Production schedule planning device, production schedule planning method, and production schedule planning program

Abstract

To create a production schedule that maximizes product production efficiency.SOLUTION: A production schedule planning device (1) revises a production sequence for a target period by determining whether other products can be placed in lots in which the production sequence for the target period is determined, and in which ordered products corresponding to orders for which production has been confirmed are distributed, and the production sequence of the ordered products within the lots is determined, and by incorporating products that correspond to pending orders into lots where other products can be placed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a production schedule planning device, a production schedule planning method, and a production schedule planning program.

Background Art

[0002] In a production process for producing products ordered by customers, techniques for planning the production order of the ordered products have been proposed. For example, in Patent Document 1, as a technique for creating a cast in a continuous casting process in the steel industry, using information on slabs manufactured corresponding to orders to be cast, a steel grade priority evaluation table is generated for each steel grade, the steel grade with the highest priority is selected based on the generated steel grade priority evaluation table, and for the selected steel grade, a cast that satisfies the constraint conditions is created.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the technique described in Patent Document 1, when a constraint violation cannot be resolved with intermediate products incorporated in a cast corresponding to a production lot, a product not associated with an order from a customer (also referred to as "surplus material") is placed in the cast to resolve the constraint violation. Also, it is generally common to place surplus material in the margin of the cast. However, since surplus material is a product that does not need to be manufactured, there is a problem that the productivity decreases as the amount of surplus material placed in the cast increases.

[0005] One aspect of the present invention aims to realize a technique capable of planning a production schedule with high production efficiency of products.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, a production schedule planning apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is a production schedule planning apparatus for planning the production order of products, and is a lot in which the production order in a target period is determined, and an ordered product that is a product corresponding to an order for which production has been finalized is allocated, and for a lot in which the production order of the ordered product in the lot has been determined, a determination unit that determines whether other products can be arranged, and for a lot in which the other products can be arranged, a correction unit that corrects the production order in the target period by incorporating a product corresponding to an order for which production is not yet determined.

[0007] Further, a production schedule planning method according to an aspect of the present invention is a production schedule planning method for planning the production order of products, and is a lot in which the production order in a target period is determined, and an ordered product that is a product corresponding to an order for which production has been finalized is allocated, and for a lot in which the production order of the ordered product in the lot has been determined, a determination step of determining whether other products can be arranged, and for a lot in which the other products can be arranged, a correction step of correcting the production order in the target period by incorporating a product corresponding to an order for which production is not yet determined.

[0008] The production schedule planning apparatus according to each aspect of the present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, a production schedule planning program of the production schedule planning apparatus that realizes the production schedule planning apparatus by operating the computer as each part (software element) included in the production schedule planning apparatus, and a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to one aspect of the present invention, a production schedule with high production efficiency of products can be planned.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

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Figure 7

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] 〔Embodiment 1〕 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. The production schedule planning method according to this embodiment is a method for planning the production order of products. Here, examples of products include, but are not limited to, intermediate products (slabs, blooms, billets, etc.) manufactured by continuous casting, intermediate products manufactured by hot rolling or cold rolling, and the like.

[0012] The following will be described by taking as an example the case of formulating the manufacturing order in the manufacturing process of steel intermediate products. Here, the manufacturing process of steel intermediate products will be described. In the steel manufacturing process, the pig iron produced in the blast furnace is transported to the converter, and after the components are adjusted in the converter in units of ladles (charges), the molten steel poured into the tundish is continuously cast and cut to produce intermediate products such as slabs, blooms, or billets. At this time, the process of continuously casting and cutting as described above is called the continuous casting process, and the unit that continuously manufactures intermediate products without interrupting the continuous casting of molten steel in the continuous casting process is called a manufacturing lot (simply referred to as "lot"). Also, determining the casting order (manufacturing schedule) of intermediate products within each manufacturing lot based on the size, quality, delivery date, etc. of the intermediate products is called manufacturing lot compilation.

