Parts management device and method

Abstract

To provide a parts management device and a method which can enhance efficiency of manufacturing work of a product.SOLUTION: A parts management device: acquires manufacturing directions which show contents of manufacturing process, created in association with each manufacturing process of a product executed during a next prescribed period, respectively; generates a dispatch plan which summarizes a plan of the dispatch of all parts required in the manufacturing process corresponding to the manufacturing directions, respectively, for each manufacturing direction; generates a dispatch instruction signal which instructs the dispatch from a warehouse of corresponding parts, on the basis of each dispatch plan; and outputs the generated dispatch instruction signal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a parts management device and method, and is suitable for application to a parts management device that manages the delivery of parts from an automated warehouse in a factory, for example. [Background technology]

[0002] In the past, in automated warehouses in factories, the key was how efficiently parts could be shipped out in accordance with production plans. An automated warehouse is a computer-controlled warehouse in which storage (shelf placement), sorting, and collection operations are automated.

[0003] In an automated warehouse, parts are usually removed in order from the pallets they are loaded on. If multiple types of parts are loaded on one pallet, all of the parts on that pallet are removed. In such cases, the pallet is sorted to remove only the necessary parts, and then the pallet with the remaining parts is returned to the automated warehouse in that state.

[0004] As a prior art related to parts management systems, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a parts management system that generates a parts transportation plan based on a request signal requesting parts, outputs a command signal to a parts warehouse system to ship the parts to an outbound area based on the generated transportation plan, and outputs a command signal to a parts transportation device to transport the parts to a requested area based on the transportation plan. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-91771 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, with the conventional shipping method in which parts are shipped by pallet, it takes time to ship and arrange each part, so if multiple parts are required for subsequent manufacturing work, it takes a considerable amount of time to gather all of the parts. In such cases, manufacturing work cannot begin until all parts are gathered, which can result in waiting times depending on the situation.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to propose a parts management device and method that can reduce waiting times in manufacturing operations caused by waiting for parts to be delivered, thereby making product manufacturing operations more efficient. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve this problem, in the present invention, a parts management device that manages the delivery of parts stored in a warehouse is provided with a manufacturing instruction acquisition unit that acquires manufacturing instructions that are created corresponding to each manufacturing process of a product to be executed in the next specified period and that indicate the content of that manufacturing process; an outbound plan generation unit that generates, for each manufacturing instruction, an outbound plan that summarizes plans for the delivery of all the parts required in the manufacturing process corresponding to that manufacturing instruction; a signal generation unit that generates, based on each outbound plan, an outbound instruction signal that instructs the delivery of the corresponding part from the warehouse; and a signal output unit that outputs the outbound instruction signal generated by the signal generation unit.

[0009] Furthermore, in the present invention, a parts management method executed by a parts management device that manages the delivery of parts stored in a warehouse includes a first step of acquiring production instructions that are created to correspond to each production process of a product that will be executed in the next specified period and that indicate the details of that production process; a second step of generating, for each production instruction, a delivery plan that summarizes a delivery plan for all the parts required in the manufacturing process corresponding to that production instruction; a third step of generating, based on each delivery plan, a delivery instruction signal that instructs the delivery of the corresponding part from the warehouse; and a fourth step of outputting the generated delivery instruction signal.

[0010] According to the parts management device and method of the present invention, a shipping plan that compiles one or more parts for each production order is generated, thereby reducing the number of times parts are shipped within a given period. Therefore, by controlling the shipping of parts from the warehouse based on such a shipping instruction signal, it is possible to reduce waiting times in manufacturing operations due to waiting for parts to be shipped. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a parts management device and method that can improve the efficiency of product manufacturing operations. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a manufacturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a logical configuration of a manufacturing and mounting system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] (A) is a diagram showing the general structure of the manufacturing instructions, (B) is a diagram showing the general structure of the shipping plan, (C) is a diagram showing an overview of the shipping instructions, and (D) is a diagram showing the supply of parts from shipping to the production line. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen configuration of an outbound delivery plan list screen according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a first manufacturing execution control process. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a first item management process. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a logical configuration of a manufacturing and mounting system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 8] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a prioritization master. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a screen configuration of an outbound delivery plan list screen according to the second embodiment. [Figure 10] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a second manufacturing execution control process. [Figure 11A] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the second item management process. [Figure 11B] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the second item management process. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a logical configuration of a manufacturing and mounting system according to a third embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen configuration of an outbound shipping plan list screen according to the third embodiment. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a third manufacturing execution control process. [Figure 15A] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of a third item management process. [Figure 15B] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of a third item management process. [Figure 15C] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of a third item management process. [Figure 16] (A) is a diagram showing the general structure of the manufacturing instructions, (B) is a diagram showing the general structure of the shipping plan, (C) is a diagram showing an overview of the shipping instructions, and (D) is a diagram showing the supply of parts from shipping to the production line. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. (1) First embodiment (1-1) Configuration of the manufacturing system according to this embodiment In Fig. 1, the manufacturing system according to this embodiment is generally designated by reference numeral 1. This manufacturing system 1 is configured to include an automated warehouse 2, one or more AGVs (Automatic Guided Vehicles) 3, one or more manufacturing lines 4, a warehouse management and control system 5, an AGV operation management and control system 6, a core system (Enterprise Resource Planning: ERP) 7, a Manufacturing Execution System (MES: Manufacturing Execution System) 8, and an operation terminal 9.

[0014] The automated warehouse 2 is a warehouse where tasks such as the receiving and retrieval of parts, storage (shelfing), and sorting are automated. Various parts supplied by suppliers are received into the automated warehouse 2 in pallet units via receiving station 2A, and inventory management is performed by the warehouse management and control system 5. In the following, it is assumed that multiple types of parts may be loaded onto one pallet and stored in the automated warehouse 2.

[0015] Furthermore, each part stored in the automated warehouse 2 is shipped in pallet units from the shipping station 2B of the automated warehouse 2 at the required timing under the control of the warehouse management and control system 5, in accordance with the shipping instructions generated by the manufacturing execution system 8 based on the production plan created by the core system 7, and is supplied to the assortment station 10.

[0016] At the sorting station 10, only the necessary parts are picked up from the group of parts delivered in pallet units by a transfer machine or an operator 11, and the picked parts are supplied to the AGV 3. Under the control of the AGV operation management and control system 6, the AGV 3 transports the supplied parts via a predetermined AGV transport route 12 to a predetermined position corresponding to the production line 4 where the parts will be used.

