factory ID 1704, a planned request cause 1705, an urgency level 1706, a status 1707, and the number of CPUs 1708.

[0117] A serial number 1701 is a number for identifying each record displayed in the planned request display section 1700 for requests being executed or waiting to be executed. A planned request ID 1702, a request date and time 1703, a factory ID 1704, a planned request cause 1705, an urgency 1706, and a status 1707 correspond to the planned request ID 202, the request date and time 203, the factory ID 204, the request cause 207, the urgency 208, and the status 209 in the planned request table 200, respectively. However, the planned request display section 1700 for requests being executed or waiting to be executed in FIG. 17 displays example values ​​different from the example of the planned request table 200 shown in FIG. 2.

[0118] The number of CPUs in use 1708 displays the number of CPUs in use for each planned request determined by the process shown in Fig. 16. However, for a planned request whose status 1707 is "waiting for execution" (i.e., not yet started), the user can operate to display a number of CPUs in use input area 1709 (e.g., a pull-down menu) and input an arbitrary number of CPUs in use. The computational resource allocation unit 104 changes the number of CPUs in use set in steps 1603 to 1605 to the value input by the user (step 1202).

[0119] For example, if it is determined that there is an error in the estimation of the cause of the request by the planned urgency estimation unit 103, or if there is no error in the cause of the planned request but a different urgency than usual is required due to some circumstances, an appropriate number of CPUs can be set.

[0120] In the example of Figure 17, the allocation of computational resources is shown as an allocation of the number of CPUs in use, but if another computational resource, such as the number of threads, is allocated, the amount of computational resource to be allocated is displayed instead of the number of CPUs in use 1708.

[0121] The completed plan request display section 1710 displays information about the plan requests for which production planning based on the plan requests has been completed, among the plan requests stored in the plan request table 200. Specifically, the completed plan request display section 1710 includes a serial number 1711, a plan request ID 1712, a request date and time 1713, a factory ID 1714, a master information ID 1715, a transaction information ID 1716, and a status 1717.

[0122] 2. The serial number 1711 is a number for identifying each record displayed in the completed plan request display section 1710. The plan request ID 1712, the request date and time 1713, the factory ID 1714, the master information ID 1715, the transaction information ID 1716, and the status 1717 correspond to the plan request ID 202, the request date and time 203, the factory ID 204, the master information ID 205, the transaction information ID 206, and the status 209 in the plan request table 200, respectively. However, the completed plan request display section 1710 in FIG. 17 displays example values ​​different from the example of the plan request table 200 shown in FIG. 2.

[0123] In this way, by displaying the estimated causes of planned requests and the evaluation results of their urgency, it becomes possible for a human being to manually determine the appropriateness of the allocation of computing resources and make changes if necessary.

[0124] According to the above-described first embodiment, the cause of a plan request is inferred based on transaction data, and computational resources are allocated in accordance with the inferred cause, thereby making it possible to manage production planning so that a production plan corresponding to a highly urgent plan request can be obtained quickly, thereby preventing a decrease in productivity. EXAMPLES

[0125] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 18 to Fig. 21. The configuration of the production planning system according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the production planning system according to the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 17, except for the differences described below, and therefore the description will be omitted.

[0126] In the first embodiment, the urgency of production planning within each factory is determined based on an estimation of the cause of the planning request, and the allocation of computational resources is determined so that the production planning with a high urgency is completed early.

[0127] However, in reality, when there is a time lag between factory processes due to inter-factory logistics, etc., productivity may decrease when setting the urgency of creating a production plan in a factory if the urgency of creating a production plan in the previous factory is not taken into account.

[0128] For example, in the case where parts are processed in factory A, the processed parts are transported to factory B, the processed parts are assembled in factory B, the assembled parts are transported to factory C, and the assembled parts are used to assemble products in factory C, production plans are usually prepared for regular operations at each factory.

[0129] For example, if emergency maintenance is performed due to a sudden equipment failure in factory B, a highly urgent planning request is generated for factory B. In this case, the production plan of factory A, which is the predecessor factory of factory B, is not affected. In contrast, the production plan of factory C needs to be changed to reflect the change in the production plan of factory B, which is the predecessor factory.