[0013] The determination of the manufacturing schedule of intermediate products for a plurality of manufacturing lots is roughly carried out in the order of (i) the manufacturing lot frame design process, (ii) the manufacturing lot frame arrangement process, and (iii) the manufacturing lot compilation process. In the manufacturing lot frame design process, the number of manufacturing lots and which intermediate product is assigned to which manufacturing lot (which intermediate product is manufactured in which cast) are determined. In the manufacturing lot frame arrangement process, each manufacturing lot is arranged on the schedule, and the order in units of manufacturing lots is determined. In the manufacturing lot compilation process, for each of the plurality of manufacturing lots, the order in which the intermediate products assigned to the manufacturing lot are manufactured within the manufacturing lot is determined. That is, after the intermediate products are roughly assigned to the manufacturing lots in the (i) manufacturing lot frame design process, the detailed manufacturing order within each manufacturing lot is determined for each manufacturing lot in the (iii) manufacturing lot compilation process.

[0014] In this embodiment, a production lot is a unit for continuously manufacturing (casting) intermediate products, and this unit corresponds to one production lot. That is, from one production lot, a group of intermediate products consisting of a plurality of intermediate products manufactured in one continuous operation is produced. Usually, each intermediate product has a component composition and size that meet the requirements of customers. What combines the component compositions within a predetermined allowable range is also referred to as "material" or "steel grade". That is, among a plurality of intermediate products belonging to an arbitrary steel grade, at least one of them may have a different component composition from others. Intermediate products included in a group of one steel grade are manufactured from one or more charges whose component adjustments are within the allowable range of that steel grade.

[0015] In this embodiment, production lot scheduling refers to determining the production order of a group of intermediate products consisting of a plurality of steel grades and having various sizes included in each production lot based on the size, steel grade, delivery date, etc. of the intermediate products.

[0016] In this embodiment, an intermediate product is one manufactured as an intermediate product when casting steel, and refers to a molten steel cast into a long body with a rectangular cross-sectional shape and then cut. The intermediate product is rolled in the next process, and after being wound into a coil shape, for example, it is further processed in another process to become various products.

[0017] The size of the intermediate product refers to the length of the short side and the long side when the intermediate product is viewed in plan in this embodiment, but particularly important is the length of the short side. The length of the short side is the length in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the cast intermediate product is conveyed by the strand, and hereinafter, this length is referred to as the width. The long side corresponds to the length of the intermediate product.

[0018] Note that a bloom is smaller than a slab and has a ratio of width to thickness of the cross-section close to 1 (close to a square). A billet refers to one with a rectangular cross-section and a size smaller than that of a bloom.

[0019] A strand is a casting line, including a mold into which molten steel is poured from a tundish, and a series of forming rolls that form while conveying a slab drawn from the mold.

[0020] The combinations of steel grades and sizes of intermediate products required by a large number of customers are extremely numerous. Furthermore, due to the operating constraints of the casting line, it is not easy to determine an efficient product arrangement for a variety of intermediate products. Since it is time-consuming to evaluate all combinations, it is required to select and evaluate combinations of production sequences that seem to be efficient. The production schedule planning apparatus and the production schedule planning method according to this embodiment are an apparatus and a method for determining the production order of intermediate products so as to maximize the production efficiency.

[0021] (Production Schedule Planning Apparatus) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a production schedule planning apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. The production schedule planning apparatus 1 is an apparatus for determining the production order (production sequence) of a plurality of intermediate products manufactured by continuous casting. Each part of the production schedule planning apparatus 1 may be implemented, for example, in a dedicated computer system, or may be implemented as application software in a general-purpose computer system such as a personal computer. Alternatively, each component of the production schedule planning apparatus 1 may be distributed and implemented in a plurality of computers connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. Also, some or all of the components of the production schedule planning apparatus 1 may be arranged on the cloud and connected to each other so as to be able to communicate information.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 1, the production schedule planning device 1 includes a lot aggregation device 11, a schedule determination device 12, and a production lot compilation device 13. The lot aggregation device 11 is a device that performs the above-described (i) production lot frame design process, and is an example of the distribution unit according to the present disclosure. The schedule determination device 12 is a device that performs the above-described (ii) production lot frame arrangement process, and is an example of the lot order determination unit according to the present disclosure. The production lot compilation device 13 is a device that performs the above-described (iii) production lot compilation process, and is an example of the in-lot order determination unit, determination unit, and correction unit according to the present disclosure. The functions of each part of the production schedule planning device 1 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are realized by one or more processors that operate according to a program, and an interface for inputting and outputting data to and from the processor.

[0023] The intermediate product information file 101, the production lot information file 102, and the unsubmitted order information file 105 used by the production schedule planning device 1 for processing are read by an operator's operation or an automatic import instruction at regular intervals. The production schedule planning device 1 records the results of the processing executed based on the information recorded in these files in the production lot compilation result file 104. Further, the production schedule planning device 1 reads the constraint condition file 103 in the processing executed by the production lot compilation device 13.