[0017] The parts transported to the predetermined position are then transferred to a pre-manufacture parts storage area 14 by a transfer machine or an operator 13, and are then supplied to the corresponding production line 4. As a result, a product is manufactured using the parts on that production line 4, and the manufactured product is placed on a post-manufacture product storage area 15. The products placed on the post-manufacture product storage area 15 are then shipped or carried into a warehouse (not shown).

[0018] Arrival completion sensors 16 for determining whether or not parts have arrived are provided at each of the transfer machines 11, 13, the pre-manufacturing parts storage area 14, and a plurality of predetermined locations on the production line 4, and the sensor signals of these arrival completion sensors 16 are supplied to an equipment control device 17, which will be described later with reference to Fig. 2. The equipment control device 17 then grasps the operating status of each piece of equipment arranged on the production line 4, etc., based on the sensor signals provided by these arrival completion sensors 16, and controls the equipment by feedback control or the like based on the grasped results.

[0019] The operation terminal 9 is a general-purpose computer device used by an operator to give instructions to the manufacturing execution system 8 and to present information from the manufacturing execution system 8 to the operator. The operation terminal 9 is equipped with an input device 9A consisting of a mouse, keyboard, etc., and a display device 9B consisting of a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, etc.

[0020] FIG. 2 shows the logical configuration of the warehouse management and control system 5, the AGV operation management and control system 6, and the manufacturing execution system 8 in the manufacturing system 1 described above with reference to FIG.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, the warehouse management and control system 5 comprises an automated warehouse management system (WMS) 5A and a warehouse control system (WCS) 5B.

[0022] The automated warehouse management unit 5A is a computer device that manages the incoming and outgoing shipments of parts to the automated warehouse 2 and the inventory of parts within the automated warehouse 2. The automated warehouse management unit 5A periodically transmits the inventory status, such as the inventory amount of each part in the automated warehouse 2, as warehouse inventory information INF1 to the MES basic unit 20 (described later) within the manufacturing execution system 8.

[0023] The warehouse control unit 5B is a computer device that controls material handling equipment and IoT (Internet of Things) equipment in the automated warehouse 2. The warehouse control unit 5B controls the automated warehouse 2 in accordance with a shipping instruction from the manufacturing execution system 8 so that the requested parts are shipped at the requested timing.

[0024] The AGV operation management and control system 6 is configured with an AGV operation management unit 6A and an AGV control unit 6B. The AGV operation management unit 6A is a computer device that manages the operation of each AGV 3. The AGV control unit 6B is a computer device that controls each AGV 3 according to transport instructions from the manufacturing execution system 8.

[0025] The backbone system 7 is a computer device that has the function of creating a production plan for a predetermined period (e.g., one day) of products according to conditions specified by the user. The backbone system 7 provides the created production plan to the manufacturing execution system 8.

[0026] The manufacturing execution system 8 is composed of a general-purpose computer device equipped with information processing resources such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), memory, and communication devices (not shown). Various programs are stored in the memory of the manufacturing execution system 8, and the CPU executes these programs to perform various processes in the manufacturing execution system 8 as a whole.

[0027] This manufacturing execution system 8 is configured to include an MES basic unit 20 and an item management system unit 30. The MES basic unit 20 is a functional unit that has the basic functions of a general-purpose MES, and includes a production plan acquisition unit 21, a short-term schedule creation unit 22, a manufacturing instruction creation unit 23, a manufacturing instruction processing unit 24, an operation record acquisition unit 25, and a process progress management unit 26.

[0028] The production plan acquisition unit 21, the short-term schedule creation unit 22, the manufacturing instruction creation unit 23, the manufacturing instruction processing unit 24, the operation record acquisition unit 25, and the process progress management unit 26 are functional units that are realized when the CPU of the above-mentioned manufacturing execution system 8 executes the corresponding programs stored in the above-mentioned memory.

[0029] The production plan acquisition unit 21 has a function of acquiring a production plan from the core system 7. Furthermore, the short-term schedule creation unit 22 has a function of generating a product manufacturing plan (hereinafter referred to as a short-term schedule) for each short-term predetermined period (for example, one hour, hereinafter referred to as a short-term schedule period) based on the production plan acquired by the production plan acquisition unit 21. The short-term schedule creation unit 22 creates a short-term schedule for the next short-term schedule period, for example, at the same cycle as the short-term schedule period.

[0030] The production instruction creation unit 23 has a function of creating production instructions, which are execution instructions for each production process for manufacturing a product, in accordance with the short-term schedule created by the short-term schedule creation unit 22. In practice, the production instruction creation unit 23 creates production instructions 27 for each production process in accordance with the short-term schedule, as shown in Figure 3(A), which include various information related to the corresponding production process, such as the production instruction number ("production instruction No."), which is an identification number for the production process ("production process"), the identification information for the production line ("production line") on which the production process should be performed, the standard work time for the production process ("standard work time"), the scheduled start time of the work process ("scheduled start time"), the scheduled end time of the production process ("scheduled end time"), the identification information for each part used in the production process ("part 1", ...), and the work to be performed in the production process ("work 1", ...). Then, the manufacturing instruction creation unit 23 stores the created manufacturing instruction 27 in a manufacturing instruction storage area SA1 provided in the memory of the manufacturing execution system 8.

[0031] The manufacturing instruction processing unit 24 is a functional unit that has the function of giving instructions to the equipment control device 17 that controls each piece of equipment, such as the manufacturing devices, on the manufacturing line 4 (Figure 1), so that products are manufactured in accordance with each manufacturing instruction 27 for each manufacturing process created by the manufacturing instruction creation unit 23.

[0032] The operation record import unit 25 is a functional unit that has the function of importing information INF2 on various operation records such as the operation time of each piece of equipment (hereinafter referred to as operation record information) that is appropriately provided from the equipment control device 17. The operation record import unit 25 outputs the imported operation record information INF2 on each piece of equipment to the process progress management unit 26 and the shipping instruction determination unit 34 of the item management system unit 30, which will be described later.