[0130] In this case, it is desirable to set a high urgency for the production planning in factory C as for factory B. However, when the production plan in factory B is changed, the transaction data used for the production planning in factory C may be changed due to the influence of the change. For example, when the order information table 800 for factory C includes information on the possible start date and time, the possible start date and time in factory C may also be changed due to the change in the production plan of factory B, which is the previous factory. That is, in order to make a production plan for factory C that is consistent with the changed production plan of factory B, it is necessary to wait until the production plan for factory B is made. For this reason, in the second embodiment, in addition to estimating the cause of the plan request as in the first embodiment, the urgency and a constraint on the order of production planning (i.e., a solution-finding order constraint) are set based on the order of processing of the factories.

[0131] FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a planned request table held in the planned request storage unit 106 of the planned request management device 101 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0132] The plan request storage unit 106 of the second embodiment holds a plan request table 1800. The plan request table 1800 is similar to the plan request table 200, except that the plan request table 1800 further includes a solution-finding order constraint 1801. Here, with reference to Fig. 18 and Fig. 2, differences between the example of Fig. 18 and the example of Fig. 2 will be described.

[0133] In the example of Fig. 18, the request cause 207 of the scheduled request #2 is estimated to be "regular work." Therefore, the urgency 208 of the scheduled request #2 should actually be "4."

[0134] Here, the planned request #2 is a request for the creation of a production plan for factory "yyyy". As shown in the inter-factory logistics master table (FIG. 19) described later, the previous factory of factory "yyyy" is factory "xxxx". And the planned request table 1800 in FIG. 18 stores planned request #1 "xxxx-0230216", which is a planned request related to factory "xxxx" and has status 209 of "unplanned". The request cause 207 of planned request #2 is "equipment maintenance" and the urgency 208 is "1".

[0135] Therefore, the urgency 208 of the #2 planned request is changed to "1", the same as the #1 planned request, and "xxxx-0230216" which identifies the #1 planned request is stored in the solution order constraint 1801 of the #2 planned request. In this case, the scheduling based on the #2 planned request is executed using the computational resources allocated based on the urgency "1" after the scheduling based on the #1 planned request is completed.

[0136] FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing the inter-factory logistics master table held in the master data storage unit 107 of the plan request management system 101 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0137] The master data storage unit 107 of the plan request management system 101 of the second embodiment stores, in addition to the master tables shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, an inter-factory logistics master table 1900 indicating the chronological relationship of processes at a plurality of factories.

[0138] An inter-factory logistics master table 1900 shown in FIG. 19 is made up of one or more records including a serial number 1901 , a master information ID 1902 , a previous factory ID 1903 , and a subsequent factory ID 1904 .

[0139] A serial number 1901 is a number that identifies each record. A master information ID 1902 is identification information for associating each record with a planned request. A previous factory ID 1903 and a next factory ID 1904 indicate the chronological relationship between the processing of each factory. For example, record #1 shown in FIG. 19 indicates that factory "xxxx" is the previous factory of factory "yyyy". This corresponds to a relationship in which, for example, parts processed at factory "xxxx" are assembled at factory "yyyy".

[0140] FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a plan urgency estimation process executed by the plan request management apparatus 101 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0141] The process shown in Fig. 20 is the same as that shown in Fig. 13, except that step 2001 is added after step 1307. After executing step 1307, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 of the second embodiment estimates the influence of the urgency of the previous factory in step 2001. This process will be described in detail with reference to Fig. 21.

[0142] FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an effect estimation process of the urgency of the front factory executed by the plan request management system 101 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0143] The process shown in FIG. 21 is executed in step 2001 in FIG.

[0144] First, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 acquires the ID of the previous factory from the inter-factory logistics master table 1900 (step 2101). Next, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 acquires the urgency of the previous factory and the urgency of the own factory from the plan request table 1800 (steps 2102, 2103).

[0145] Next, the plan urgency estimation unit 103 judges whether the urgency of the previous factory is higher than the urgency of the own factory (step 2104). If the urgency of the previous factory is higher than the urgency of the own factory (step 2104: Yes), the plan urgency estimation unit 103 overwrites the urgency of the own factory with the same value as the urgency of the previous factory (step 2105), and further stores the plan request ID of the previous factory in the solution-finding order constraint 1801 of the plan request table 1800 (step 2106).

[0146] This completes the process of estimating the effect of the urgency of the previous factory.

[0147] For example, when the process of Fig. 21 is performed for the scheduled request #2 in the scheduled request table 1800 shown in Fig. 18, the own factory is the factory "xxxx". In addition, since the request cause 207 of the scheduled request #2 is "regular work", the initial value of the urgency 208 is "4".