[0024] These files are recorded, for example, in a memory built into a computer or a removable recording medium connectable to the computer. Also, any one or all of the above files may be stored in an information processing device different from the production schedule planning device 1. In that case, the contents of these files may be read into the production schedule planning device 1 or written by the production schedule planning device 1 via communication using a telecommunication line such as a LAN or the Internet. Note that each of the above various files may be a database such as an intermediate product information DB, a cast information DB, a constraint condition DB, or an unsubmitted order information DB.

[0025] The intermediate product information file 101 is a file for storing information about the intermediate product to be manufactured. The intermediate product to be manufactured is, for example, an intermediate product for which manufacturing has been finalized. An order from a customer is received, for example, by a salesperson or the like. Based on the order received from the customer, a designer or the like performs variety design and the like, and various types of information including the results of the variety design and the like are registered in the intermediate product information file 101 as information related to the intermediate product. The information related to the intermediate product includes, as an example, information indicating manufacturing specifications such as a product ID (information for identifying the intermediate product), width, length, weight, material, etc., and process information such as the desired date and time of passing through the process, the deadline date and time of passing through the process, etc. The width includes the width specified by the customer and the width within the range allowed at the stage of manufacturing the intermediate product. The latter width range may be used as the target during the manufacture of the intermediate product. This is because the width of the intermediate product can be adjusted within the range of the width specified by the customer in a rolling process or the like after manufacturing the intermediate product. However, the information related to the width only needs to include at least one piece of information indicating the width of the intermediate product, such as the width specified by the customer or the width within the range allowed at the stage of manufacturing the intermediate product.

[0026] The manufacturing lot information file 102 is a file for storing information about the manufacturing lot. The information related to the manufacturing lot includes information about the charge for each steel grade included in the manufacturing lot. Specifically, the manufacturing lot information file 102 includes, for each manufacturing lot, as an example, a manufacturing lot ID, the number of charges, a lower weight limit, an upper weight limit, a material, a manufacturing order, etc.

[0027] The constraint condition file 103 includes, as an example, constraint conditions regarding the production schedule of intermediate products in the continuous casting process, constraint conditions regarding the production schedule of coils in the hot rolling process, and the like. The constraint conditions regarding the production schedule of intermediate products include, for example, width transition conditions. Width transition means changing the width of the intermediate product to be manufactured. The width transition condition is, for example, that the change amount of adjacent intermediate products in the production order is smaller than a predetermined width (threshold value). Also, the width transition condition is, for example, that the number of changes in the width transition direction is small. However, the constraint conditions are not limited to the above examples and may include other conditions. The constraint conditions may include, for example, site arrangement conditions such as arranging intermediate products with a relatively large or larger than a predetermined range allowable range of the composition of intermediate products in a predetermined production rank.

[0028] The unsubmitted order information file 105 is a file for storing information regarding orders whose production is undetermined. Here, an order whose production is undetermined is also referred to as an "unsubmitted order". An unsubmitted order is an order corresponding to a product (a product not yet designed in terms of variety, etc.) that has not yet been registered in the intermediate product information file 101 among the orders received by the salesperson from the customer. The information regarding the unsubmitted order includes at least a part of the information regarding the intermediate product, and includes, for example, information indicating the width and length of the intermediate product. In the case of an unsubmitted order, since the variety design, etc. of the product corresponding to the order has not been performed, the information regarding the unsubmitted order does not include information such as steel grade.

[0029] In this embodiment, when arranging surplus materials in the margin of the production lot, by arranging surplus materials of a size corresponding to the unsubmitted order (also referred to as "unsubmitted surplus materials"), the possibility that the surplus materials can be shipped as products is increased. Thereby, the productivity of the products can be improved. Note that the margin of the production lot is the part in the production lot where no product is allocated. When the production lot is a cast, since the amount of steel material (weight) included in the cast is increased or decreased in charge units, casting is performed for the number of charges regardless of whether a product is allocated or not, but the part in the cast where no product is allocated is called the margin.