[0033] Furthermore, the process progress management unit 26 is a functional unit that has the function of appropriately calculating the progress rate of each manufacturing process being executed during the current short-term schedule period, based on the operation result information INF2 of each piece of equipment provided by the operation result acquisition unit 25, and managing the progress status of each manufacturing process including the calculated progress rate. The process progress management unit 26 outputs the calculated progress rate of each manufacturing process to the shipping instruction determination unit 34 as progress rate information INF3.

[0034] As described above, the MES basic unit 20 is appropriately provided with the inventory quantity of each part in the automated warehouse 2 as warehouse inventory information INF1 from the warehouse management unit 5A of the warehouse management and control system 5. This warehouse inventory information INF1 is then stored and maintained in the warehouse inventory information storage area SA2 provided in the memory of the manufacturing execution system 8.

[0035] On the other hand, the goods management system unit 30 is a characteristic component of the manufacturing execution system 8 of this embodiment, and is a functional unit that has the function of generating a parts shipping plan for each manufacturing order and outputting a parts shipping instruction for each manufacturing order to the warehouse management and control system 5 based on the generated shipping plan.

[0036] This item management system unit 30 is configured to include a manufacturing instruction acquisition unit 31, a warehouse inventory information acquisition unit 32, a shipping plan generation unit 33, a shipping instruction determination unit 34, a signal generation unit 35, and a signal output unit 36. These manufacturing instruction acquisition unit 31, warehouse inventory information acquisition unit 32, shipping plan generation unit 33, shipping instruction determination unit 34, signal generation unit 35, and signal output unit 36 ​​are also functional units that are realized when the CPU of the above-mentioned manufacturing execution system 8 executes corresponding programs stored in memory.

[0037] The manufacturing instruction acquisition unit 31 has a function of sequentially acquiring each manufacturing instruction 27 for the next short-term planning period at the same cycle as the short-term planning period from the above-mentioned manufacturing instruction storage area SA1 provided in the memory of the manufacturing execution system 8. The manufacturing instruction acquisition unit 31 outputs each acquired manufacturing instruction 27 to the shipping plan generation unit 33.

[0038] The warehouse inventory information acquisition unit 32 has a function of appropriately acquiring the warehouse inventory information INF1 stored in the above-mentioned warehouse inventory information storage area SA2 in the memory. The warehouse inventory information acquisition unit 32 also outputs the acquired warehouse inventory information INF1 to the outbound plan generation unit 33.

[0039] The outbound delivery plan generation unit 33 has a function of generating a plan (hereinafter referred to as an outbound delivery plan) for retrieving required parts from the automated warehouse 2 for each production order, based on the production order 27 provided by the production order acquisition unit 31. In practice, for each production order 27 for the next short schedule planning period as shown in Fig. 3(A) acquired by the production order acquisition unit 31, the outbound delivery plan generation unit 33 generates an outbound delivery plan 28 for all parts required in the production process corresponding to that production order 27, as shown in Fig. 3(B).

[0040] For example, according to the manufacturing instruction 27 with the manufacturing instruction number "S1" in FIG. 3(A), the corresponding manufacturing process requires parts "A1" and "B1", so as shown by the circled number "1" in FIG. 3(B), one shipping plan 28 is generated that targets these parts "A1" and "B1" together as shipping targets.

[0041] Although not shown in Figure 3(B), in addition to the identification information of the parts to be shipped, the shipping plan 28 also includes information such as the scheduled time when the shipping of the parts will begin (hereinafter referred to as the scheduled shipping start time) and the scheduled time when the shipping will end (hereinafter referred to as the scheduled shipping end time), the standard working time of the corresponding manufacturing process (hereinafter referred to as the standard working time), the scheduled time when work in that manufacturing process will start (hereinafter referred to as the scheduled work start time) and the scheduled time when work in that manufacturing process will end (hereinafter referred to as the scheduled work end time).

[0042] Furthermore, the outbound delivery plan generating unit 33 determines whether or not each part required for the manufacturing process corresponding to each manufacturing instruction 27 is in stock, based on the warehouse inventory information INF1 provided from the warehouse inventory information acquiring unit 32. Then, the outbound delivery plan generating unit 33 outputs information on the outbound delivery plan 28 for each manufacturing instruction 27 generated as described above and information on the availability of stock for each part as described above to the outbound delivery instruction determining unit 34.

[0043] The shipping instruction determination unit 34 has a function of generating a predetermined screen (hereinafter referred to as a shipping plan list screen) 40, which will be described later with reference to Fig. 4, on which this information is posted, based on each shipping plan 28 and information on the stock status of each part given from the shipping plan generation unit 33, operation record information INF2 of each piece of equipment given from the operation record import unit 25 of the MES basic unit 20, and progress rate information INF3 of each manufacturing process given from the process progress management unit 26. Then, the shipping instruction determination unit 34 transmits screen data of the generated shipping plan list screen 40 to the operation terminal 9, thereby causing the shipping plan list screen 40 to be displayed on the display device 9B of the operation terminal 9.

[0044] Fig. 4 shows an example of the screen configuration of such an outbound delivery plan list screen 40. As shown in Fig. 4, the outbound delivery plan list screen 40 displays an outbound delivery plan list 41 in which outbound delivery plans 28 for each manufacturing order generated by the outbound delivery plan generation unit 33 are listed in order of the earliest scheduled outbound start time of the corresponding parts.

[0045] This shipping plan list 41 is composed of a shipping order column 41A, a shipping number column 41B, a required parts column 41C, a quantity column 41D, a stockout column 41E, an instruction number column 41F, a scheduled shipping start time column 41G, a scheduled shipping end time column 41H, a manufacturing process column 41I, an operation record column 41J, and a remaining work time column 41K.

[0046] The outgoing order column 41A displays the execution order of the corresponding outgoing plans 28 determined by the outgoing plan generation unit 33. In this embodiment, when the execution order of the outgoing plan 28 corresponding to a manufacturing process with an earlier scheduled work start time is earlier and when multiple manufacturing processes are performed on the same manufacturing line 4 (FIG. 1), the outgoing plan generation unit 33 determines the execution order of each outgoing plan 28 so that the execution orders of the outgoing plans 28 corresponding to these manufacturing processes are consecutive, and therefore the execution orders determined according to such rules are displayed in the outgoing order column 41A of the corresponding outgoing plans 28.