[0148] In this case, in step 2101, "yyyy" is obtained as the ID of the previous factory of the own factory from the inter-factory logistics master table 1900. Then, in step 2102, the value "1" of the urgency 208 of the #1 planned request related to the previous factory "yyyy" is obtained from the planned request table 1800. Then, in step 2103, the value "4" of the urgency 208 of the #2 planned request related to the own factory "xxxx" is obtained from the planned request table 1800.

[0149] In this case, since the previous factory's urgency of "1" is higher than the current factory's urgency of "4" (step 2104: Yes), the urgency 208 of planning request #2 is overwritten to "1" (step 2105), and the value of planning request ID 202 of #1, "xxxx-0230216", is stored in the solution-finding order constraint 1801 of planning request #2 (step 2106).

[0150] According to the above-mentioned second embodiment, when a highly urgent planning request occurs in the preceding factory, the planning request of the succeeding factory is given the same urgency as that of the preceding factory, and a production plan is made preferentially. At this time, by restricting the production plan of the succeeding factory to be made after the production plan of the preceding factory is completed, a production plan that is consistent between the preceding and succeeding factories is made. This prevents a decrease in productivity.

[0151] Furthermore, the system according to the embodiment of the present invention may be configured as follows.

[0152] (1) A production planning method executed by a computer system, the computer system having a processing unit (e.g., the processing unit 102) and a memory unit (e.g., the memory unit 105), the memory unit holding a plurality of planning requests (e.g., data included in the planning request memory unit 106) requesting the creation of a production plan in a factory, and a plurality of transaction data (e.g., data included in the transaction data memory unit 108) corresponding to the plurality of planning requests and indicating the status of production in the factory, the production planning method including a first step (e.g., step 1201) in which the processing unit estimates an urgency of a first planning request by comparing the transaction data corresponding to a first planning request (e.g., the planning request of #1 in FIG. 2) among the plurality of planning requests with the transaction data corresponding to a second planning request (e.g., the planning request of #3 in FIG. 2) which is a previous planning request of the first planning request, and a second step (e.g., step 1202) in which the processing unit determines an allocation of computing resources for the creation of a production plan based on the first planning request based on the urgency.

[0153] This allows production planning to be carried out so that productivity does not decrease.

[0154] (2) The production planning method according to (1) above, wherein in the first step, the processing unit estimates a cause of the first planned request by comparing the transaction data corresponding to the first planned request with the transaction data corresponding to the second planned request (e.g., steps 1403, 1406, etc.) and estimates the urgency according to the estimated cause of the first planned request.

[0155] This allows calculation resources to be allocated according to the cause of the planning request, and production plans can be created so that productivity does not decrease.

[0156] (3) The production planning method according to (2) above, wherein the transaction data includes information on the operation status of production equipment in the factory (e.g., calendar information table 900), information on production orders for the factory (e.g., order information table 800), information on production results in the factory (e.g., production result information table 1000), and information on production plans that have already been started in the factory (e.g., production plan information table 1100), and in the first step, when the processing unit detects a change in the operation time of the production equipment for the day by comparing the information on the operation status of the production equipment in the factory, the processing unit estimates that the cause of the first plan request is maintenance of the production equipment (e.g., step 1403), and issues a production plan request to the factory. When a change in the delivery date, which will result in the new delivery date being today, is detected by comparing information on the production order to be executed in the factory, the cause of the first planned request is estimated to be a change in delivery date (e.g., step 1406), and when a delay in the production results relative to the production plan is detected by comparing information on the production results in the factory with information on the production plan that has already been executed in the factory, the cause of the first planned request is estimated to be a production delay (e.g., step 1409). When the estimated cause of the first planned request is any of the production equipment maintenance, the delivery date change, and the production delay, the urgency is estimated to be higher than when the estimated cause of the first planned request is none of the production equipment maintenance, the delivery date change, and the production delay.

[0157] This allows calculation resources to be appropriately allocated according to the cause of the planning request, and production plans can be created so that productivity does not decrease.

[0158] (4) In the production planning method described in (3) above, in the first step, when the processing unit estimates that the cause of the first planned request is maintenance of the production equipment, it estimates the highest urgency (e.g., step 1403), and when the cause of the first planned request is estimated to be a change in delivery date, it estimates the next highest urgency after maintenance of the production equipment (e.g., step 1406).

[0159] This allows calculation resources to be appropriately allocated according to the cause of the planning request, and production plans can be created so that productivity does not decrease.