[0030] (Lot Aggregation Device) The lot aggregation device 11 determines the number of production lots to be arranged in the schedule SC and the combination of intermediate products to be allocated to each production lot. Here, the schedule SC is the production plan of intermediate products in a predetermined period to be determined (for example, one week, one month, etc., hereinafter appropriately referred to as the target period) (see Fig. 2). More specifically, based on information such as the number of production plan charges and the delivery dates of intermediate products, the lot aggregation device 11 determines how many production lots to manufacture and which intermediate products to allocate when setting a plurality of production lots. In other words, the lot aggregation device 11 selects some of the intermediate products to be incorporated into the production lots as incorporation instruction materials from among the plurality of intermediate products to be manufactured, and distributes the selected plurality of incorporation instruction materials to the production lots. Note that a plurality of incorporation instruction materials are assigned to each production lot in charge units.

[0031] The incorporation instruction material is an intermediate product with a high priority among the plurality of intermediate products to be manufactured. The incorporation instruction material is an example of an ordered product according to the present disclosure. Examples of the priority include a delivery priority based on the delivery dates of the plurality of intermediate products to be manufactured and a manufacturing priority based on manufacturing conditions in the downstream process. The priority may be with priority or without priority. For example, the lot aggregation device 11 creates a plurality of production lots to allocate and arrange these plurality of intermediate products according to the number of production plan charges in the target period and the amounts of the plurality of intermediate products to be manufactured, and distributes the plurality of intermediate products to be manufactured to the plurality of production lots so that those with closer priorities are arranged in the same production lot as much as possible. For example, the plurality of intermediate products to be manufactured may be arranged in order of priority, and each production lot may be sequentially filled with intermediate products. When there is a margin for arranging intermediate products other than the incorporation instruction material in each production lot, if the portion excluding the margin is filled with the incorporation instruction material, the next production lot may be similarly filled with the incorporation instruction material. In this case, the intermediate products allocated to the production lot are the incorporation instruction materials, and the intermediate products not allocated to the production lot, that is, the intermediate products that are not the incorporation instruction materials, are intermediate products with a low priority.

[0032] (Schedule Determination Device) The schedule determination device 12 arranges a plurality of production lots in the schedule SC. By arranging the plurality of production lots in the schedule SC, the order (production order) of the plurality of production lots is determined. In other words, the schedule determination device 12 determines the production order of the production lots in the target period by arranging the plurality of production lots in the schedule SC. Before arranging the plurality of production lots, an arrangement prohibited area where the arrangement of the production lots is prohibited may be predetermined in the schedule SC, and the schedule determination device 12 arranges the plurality of production lots in an area (arrangeable area) excluding the arrangement prohibited area.

[0033] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schedule SC in which a plurality of production lots are arranged. In the example of FIG. 2, production lots C11 to C14 are arranged in the schedule SC. Also, a plurality of incorporation instruction materials are distributed to production lots C11 to C14 with a margin. Since it is unclear how much the incorporation instruction materials can be arranged in each production lot without actually performing the production lot composition of each production lot, the lot aggregation device 11 gives a margin to each production lot as shown in FIG. 2.

[0034] (Production Lot Composition Device) The production lot composition device 13 determines the production order of intermediate products within the production lot to which the incorporation instruction materials are distributed. More specifically, the production lot composition device 13 determines the production order of the incorporation instruction materials within the production lot based on the information on the intermediate products stored in the intermediate product information file 101, the information on the production lot stored in the production lot information file 102, and the constraint conditions stored in the constraint condition file 103. As an example, the production lot composition device 13 generates an intermediate composition plan for the production lot based on the information on the intermediate products and the information on the production lot, and corrects the generated intermediate composition plan so as to satisfy the constraint conditions, thereby performing the production lot composition. Examples of the intermediate composition plan for the production lot include, but are not limited to, an arrangement of intermediate products in an order such that the width of the intermediate products does not change significantly.

[0035] Furthermore, the production lot scheduling device 13 performs a process of incorporating unintroduced surplus materials into the surplus of the production lot. In other words, when there is an empty space in the production lot whose production order has been determined, such as when other intermediate products can be arranged in the production lot whose production order has been determined, the production lot scheduling device 13 corrects the determined production order (production sequence) by incorporating the unintroduced surplus materials into the production lot. As an example, the production lot scheduling device 13 selects unintroduced surplus materials to be incorporated into the production lot based on the information regarding unintroduced orders stored in the unintroduced order information file 105, the information regarding the production lot stored in the production lot information file 102, and the constraint conditions stored in the constraint condition file 103.