[0047] Furthermore, the shipping number column 41B displays the shipping number assigned to each part that is to be shipped in the corresponding outbound plan 28, and the required parts column 41C displays the identification information of all parts that are to be shipped in the corresponding outbound plan 28. Furthermore, the quantity column 41D stores the number of corresponding parts to be shipped that is planned in the corresponding outbound plan 28, and the out-of-stock column 41E displays information indicating whether or not the corresponding part is out of stock in the automated warehouse 2. Figure 4 shows an example in which "○" is displayed if the corresponding part is out of stock, and "-" is displayed if it is not out of stock.

[0048] Furthermore, the instruction number column 41F displays the manufacturing instruction number of the manufacturing instruction 27 corresponding to the shipping plan 28 (see "Manufacturing instruction No." in Figure 3(A)), and the scheduled shipping start time column 41G and the scheduled shipping end time column 41H display the scheduled shipping start time or scheduled shipping end time of each corresponding part scheduled in the shipping plan 28, respectively.

[0049] Meanwhile, the manufacturing process column 41I is divided into a standard operation time column 41IA, a scheduled operation start time column 41IB, and a scheduled operation end time column 41IC. The standard operation time column 41IA displays the standard operation time of the manufacturing process corresponding to the shipping plan 28, and the scheduled operation start time column 41IB and the scheduled operation end time column 41IC display the scheduled operation start time or scheduled operation end time, respectively, specified in the manufacturing instruction for that manufacturing process.

[0050] The operation result column 41J is divided into an operation time column 41JA and a progress rate column 41JB, and the operation time column 41JA displays the elapsed time (operation time) from the start of work for the corresponding manufacturing process in the current short-term planning period, which has been notified as operation result information INF2 from the operation result acquisition section 25 of the MES basic section 20 to the shipping instruction determination section 34 of the item control system section 30. Furthermore, the progress rate column 41JB displays the progress rate of that manufacturing process that has been performed up to the present for all steps of that manufacturing process in the current short-term planning period, which has been notified as progress rate information INF3 from the process progress management section 26 of the MES basic section 20 to the shipping instruction determination section 34 of the item control system section 30.

[0051] Furthermore, the remaining work time field 41K displays the time remaining until the work in the corresponding manufacturing process is completed (hereinafter, this will be referred to as the remaining work time). Such "remaining work time" is calculated, for example, by the following formula:

number

[0052] On the other hand, an outbound instruction order display area 42 is provided above the outbound delivery plan list 41, and this outbound delivery instruction order display area 42 displays the execution order of each outbound delivery plan 28 determined when the outbound delivery plan generation unit 33 generates the outbound delivery plan 28 for each manufacturing instruction, that is, the order of instructions for corresponding parts (hereinafter referred to as outbound instructions) according to each outbound delivery plan 28. This order is displayed using the shipping numbers displayed in the shipping number column 41B of the outbound delivery plan list 41.

[0053] If the worker determines that there is no problem with shipping parts in the order displayed in the shipping instruction order display area 42 on the shipping plan list screen 40, he or she can click the shipping order determination button 43 displayed in the lower right corner of the screen to determine the order of shipping instructions for the corresponding parts in accordance with the shipping plan 28 (i.e., the order in which the shipping plan 28 is executed) to the order displayed in the shipping instruction order display area 42 at that time.

[0054] Furthermore, if the worker wishes to change the order of parts shipping instructions (the order of execution of the shipping plan 28) due to reasons such as stockout, the worker can change the order of parts shipping instructions by performing a predetermined operation by clicking the shipping order change button 44 displayed in the lower right of the screen.The worker can then click the shipping order determination button 43 to determine the order of parts shipping instructions (the order of execution of the shipping plan) as the changed order.

[0055] Then, when the order of part outgoing instructions (the execution order of outgoing plans 28) is determined as described above, the outgoing instruction determination unit 34 outputs part outgoing instructions according to each outgoing plan 28 generated as described above to the signal generation unit 35 in the same order as the execution order of the corresponding outgoing plans 28. Note that the outgoing instructions output to the signal generation unit 35 at this time include information on at least the scheduled outgoing start time and scheduled outgoing end time of each corresponding part.

[0056] For example, when the execution order of each shipping plan 28 is determined to be the order displayed in the shipping instruction order display area 42 of FIG. 4, the shipping instruction determination unit 34 outputs shipping instructions 29 to the signal generation unit 35 instructing that all corresponding parts should be shipped together in manufacturing order units in the same order as the execution order of the corresponding shipping plans 28, as shown in FIG. 3(C), in accordance with each shipping plan 28 such as that shown in FIG. 3(B) generated based on each manufacturing instruction 27 of FIG. 3(A).

[0057] More specifically, the shipping instruction determination unit 34 first outputs a shipping instruction (a shipping instruction indicated by a circled number "1" in FIG. 3(C)) 29 indicating that the part "A1" and the part "B1" should be shipped to the signal generation unit 35, based on the shipping plan 28 indicated by the circled number "1" in FIG. 3(B). Thereafter, the shipping instruction determination unit 34 outputs a shipping instruction (a shipping instruction indicated by a circled number "2" in FIG. 3(C)) 29 indicating that the part "C1" should be shipped to the signal generation unit 35, based on the shipping plan 28 indicated by the circled number "2" in FIG. 3(B).

[0058] Furthermore, based on the shipping plan 28 indicated by the circled number "3" in Fig. 3(B), the shipping instruction determination unit 34 outputs to the signal generation unit 35 a shipping instruction 29 (a shipping instruction indicated by the circled number "3" in Fig. 3(C)) indicating that the parts "A2", "B2", and "C2" should be shipped. Based on the shipping plan 28 indicated by the circled number "4" in Fig. 3(B), the shipping instruction determination unit 34 outputs to the signal generation unit 35 a shipping instruction 29 (a shipping instruction indicated by the circled number "4" in Fig. 3(C)) indicating that the parts "A3" and "B3" should be shipped.

[0059] The signal generating unit 35 has the function of generating a shipping instruction signal S1 for controlling the automated warehouse 2 and a transport instruction signal S2 for controlling the AGV 3 based on the shipping instruction 29 given from the shipping instruction determining unit 34.

[0060] In practice, every time a shipping instruction 29 is given from the shipping instruction determination unit 34, the signal generation unit 35 generates a shipping instruction signal S1 to the effect that all parts specified in the shipping instruction 29 should be shipped, and transmits the generated shipping instruction signal S1 to the warehouse control unit 5B of the warehouse management and control system 5 via the signal output unit 36. The shipping instruction signal S1 includes information on the scheduled shipping start time and scheduled shipping end time of the corresponding parts.