[0160] (5) In the production planning method described in (1) above, in the second step, the processing unit determines the allocation of the computing resources so that a large amount of the computing resources is allocated when the urgency is high (e.g., steps 1603 to 1605).

[0161] This allows calculation resources to be appropriately allocated according to the cause of the planning request, and production plans can be created so that productivity does not decrease.

[0162] (6) In the production planning method described in (5) above, the computational resources include at least one of the number of processors to be used and the number of threads.

[0163] This allows calculation resources to be appropriately allocated according to the cause of the planning request, and production plans can be created so that productivity does not decrease.

[0164] (7) In the production planning method described in (1) above, the memory unit further retains inter-factory logistics data (e.g., inter-factory logistics master table 1900) indicating a chronological relationship between processes in the multiple factories, and in the first step, if the urgency of a planning request targeted at a factory performing a process prior to the process in the factory that is the target of the first planning request is higher than the estimated urgency of the first planning request, the processing unit changes the urgency of the first planning request to the same value as that of the factory performing the previous process (e.g., step 2105).

[0165] As a result, when a highly urgent planning request occurs in the preceding factory, the planning request of the succeeding factory is given the same urgency as that of the preceding factory, preventing a decrease in productivity.

[0166] (8) In the production planning method described in (7) above, in the first step, when the processing unit changes the urgency of the first plan request to the same value as that of the factory performing the previous process, the processing unit adds information (e.g., solution-finding order constraint 1801) indicating that a production plan based on the first plan request will be made after a production plan based on a plan request for the factory performing the previous process to the first plan request (e.g., step 2106).

[0167] This allows production plans to be drawn up that are consistent between the upstream and downstream factories, preventing a decline in productivity.

[0168] (9) The production planning method described in (1) above, further comprising a third step (e.g., step 1203) in which a scheduling unit that formulates the production plan is connected to the computer system, and the processing unit outputs the plan request and the determined allocation of computing resources to the scheduling unit (e.g., scheduling unit 112), and, upon obtaining a production plan formulated in accordance with the plan request from the scheduling unit, outputs the obtained production plan.

[0169] This allows production planning to be carried out so that productivity does not decrease.

[0170] (10) The production planning method described in (1) above, wherein the computer system further has a scheduling unit (e.g., a scheduling unit 112) that formulates the production plan, and further includes a third step (e.g., step 1203) in which the scheduling unit formulates a production plan based on the plan request using the computing resources allocated in the second step, and outputs the formulated production plan.

[0171] This allows production planning to be carried out so that productivity does not decrease.

[0172] (11) The production planning method according to (2) above,

[0173] In the second step, the processing unit outputs information (for example, information on a scheduled request management screen 110) for displaying the estimated cause of the first scheduled request and the estimated urgency.

[0174] This allows the system to display the estimated cause of a planned request and the evaluation results of its urgency, enabling manual judgment of the appropriateness of the allocation of computing resources.

[0175] (12) The production planning method according to (11),

[0176] In the second step, the processing unit outputs information for displaying an input screen (e.g., the number of CPUs used input unit 1709) for information to correct the estimated urgency, and when information to change the urgency is input, changes the urgency in accordance with the input information.

[0177] This allows a human being to manually determine the appropriateness of the allocation of computing resources and make changes if necessary.

[0178] The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications are included. For example, the above-mentioned embodiment has been described in detail for better understanding of the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Also, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Also, it is possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration.

[0179] In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in part or in whole by hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. In addition, the above-mentioned configurations, functions, etc. may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function. Information such as a program, table, file, etc. that realizes each function can be stored in a storage device such as a non-volatile semiconductor memory, a hard disk drive, or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or in a computer-readable non-transitory data storage medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

[0180] In addition, the control lines and information lines are shown as those considered necessary for the explanation, and not all control lines and information lines in the product are shown. In reality, it can be considered that almost all components are connected to each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0181] 100 Production Planning System 101 Planning Request Management Device 102 Processing section 103 Planning Urgency Estimation Department 104 Computational Resource Allocation Department 105 Storage section 106 Planning Request Memory Unit 107 Master Data Storage Unit 108 Transaction data storage unit 109 Display section 110 Planning Request Management Screen 110 111 Communications Department 112 Scheduling Department 113, 114 Network 115 Production Management System

Claims

1. A production planning method executed by a computer system, comprising: The computer system includes a processing unit and a storage unit, the storage unit holds a plurality of planning requests for requesting the formulation of a production plan in a factory, and a plurality of transaction data corresponding to the plurality of planning requests and indicating a production status in the factory; The production planning method includes: a first step in which the processing unit estimates an urgency of a first planning request among the plurality of planning requests by comparing the transaction data corresponding to the first planning request with the transaction data corresponding to a second planning request that is a previous planning request of the first planning request; a second step of determining, by the processing unit, an allocation of computing resources for creating a production plan based on the first planning request, based on the urgency.