[0036] (Production Schedule Establishment Method) FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the production schedule establishment method according to the present embodiment. Examples of the timing at which the production schedule establishment method illustrated in FIG. 3 is performed include, but are not limited to, once a week, once a day, etc. Further, the production schedule establishment method shown in FIG. 3 may be executed, for example, when a partially empty production lot (a production lot including a surplus) or an empty production lot is included in the schedule SC.

[0037] Also, some of the steps included in the production schedule establishment method shown in FIG. 3 may be executed in parallel or in a different order. For example, step S13 (schedule arrangement step) in FIG. 3 may be executed before step S12 (distribution step). Also, for example, step S21 (determination step) in FIG. 4 described later may be executed before step S13 (schedule arrangement step) in FIG. 3.

[0038] (Steps S11·S12) In step S11, the lot aggregation device 11 acquires information on intermediate products to be manufactured from the intermediate product information file 101. In step S12 (an example of the distribution step), the lot aggregation device 11 determines the number and combination of production lots, designates intermediate products to be candidates for placement in each production lot as incorporation instruction materials, and performs a distribution process of distributing the incorporation instruction materials to the production lots.

[0039] (Steps S13·S14) In step S13 (an example of the schedule placement step), the schedule determination device 12 performs a schedule placement process of determining the tapping timing of each production lot. Further, in step S14, the production lot formation device 13 performs a production lot formation process of determining the production order of intermediate products within each production lot. Details of the production lot formation will be described later.

[0040] (Step S15) In step S15, the production lot formation device 13 determines whether there are remaining production lots to be formed, that is, whether there are remaining production lots that have not yet been formed. If there are remaining production lots to be formed (YES in step S15), the production lot formation device 13 returns to the process of step S13 and executes the production lot formation process for the next production lot. On the other hand, when the production lot formation for all the production lots arranged in the schedule SC is completed (step S15; NO), the production lot formation device 13 ends the process.

[0041] In steps S14 to S15, the production lot compilation device 13 executes the production lot compilation of the production lots assigned to the schedule SC in the order of the earliest order in the schedule SC. That is, the production lot compilation device 13 determines the production order of each production lot in the order of the earliest order of the production lots by repeating steps S14 to S15. At this time, the production lot compilation device 13 may execute the compilation process of one production lot in one step S14 and repeat this to execute the compilation process of a plurality of production lots, or may execute the compilation process of a plurality of production lots in one step S14 collectively.

[0042] (Production lot compilation method) FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the production lot compilation method (step S14 in FIG. 3) performed by the production lot compilation device 13. Some of the steps included in the production lot compilation method shown in FIG. 4 may be executed in parallel or in a different order.

[0043] (Step S21) In step S21 (an example of a determination step), the production lot compilation device 13 performs a determination process of determining the production order of the built-in instruction materials specified for the production lot to be compiled. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the production lot in which the production lot compilation device 13 has determined the production order in step S21. In the example of FIG. 5, the production order of the built-in instruction materials P11 to P15 assigned to the production lot C21 is determined by the production lot compilation device 13. Also, the production order of the built-in instruction materials P21 to P23 assigned to the production lot C22 is determined by the production lot compilation device 13.

[0044] In the example of FIG. 5, production lots C21 and C22 each include spare areas C211 and C221 to which incorporation instruction materials are not assigned. The lot aggregating device 11 distributes incorporation instruction materials to each production lot. At this time, however, the production lot scheduling is actually performed by the production lot scheduling device 13 at a later stage. Without actually performing the production lot scheduling, it is unclear how many incorporation instruction materials can be incorporated into the production lot. Therefore, the lot aggregating device 11 designs the production lot frame with a certain margin in the production lot.

[0045] (Step S22) In step S22 of FIG. 4, the production lot scheduling device 13 arranges intermediate products with a low priority (i.e., ordered products that are not incorporation instruction materials) in the spare areas included in the production lot frame. In other words, when the production lot scheduling device 13 can arrange intermediate products in the production lot, it corrects the production order by incorporating intermediate products other than the incorporation instruction materials (ordered products with a low priority) into the production lot.

[0046] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the production lot scheduling corrected by the production lot scheduling device 13 in step S22. The production lot scheduling device 13 updates the production lot scheduling of production lot C22 by incorporating intermediate products P31 and P32, which are ordered products with a low priority, into the spare area C221 of production lot C22. If there are no intermediate products that can be arranged in the spare area C211 of production lot C21, no intermediate products are arranged in the spare area C211.