[0061] Furthermore, based on the delivery instruction 29 given from the delivery instruction determination unit 34, the signal generation unit 35 generates a transport instruction signal S2 to instruct the AGV 3 to transport all parts specified in the delivery instruction 29 to a predetermined position via the corresponding AGV transport route 12 (FIG. 1), and transmits the generated transport instruction signal S2 to the AGV control unit 6B of the AGV operation management and control system 6 via the signal output unit 36. The transport instruction signal S2 includes information such as the scheduled delivery start time and scheduled delivery end time of the corresponding parts, and the production line 4 on which the corresponding production process should be performed.

[0062] Thus, as shown in FIG. 3(D), the warehouse control unit 5B manages the scheduled delivery start time for each part based on the delivery instruction signal S1 for each delivery instruction 29, and when the scheduled delivery start time for a part specified in any of the delivery instructions 29 arrives, it controls the automated warehouse 2 so that all parts specified in that delivery instruction signal S1 are delivered in pallet units.

[0063] Based on the transport instruction signal S2, the AGV control unit 6B controls any one of the AGVs 3 that is free at that time to transport the parts to be transported that have been removed from the automated warehouse 2 and arranged to a predetermined position corresponding to the corresponding production line 4. As a result, the parts that have been removed from the automated warehouse 2 and then arranged as described above are supplied to the corresponding production line 4, and the production of products using those parts is carried out on that production line 4.

[0064] (1-2) Processing Flow in the Manufacturing Execution System of the Present Embodiment Next, the flow of a series of processes (hereinafter referred to as the first manufacturing execution control process) that are periodically executed in the manufacturing execution system 8 to manufacture products based on the production plan created by the core system 7 will be described with reference to Figures 2 to 6.

[0065] 5 shows the flow of this first manufacturing execution control process. When this first manufacturing execution control process is started in manufacturing execution system 8, manufacturing plan acquisition unit 21 of MES basic unit 20 first acquires a production plan from enterprise system 7 (S1). Thereafter, sub-schedule creation unit 22 creates a sub-schedule for the next sub-schedule period based on this production plan (S2). Next, manufacturing instruction creation unit 23 creates manufacturing instructions 27 for each manufacturing process of the product based on this sub-schedule and stores the created manufacturing instructions 27 in manufacturing instruction storage area SA1 of memory (S3).

[0066] Furthermore, on the part of the item management system unit 30 of the manufacturing execution system 8, the manufacturing instruction acquisition unit 31 acquires each manufacturing instruction 27 for the next short schedule period stored in the manufacturing instruction storage area SA1, and based on each acquired manufacturing instruction 27, the outbound delivery plan generation unit 33, the outbound delivery instruction determination unit 34, the signal generation unit 35, and the signal output unit 36 ​​execute a first item management process (S4). This first item management process is a series of processes from the generation of the outbound delivery plan 28 for each manufacturing instruction 27 described above to the generation and output of the outbound delivery instruction signal S1 and the transport instruction signal S2, and the specific contents of this process will be described later.

[0067] Thereafter, when the scheduled start time for any of the manufacturing processes to be executed in the next short schedule period arrives, a message inquiring the worker as to whether or not to start work on that manufacturing process is displayed on the display device of the operation terminal 9. Then, the manufacturing instruction processing unit 24 of the MES basic unit 20 waits for the worker to perform a predetermined operation on the operation terminal 9 and input an instruction to start work on that manufacturing process into the operation terminal 9 (S5).

[0068] When an operator eventually issues an instruction to start work in that manufacturing process, a notification to that effect is given to the manufacturing instruction processing unit 24 via the shipping instruction determination unit 34. Upon receiving this notification, the manufacturing instruction processing unit 24 executes instruction processing to control the necessary equipment so that work in that manufacturing process is carried out in accordance with the manufacturing instruction 27 corresponding to that manufacturing process, on the premise that the parts necessary for that manufacturing process have already been shipped from the automated warehouse 2 and supplied to the corresponding manufacturing line 4 (S6).

[0069] Thereafter, the manufacturing instruction processing unit 24 waits for the work in the manufacturing process according to the manufacturing instruction 27 to be completed and for the operation of the corresponding equipment to be completed (S7), and when the work in the manufacturing process and the operation of the corresponding equipment are eventually completed, it determines whether or not there is a next manufacturing instruction 27 that has not been processed in step S6 and after (S8). If the manufacturing instruction processing unit 24 obtains a positive result in this determination, it returns to step S5, and thereafter repeats the processing of steps S5 to S8 until instruction processing based on all manufacturing instructions 27 to be executed in the current short schedule planning period is completed.

[0070] When the manufacturing instruction processing unit 24 obtains a negative result in step S8 as a result of completing instruction processing based on all manufacturing instructions 27 to be executed during the current short-term scheduling period, the manufacturing instruction processing unit 24 ends the processing. This ends the current first manufacturing execution control processing in the manufacturing execution system 8.

[0071] 6 shows specific processing details of the first item management process described above, which is executed in manufacturing execution system 8 in step S4 of the first manufacturing execution control process. This first item management process is started at a predetermined timing after the manufacturing instructions 27 for each manufacturing process to be executed in the next short schedule period, which have been created by manufacturing instruction creation unit 23 of MES basic unit 20, are stored in manufacturing instruction storage area SA1 of memory.

[0072] First, the manufacturing instruction acquisition unit 31 acquires all information on manufacturing instructions 27 for each manufacturing process stored in the manufacturing instruction storage SA1 of the memory, and outputs the acquired information to the outbound plan generation unit 33 (S10). Furthermore, the warehouse inventory information acquisition unit 32 acquires warehouse inventory information INF1 (FIG. 2) stored in the warehouse inventory information storage area SA2 of the memory, and outputs the acquired warehouse inventory information INF1 to the outbound plan generation unit 33 (S11).

[0073] Next, the shipping plan generating unit 33 checks the inventory of all parts required for the corresponding manufacturing process for each manufacturing instruction 27 based on the warehouse inventory information INF1 provided by the warehouse inventory information acquiring unit 32 (S12).