2. 2. The production planning method according to claim 1, a processing unit that estimates a cause of the first planned request by comparing the transaction data corresponding to the first planned request with the transaction data corresponding to the second planned request, and estimates the urgency according to the estimated cause of the first planned request.

3. 3. The production planning method according to claim 2, The transaction data includes information on the operation status of production equipment in the factory, information on production orders for the factory, information on production results in the factory, and information on production plans that have already been started in the factory; In the first step, the processing unit When detecting a change in the operation time of the production equipment in the factory by comparing information on the operation status of the production equipment, the cause of the first plan request is estimated to be maintenance of the production equipment; By comparing information on production orders for the factory, if a change in the delivery date is detected that results in the new delivery date being today, the cause of the first planning request is estimated to be a change in the delivery date; by comparing information on the production results in the factory with information on a production plan that has already been executed in the factory, when detecting a delay in the production results with respect to the production plan, estimating that the cause of the first plan request is a production delay; a production planning method comprising: when the estimated cause of the first planned request is any one of maintenance of the production facility, a change in delivery date, and a production delay, estimating the urgency to be higher than when the estimated cause of the first planned request is none of maintenance of the production facility, a change in delivery date, and a production delay.

4. 4. The production planning method according to claim 3, a process for estimating the urgency to be the highest level when the cause of the first planned request is estimated to be maintenance of the production equipment, and a process for estimating the urgency to be the second highest level when the cause of the first planned request is estimated to be a change in delivery date, the production planning method comprising:

5. 2. The production planning method according to claim 1, The production planning method, in the second step, wherein the processing unit determines allocation of the computing resources such that a large amount of the computing resources is allocated when the urgency is high.

6. 6. The production planning method according to claim 5, The production planning method, wherein the computational resources include at least one of the number of processors and the number of threads to be used.

7. 2. The production planning method according to claim 1, The storage unit further holds inter-factory logistics data indicating a sequence of processes in the plurality of factories; a process for determining whether or not a process is to be performed in a factory that performs a process prior to the process of the factory that is the target of the first planned request, the process being performed by the processing unit when the process is performed in a factory that performs a process prior to the process of the factory that is the target of the first planned request.

8. The production planning method according to claim 7, a production planning method characterized in that, in the first step, when the processing unit changes the urgency of the first plan request to the same value as that of a factory performing the previous process, the processing unit adds, to the first plan request, information indicating that a production plan based on the first plan request will be created after a production plan based on a plan request for the factory performing the previous process.

9. 2. The production planning method according to claim 1, A scheduling unit that formulates the production plan is connected to the computer system, the processing unit outputs the planning request and the determined allocation of computing resources to a scheduling unit, and, upon obtaining a production plan drawn up in accordance with the planning request from the scheduling unit, outputs the obtained production plan.

10. 2. The production planning method according to claim 1, The computer system further includes a scheduling unit that formulates the production plan, a third step in which the scheduling unit uses the computational resources allocated in the second step to create a production plan based on the planning request, and outputs the created production plan.

11. 3. The production planning method according to claim 2, The production planning method, in the second step, wherein the processing unit outputs information for displaying the estimated cause of the first planned request and the estimated urgency of the first planned request.

12. The production planning method according to claim 11, The production planning method is characterized in that, in the second step, the processing unit outputs information for displaying an input screen for information for correcting the estimated urgency, and when information for changing the urgency is input, changes the urgency in accordance with the input information.

13. A production planning system, A processing unit and a storage unit, the storage unit holds a plurality of planning requests for requesting the formulation of a production plan in a factory, and a plurality of transaction data corresponding to the plurality of planning requests and indicating a production status in the factory; The processing unit includes: estimating an urgency of a first planning request of the plurality of planning requests by comparing the transaction data corresponding to the first planning request with the transaction data corresponding to a second planning request that is a previous planning request of the first planning request; A production planning system characterized by determining, based on the urgency, an allocation of computational resources for the creation of a production plan based on the first planning request.

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