[0047] (Step S23) In step S23 (discrimination step) of FIG. 4, the production lot scheduling device 13 performs a discrimination process to determine whether there is a remaining margin for the production lot that is the target of the production order modification process. Specifically, for example, the production lot scheduling device 13 may perform the discrimination process based on whether the weight of the remaining margin is greater than a threshold value. In other words, the production lot scheduling device 13 discriminates whether other products can be arranged for a production lot that is a production lot with a determined production order during the target period and to which a received product, which is an intermediate product corresponding to a confirmed production order, is allocated and the production order of the received product within the production lot is determined. If there is a remaining margin (YES in step S23), the production lot scheduling device 13 proceeds to the process of step S24. On the other hand, if there is no remaining margin (NO in step S23), the production lot scheduling device 13 does not perform the processes of steps S24 to S26 and ends the process of FIG. 4.

[0048] (Step S24) When the production lot scheduling device 13 determines that the production lot includes a remaining margin (YES in step S23), in step S24, the production lot scheduling device 13 arranges the uncharged surplus material in the remaining margin of the production lot. In other words, the production lot scheduling device 13 modifies the production order of the intermediate products within the production lot during the target period by incorporating the product corresponding to the unconfirmed order into the production lot having a remaining margin where other products can be arranged.

[0049] More specifically, in step S24, the production lot scheduling device 13 may modify the production order determined in step S21 by incorporating, as the uncharged surplus material to be incorporated into the production lot, the uncharged surplus material of the same steel type as the incorporated instruction material already allocated to the production lot.

[0050] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the production lot composition corrected by the production lot composition device 13 in step S24. The production lot composition device 13 updates the production lot composition of the production lot C21 by incorporating the unintroduced surplus materials P61 to P63 into the surplus C211 of the production lot C21. Further, the production lot composition device 13 updates the production lot composition of the production lot C21 by incorporating the unintroduced surplus materials P73 to P75 into the surplus C221 of the production lot C22 where the ordered products are not arranged.

[0051] (Step S25) In step S25, the production lot composition device 13 determines whether there is a surplus left in the production lot that is the target of the production order correction process. If there is a surplus left (YES in step S25), the production lot composition device 13 proceeds to the process of step S26. On the other hand, if there is no surplus left (NO in step S25), the production lot composition device 13 does not perform the process of step S26 and ends the process of FIG. 4.

[0052] (Step S26) When the production lot composition device 13 still includes a surplus in the production lot even after performing the processes of steps S22 to S24 (YES in step S25), in step S26, the production lot composition device 13 arranges surplus materials that do not correspond to the unintroduced orders in the surplus of the production lot. The case where there is a surplus left means, for example, the case where the size of the unintroduced surplus material is larger than the size of the surplus, and it is not possible to arrange the unintroduced surplus material in all of the surplus of the production lot.

[0053] (Effect of the production schedule planning device) Incidentally, an order from a customer is received by a salesperson or the like, and based on the received order, a product type design or the like is performed by a design person or the like, and is input into the intermediate product information file 101. Here, among the orders from customers, an order that has not yet been registered in the manufacturing system is also referred to as an "uninput order". This uninput order is an order that is highly likely to be received as a formal order. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the production schedule creation device 1 according to the present embodiment incorporates uninput surplus materials into the margin of the manufacturing lot. By using the size of the uninput order in this way, the possibility that the surplus materials can be used as products can be increased.

[0054] As described above, according to the present embodiment, the production schedule creation device 1 is a plurality of manufacturing lots in which the manufacturing order in the target period is determined, and the received products corresponding to the orders for which production has been finalized are distributed, and for the manufacturing lot in which the production order of the received products in the manufacturing lot has been determined, it is determined whether other products can be arranged, and for the manufacturing lot in which other products can be arranged, by incorporating the products corresponding to the orders for which production has not been finalized, the production order in the target period is corrected. By incorporating uninput surplus materials into the manufacturing lot in the manufacturing lot formation, the possibility that the surplus materials can be used as products can be increased, and the productivity of the products can be improved.

[0055] Further, the production schedule creation device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a schedule determination device 12 that determines the manufacturing order of the manufacturing lots in the target period. Thereby, without the user performing a complicated operation for determining the manufacturing order of a plurality of manufacturing lots, the manufacturing order of intermediate products with high manufacturing efficiency can be determined.