[0074] Furthermore, the shipping plan generation unit 33 generates shipping plans 28 for parts for each manufacturing order as described above with reference to FIG. 3(A) based on the manufacturing instructions 27 for each manufacturing process provided by the manufacturing instruction acquisition unit 31 (S13), and outputs each of the generated shipping plans 28 and information on the availability of stock of each part that is to be shipped in each of these shipping plans 28 to the shipping instruction determination unit 34 (S14).

[0075] The shipping instruction determination unit 34 generates the shipping plan list screen 40 described above in FIG. 4 based on the above-mentioned information provided by the shipping plan generation unit 33, and transmits the screen data of the generated shipping plan list screen 40 to the operation terminal 9, thereby displaying the shipping plan list screen 40 on the display device 9B of the operation terminal 9 (S15).

[0076] Thereafter, the shipping instruction determination unit 34 waits for the order in which shipping instructions for each part will be output (the order in which each shipping plan will be executed) to be determined by a predetermined operation by the user on the operation terminal 9 (S16). Then, when the order in which each shipping plan 28 will be executed is eventually determined, the shipping instruction determination unit 34 selects one shipping plan 28 with the earliest execution order from among the shipping plans 28 for which step S18 and subsequent steps have not been processed (S17).

[0077] Next, the shipping instruction determination unit 34 determines whether or not all parts to be shipped specified in the shipping plan selected in step S17 (hereinafter referred to as the selected shipping plan) 28 are in stock, based on the information on the availability of stock for each part provided by the shipping plan generation unit 33 in step S14 (S18).

[0078] If the outgoing instruction determination unit 34 obtains a positive result in this determination, it outputs a outgoing instruction 29 corresponding to the selected outgoing plan 28 to the signal generation unit 35. Thus, the signal generation unit 35 generates an outgoing instruction signal S1 and a transport instruction signal S2 in accordance with this outgoing instruction 29 (S19), and transmits the generated outgoing instruction signal S1 to the warehouse control unit 5B of the warehouse management and control system 5, and also transmits the generated transport instruction signal S2 to the AGV control unit 6B of the AGV operation management and control system 6 (S21).

[0079] On the other hand, if the outgoing instruction determination unit 34 obtains a negative result in the determination of step S18, it proceeds to step S (S20) without outputting the outgoing instruction 29 for the selected outgoing plan 28 to the signal generation unit 35. At this time, the outgoing instruction determination unit 34 notifies the operation terminal 9 that the creation of the outgoing instruction 29 for the selected outgoing plan 28 has been skipped, and causes the display device 9B to display a message or the like to that effect.

[0080] Thereafter, the shipping instruction determination unit 34 determines (S22) whether or not the processing of steps S17 to S21 has been completed for all shipping plans 28. If the shipping instruction determination unit 34 obtains a negative result in this determination, it returns to step S17, and thereafter repeats the processing of steps S17 to S22 while sequentially switching the shipping plan 28 selected in step S17 to other shipping plans 28 for which step S18 and subsequent steps have not been processed.

[0081] Then, when the shipping instruction determination unit 34 obtains a positive result in step S22 by completing the processing of steps S17 to S21 for all shipping plans 28, it ends the current series of processing. With this, the first item management processing ends.

[0082] (1-3) Effects of this embodiment As described above, the manufacturing execution system 8 of this embodiment generates a parts outbound delivery plan 28 for each production order and issues parts from the automated warehouse 2 in accordance with the generated outbound delivery plan 28, thereby reducing the number of times parts are issued from the automated warehouse 2 compared to the conventional method in which parts required for the next short-term scheduling period are issued from the automated warehouse 2 on a part-by-part basis.

[0083] Therefore, according to the present manufacturing execution system 8, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of waiting times in manufacturing operations due to waiting for parts to be delivered from the warehouse, thereby improving the efficiency of product manufacturing operations.

[0084] (2) Second embodiment (2-1) Configuration of the Manufacturing Execution System According to the Present Embodiment 1, the manufacturing system according to the second embodiment is generally designated by 50. This manufacturing system 50 has the same configuration as the manufacturing system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the configuration of the manufacturing execution system 51 is different.

[0085] 7, in which the same reference numerals are assigned to parts corresponding to those in Fig. 2, shows the logical configuration of a manufacturing execution system 51 according to this embodiment. This manufacturing execution system 51 differs from the manufacturing execution system 8 according to the first embodiment in that a priority information acquisition unit 53 and a prioritization master 54 are provided in an item management system unit 52, and in that the configurations of an outbound delivery plan generation unit 55 and an outbound delivery instruction determination unit 56 are different, but in other respects it is configured similarly to the manufacturing execution system 8 according to the first embodiment.

[0086] The priority information acquisition unit 53 is a functional unit that is realized by the CPU of the manufacturing execution system 51 executing a corresponding program stored in the memory of the manufacturing execution system 51 .

[0087] This priority information acquisition unit 53 has a function of periodically acquiring the progress rate of each manufacturing process currently being carried out (each manufacturing process in the current short-term planning period) based on the progress rate information INF3 provided by the process progress management unit 26 of the MES basic unit 20. Note that, in the following, it is assumed that the same manufacturing process is always executed in each manufacturing line 4 based on each short-term planning period created by the short-term planning creation unit 22.

[0088] Furthermore, when a part required for manufacturing a product is out of stock in equipment such as the manufacturing equipment on the manufacturing line 4, the equipment control device 17 sends out-of-stock information INF2 to that effect. The priority order acquisition unit 53 is also provided with a parts request sent from the operation terminal 9. This parts request is a request for delivery of a part required for the manufacturing process to be executed based on the next short-term schedule, which is sent from the operation terminal 9 in response to an operator's operation when, for example, the manufacturing process executed during the current short-term schedule period has finished earlier than planned.

[0089] The priority information acquisition unit 53 then outputs the acquired progress rate information INF3, the acquired stock-out information INF2, and the part request to the shipping plan generation unit 55.

[0090] Similar to the outbound delivery plan generation unit 33 ( FIG. 2 ) of the manufacturing execution system 8 of the first embodiment, the outbound delivery plan generation unit 55 has a function of generating, for each manufacturing order, an outbound delivery plan 28 for each part required in each manufacturing process to be executed in the next short-term schedule period, based on the manufacturing instructions 27 provided by the manufacturing instruction acquisition unit 31, and a function of checking whether these parts are in stock in the automated warehouse 2. The outbound delivery plan generation unit 55 outputs each generated outbound delivery plan 28 for each manufacturing order and information on whether each part is in stock to the outbound delivery instruction determination unit 56.