[0056] Further, the production schedule creation device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a lot aggregation device 11 that distributes the received products selected from among a plurality of received products to the manufacturing lots. Thereby, without the user performing a complicated operation for distributing the incorporation instruction materials to a plurality of manufacturing lots, the manufacturing order of intermediate products with high manufacturing efficiency can be determined.

[0057] In addition, the production lot composition device 13 of the production schedule creation device 1 according to the present embodiment determines the production order of the ordered products within the production lot to which the ordered products are allocated. As a result, it is possible to determine the production order of intermediate products with high production efficiency without the user performing a complicated operation for determining the production order of the built-in instruction materials within the production lot.

[0058] In addition, in the production schedule creation device 1 according to the present embodiment, the production lot composition device 13 corrects the production order of the products by incorporating into the production lot the ordered products of the same steel type as the ordered products already allocated to the production lot where other products can be arranged. As a result, it is possible to perform production lot composition that can manufacture intermediate products more efficiently.

[0059] In addition, in the production schedule creation device 1 according to the present embodiment, the production lot composition device 13 selects unintroduced products to be incorporated into the production lot based on information about the products, information about the production lot, and constraint conditions. As a result, it is possible to perform production lot composition that can manufacture more efficiently in consideration of information about the products, information about the production lot, and constraint conditions.

[0060] 〔Modification example〕 In the above-described embodiment, the case where the production schedule creation device 1 executes the production schedule creation method shown in FIG. 3 and the production lot composition method shown in FIG. 4 has been described. At least some of the steps included in the production schedule creation method shown in FIG. 3 and the production lot composition method shown in FIG. 4 may be performed by the user of the production schedule creation device 1 or the like. For example, the schedule arrangement step according to step S13 in FIG. 3 may be performed by the user of the production schedule creation device 1 instead of the schedule determination device 12.

[0061] In addition, at least some of the steps included in the production schedule formulation method shown in FIG. 3 and the manufacturing lot formation method shown in FIG. 4 may be executed by the production schedule formulation apparatus 1 based on information input by the user via an HMI (Human Machine Interface). For example, the manufacturing lot formation apparatus 13 may execute the manufacturing lot formation process (the processes of steps S21 to S26 in FIG. 4) according to step S14 in FIG. 3 based on information input by the user via the HMI. More specifically, for example, the manufacturing lot formation apparatus 13 may execute the process of arranging the unintroduced remaining materials in step S24 in FIG. 4 in the manufacturing lot based on a user operation.

[0062] 〔Example of Realization by Software〕 The functions of the production schedule formulation apparatus 1 (hereinafter referred to as the "apparatus") are a production schedule formulation program for causing a computer to function as the apparatus, and can be realized by programs for causing a computer to function as each control block (lot aggregation apparatus 11, schedule determination apparatus 12, manufacturing lot formation apparatus 13) of the apparatus.

[0063] In this case, the above apparatus includes a computer having at least one control device (for example, a processor) and at least one storage device (for example, a memory) as hardware for executing the above program. By executing the above program with this control device and storage device, each function described in each of the above embodiments is realized.

[0064] The above program may be recorded on one or more computer-readable recording media, not temporarily. This recording medium may or may not be provided in the above apparatus. In the latter case, the above program may be supplied to the above apparatus via any wired or wireless transmission medium.

[0065] In addition, part or all of the functions of each of the above control blocks can also be realized by a logic circuit. For example, an integrated circuit in which a logic circuit functioning as each of the above control blocks is formed is also included in the scope of the present invention. In addition to this, for example, it is also possible to realize the functions of each of the above control blocks by a quantum computer.

[0066] Also, each process described in each of the above embodiments may be executed by AI (Artificial Intelligence). In this case, the AI may operate in the above control device, or may operate in another device (for example, an edge computer or a cloud server, etc.).

[0067] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0068] 〔Summary〕 The production schedule planning device according to aspect 1 is a production schedule planning device that plans the production order of products, and is a lot in which the production order in the target period is determined, and a received-order product that is a product corresponding to an order for which production has been confirmed is allocated, and for a lot in which the production order of the received-order product in the lot has been determined, a determination unit that determines whether other products can be arranged, and a correction unit that corrects the production order in the target period by incorporating products corresponding to orders for which production has not been confirmed into the lot in which the other products can be arranged.

[0069] The production schedule planning device according to aspect 2 is the production schedule planning device according to aspect 1, and further includes a lot order determination unit that determines the production order of lots in the target period.

[0070] The production schedule planning device according to Aspect 3 is the production schedule planning device according to Aspect 1 or 2, further comprising a distribution unit that distributes an ordered product selected from among a plurality of ordered products to the lot.

[0071] The production schedule planning device according to Aspect 4 is the production schedule planning device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 3, further comprising a within-lot order determination unit that determines the production order of the ordered product within the lot to which the ordered product has been distributed.

[0072] The production schedule planning device according to Aspect 5 is the production schedule planning device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 4, wherein the correction unit corrects the production order by incorporating, into the lot where the other product can be arranged, a product of the same steel type as the ordered product already distributed to the lot.

[0073] The production schedule planning method according to Aspect 6 is the production schedule planning device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 5, wherein the correction unit selects a product to be incorporated into the lot based on information about the product, information about the lot, and constraint conditions.

[0074] The production schedule planning method according to Aspect 7 is a production schedule planning method for planning the production order of products, including a determination step of determining whether another product can be arranged for a lot in which the production order in a target period is determined and to which an ordered product, which is a product corresponding to an order for which production has been finalized, is distributed and the production order of the ordered product within the lot is determined; and a correction step of correcting the production order in the target period by incorporating, into the lot where the other product can be arranged, a product corresponding to an order for which production is not yet determined.

[0075] The production schedule formulation program according to Aspect 8 is a production schedule formulation program for formulating the production order of products. The computer is allocated with lots whose production order is determined during the target period and which are products corresponding to orders for which production has been finalized, i.e., products for which orders have been received. For a lot in which the production order of the products for which orders have been received has been determined, a determination process is executed to determine whether other products can be arranged. For a lot in which other products can be arranged, a correction process is executed to correct the production order during the target period by incorporating products corresponding to orders for which production has not been finalized.

[0076] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope indicated in the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0077] 1 Production Schedule Formulation Device 11 Lot Aggregation Device 12 Schedule Determination Device 13 Manufacturing Lot Compilation Device 101 Intermediate Product Information File 102 Manufacturing Lot Information File 103 Constraint Condition File 104 Manufacturing Lot Compilation Result File 105 Unsubmitted Order Information File SC Schedule C11~C14, C21, C22 Manufacturing Lots C211, C221 Slack P11~P15, P21~P23 Incorporation Instruction Materials

Claims

1. A production schedule planning device for planning the production order of products, a discrimination unit that discriminates whether other products can be arranged for a lot in which the production order during a target period is determined, and which is a lot corresponding to an order for which production has been finalized, and for which the production order of the finished-order products within the lot has been determined; a correction unit that corrects the production order during the target period by incorporating products corresponding to orders for which production has not been finalized for lots in which the other products can be arranged; A production schedule planning device comprising:

2. further comprising a lot order determination unit that determines the production order of lots during the target period, The production schedule planning device according to claim 1.

3. further comprising a distribution unit that distributes a finished-order product selected from among a plurality of finished-order products to the lot, The production schedule planning device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. further comprising an in-lot order determination unit that determines the production order of the finished-order products within the lot to which the finished-order products have been distributed, The production schedule planning device according to claim 1 or 2.

5. The correction unit corrects the production order by incorporating into the lot a product of the same steel type as the finished-order product already distributed to the lot in which the other products can be arranged, The production schedule planning device according to claim 1 or 2.

6. The correction unit selects the products to be incorporated into the lot based on information about the products, information about the lot, and constraint conditions, The production schedule planning device according to claim 1 or 2.

7. A production schedule planning method for planning the production order of products, a discrimination step of discriminating whether other products can be arranged for a lot in which the production order during a target period is determined, and which is a lot corresponding to an order for which production has been finalized, and for which the production order of the finished-order products within the lot has been determined; a correction step of correcting the production order during the target period by incorporating products corresponding to orders for which production has not been finalized for lots in which the other products can be arranged; A production schedule planning method comprising:

8. A production schedule planning program for planning the production order of products, causing a computer to, A lot with a determined production order during a target period, for which a finished-order product that is a product corresponding to an order with manufacturing finalized is allocated, and for the lot in which the production order of the finished-order product is determined, a determination process for determining whether other products can be arranged; For the lot in which the other products can be arranged, a correction process for correcting the production order during the target period by incorporating products corresponding to orders with manufacturing not finalized; A production schedule planning program for causing the above to be executed.

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