[0091] In addition, the shipping plan generation unit 55 of this embodiment also has a simulation function of performing a simulation to change the execution order of each generated shipping plan 28 as needed, by referring to the prioritization master 54, based on the remaining work time of each manufacturing process currently being performed (for the current short-term schedule planning period) given by the priority information acquisition unit 53, the stock-out information INF2, and the part requirements, and outputting the simulation result to the shipping instruction determination unit 56.

[0092] Here, the prioritization master 54 is information that specifies which information or request should be given priority when process progress information INF3, stockout information INF2, and part requests are given simultaneously to rearrange the execution order of the outbound plan 28 (i.e., the order in which outbound instructions 29 for the corresponding parts are output), and has a table structure with a summary column 54A and a priority column 54B, as shown in Fig. 8. This prioritization master 54 is stored and maintained in the memory of the manufacturing execution system 51.

[0093] The summary column 54A stores several events (hereinafter referred to as priority determination events) that should be used as reference when determining the execution order of each outbound delivery plan 28 for each manufacturing order 27 generated by the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55. In the case of this embodiment, four such priority determination events are defined: "manufacturing order," "out-of-stock," "parts request," and "process progress."

[0094] "Production instruction" represents the production instruction 27 given from the production instruction acquisition unit 31. The execution order of each shipping plan 28 is determined in principle according to the contents of the corresponding production instruction 27, so no priority is set.

[0095] Furthermore, "out of stock" represents the out of stock information INF2 sent from the equipment control device 17, and "parts request" represents the parts request sent from the operation terminal 9. Furthermore, "process progress" represents the progress rate of each manufacturing process currently being carried out, recognized based on the progress rate information INF3 from the process progress management unit 26 of the MES basic unit 20. In FIG. 8, "out of stock," "parts request," and "process progress" are set to "1," "2," and "3," respectively, so an example is shown in which the priority is set to "out of stock," "parts request," and "process progress" in that order.

[0096] Therefore, in the example of Figure 8, the shipping plan generation unit 55 is given only one type of information or request from the priority information acquisition unit 53, namely, stockout information INF2, part request, and process progress information, and when a request to run such a simulation is made by a worker, the shipping plan generation unit 55 runs a simulation to change the execution order of each shipping plan 28 from the original order to an order according to the information or request.

[0097] Additionally, the outgoing plan generating unit 55 also changes the scheduled outgoing start time and scheduled outgoing end time of the parts that are the subject of each outgoing plan 28 so that the scheduled outgoing start time and scheduled outgoing end time of the part corresponding to the outgoing plan 28 that has an earlier execution order are made earlier. At this time, if the information or request provided from the priority information acquiring unit 53 is stockout information INF2 and / or a parts request, the outgoing plan generating unit 55 changes the scheduled outgoing start time of that part to the current time so that the part corresponding to the stockout information INF2 and / or parts request is immediately shipped from the automated warehouse 2. Then, the outgoing plan generating unit 55 outputs the simulation results obtained in this manner to the outgoing instruction determining unit 56.

[0098] For example, when only process progress information is received from the priority information acquisition unit 53, the outgoing plan generation unit 55 executes a simulation to change the execution order of each outgoing plan 28 so that the execution order of the outgoing plan 28 corresponding to the manufacturing process with less remaining work time is made earlier. In addition, the outgoing plan generation unit 55 changes the scheduled outgoing start time of the parts to be outgoing of each outgoing plan 28 so that the parts to be outgoing of the outgoing plan 28 with an earlier execution order are outgoing earlier from the automated warehouse 2. Then, the outgoing plan generation unit 55 outputs the simulation result to the outgoing instruction determination unit 56.

[0099] Furthermore, when only one of stock-out information INF2 and a parts request is received from the priority order information acquisition unit 53, the outbound plan generation unit 55 rearranges the execution order of each outbound plan 28 so that the execution order of the outbound plan 28 for the part corresponding to the stock-out information INF2 or the parts request is the earliest, and performs a simulation to change the scheduled outbound start time of the part that is the subject of the stock-out information INF2 or the parts request to the current time. Then, the outbound plan generation unit 55 outputs the simulation result to the outbound instruction determination unit 56.

[0100] Furthermore, when the shipping plan generation unit 55 is given two or more of the stockout information INF2, part request and progress rate information INF3 from the priority information acquisition unit 53, it sequentially performs the above-mentioned simulations in order of information or requests with decreasing priority, and outputs the final simulation results to the shipping instruction determination unit 56.

[0101] The shipping instruction determination unit 56, like the shipping instruction determination unit 34 (FIG. 2) of the first embodiment, has the function of generating screen data for a shipping plan list screen similar to the shipping plan list screen 40 described above with reference to FIG. 4 based on the shipping plan 28 for each part given by the shipping plan generation unit 55 and the information on the availability of these parts in stock, and transmitting the generated screen data to the operation terminal 9, thereby displaying the shipping plan list screen on the display device 9B.

[0102] Furthermore, when the shipping instruction determination unit 56 receives the simulation results of a simulation in which the execution order of the shipping plan 28 has been changed from the shipping plan generation unit 55, the shipping instruction determination unit 56 generates screen data for a shipping plan list screen that also displays these results, and transmits the generated screen data to the operation terminal 9, thereby displaying the shipping plan list screen on the display device 9B.

[0103] FIG. 9 shows an example of the screen configuration of the shipping plan list screen 60 that is displayed on the display device 9B of the operation terminal 9 when the shipping plan generation unit 55 provides the simulation results of a simulation in which the execution order of the shipping plan 28 has been changed.

[0104] On the outbound delivery plan list screen 60, initially, an outbound delivery plan list 61 having the same configuration as the outbound delivery plan list 41 in Fig. 4, in which information on each outbound delivery plan 28 generated by the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 as described above is arranged in the order of the original execution order, is displayed in the upper section of the screen (hereinafter, this will be referred to as the pre-simulation outbound delivery plan list). The "original execution order" here refers to the execution order of the outbound delivery plans 28 determined by the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 based on the contents of each production order 27.

[0105] In addition, on the shipping plan list screen 60, the output order of shipping instructions 29 for each part (shipping instructions for parts according to each shipping plan 28) in accordance with the execution order of each shipping plan 28 is displayed in a first shipping instruction order display area 62 provided above the pre-simulation shipping plan list 61, in the same manner as the shipping instruction order display area 42 in Figure 4.

[0106] On the other hand, if the worker wants to check the results of the above-mentioned simulation, for example, when operating the operation terminal 9 to send a parts request to the manufacturing execution system 51, the worker clicks the simulation execution button 65 displayed in the lower right of the screen. As a result, if stockout information INF2, parts request, and / or progress rate information INF3 are currently provided to the outbound schedule generation unit 55, the manufacturing execution system 51 can execute the above-mentioned simulation taking into account the progress rate of each manufacturing process recognized based on the stockout information INF2, parts request, and / or progress rate information INF3.

[0107] 9, an outbound shipping plan list 63 having the same configuration as the pre-simulation outbound shipping plan list 61 and displaying the simulation results of the simulation is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Also, the output order of outbound shipping instructions 29 for each part (outbound shipping instructions for each part according to each outbound shipping plan 28) according to the execution order of each simulated outbound shipping plan 28 is displayed in a second outbound shipping instruction order display area 64 provided above the post-simulation outbound shipping plan list 63, similar to the first outbound shipping instruction order display area 62.

[0108] The worker then selects the output order of the shipping instructions 29 for each part based on the shipping plan 28 before or after the simulation by clicking either the first or second shipping instruction order display area 62, 64 on the shipping plan list screen 60, and thereafter clicks the shipping order determination button 66 provided at the bottom of the screen, thereby determining the output order of the shipping instructions 29 for each part (the execution order of each shipping plan 28) to the output order displayed in the first or second shipping instruction order display area 62, 64. At this time, the clicked first or second shipping instruction order display area 62, 64 is highlighted (for example, the frame color is changed to red) to indicate that it has been selected.

[0109] Once the output order of each shipping instruction 29 (the execution order of each shipping plan 28) has been determined as described above, the shipping instruction determination unit 56 outputs each of these shipping instructions 29 to the signal generation unit 35 in the determined output order.

[0110] Thereafter, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the signal generating unit 35 sequentially generates an outgoing instruction signal S1 for controlling the automated warehouse 2 and a transport instruction signal S2 for controlling the AGV 3 based on the outgoing instruction 29 given from the outgoing instruction determining unit 56. Then, the generated outgoing instruction signal S1 is transmitted to the warehouse control unit 5B of the warehouse management and control system 5, and the transport instruction signal S2 is transmitted to the AGV control unit 6B of the AGV operation management and control system 6.

[0111] The warehouse control unit 5B controls the automated warehouse 2 in accordance with the out-of-stock instruction signal S1 received from the manufacturing execution system 51, thereby causing the required parts to be shipped out from the automated warehouse 2 at the required timing. In this case, if the scheduled time to start shipping of the parts has already passed, for example, as in the case of an out-of-stock information INF2 or an out-of-stock instruction signal S1 based on a parts request, the warehouse control unit 5B controls the automated warehouse 2 to immediately ship the parts corresponding to the out-of-stock instruction signal S1.

[0112] The AGV control unit 6B also controls one of the AGVs 3 in accordance with the transport instruction signal S2 received from the manufacturing execution system 51, thereby transporting the part removed from the automated warehouse 2 to the corresponding predetermined position. In this case, if the scheduled time to start removing the part has already passed, for example, as in the case of a transport instruction signal S2 based on stockout information INF2 or a part request, the AGV control unit 6B controls the AGV 3 to immediately transport the part that has been removed from the automated warehouse 2 and for which arrangement, etc., has been completed, corresponding to the transport instruction signal S2, to the predetermined position.

[0113] As a result, parts corresponding to the stock-out information INF2 and the part request are immediately supplied to the corresponding production line 4, etc.

[0114] (2-2) Processing Flow in the Manufacturing Execution System of the Present Embodiment Next, with reference to Figures 3 and 7 to 11B, we will explain the flow of a series of processes (hereinafter referred to as second manufacturing execution control processes) that are periodically executed in the manufacturing execution system 51 to manufacture products based on a production plan created by the core system 7.

[0115] Fig. 10 shows the flow of the second manufacturing execution control process. Note that, since the second manufacturing execution control process is the same as the first manufacturing execution control process described above with reference to Fig. 5 except for the processing content of step S33, a description of the processing content other than step S33 will be omitted.

[0116] 11A and 11B show specific processing details of the second item management process executed by the manufacturing execution system 51 in step S33 of the second manufacturing execution control process. This second item management process is started at a predetermined timing after the manufacturing instructions 27 for each manufacturing process to be executed in the next short schedule planning period, which have been created by the manufacturing instruction creation unit 23 of the MES basic unit 20, are stored in the manufacturing instruction storage area SA1 of the memory.

[0117] Then, first, the shipping plan generation unit 55 acquires information from the prioritization master 54 (S40), and then steps S41 to S46 are executed in the same manner as steps S10 to S15 of the first goods management process described above with reference to Fig. 6. As a result, the shipping plan list screen 60, on which only the pre-simulation shipping plan list 61 and the first shipping instruction sequence display area 62 described above with reference to Fig. 9 are displayed, is displayed on the display device 9B of the operation terminal 9.

[0118] Next, the shipping instruction determination unit 56 determines whether the execution order of each shipping plan 28 has been determined by clicking the shipping order determination button 66 on the shipping plan list screen 60 (S47). If the determination returns a negative result, the shipping instruction determination unit 56 determines whether the simulation execution button 65 on the shipping plan list screen 60 has been clicked (S48).

[0119] If the delivery instruction determination unit 56 obtains a negative result in this determination, it returns to step S47, and thereafter repeats the loop of step S47-step S48-step S47 until a positive result is obtained in either step S47 or step S48.

[0120] When the shipping instruction determination unit 56 obtains a positive result in step S47 by clicking the shipping order determination button 66 on the shipping plan list screen 60, the shipping instruction determination unit 56 proceeds to step S59. When the shipping instruction determination unit 56 obtains a positive result in step S48 by clicking the simulation execution button 65 on the shipping plan list screen 60, the shipping instruction determination unit 56 instructs the shipping plan generation unit 55 to execute a simulation.

[0121] Upon receiving this instruction, the shipping plan generation unit 55 acquires the progress rate of each manufacturing process currently being executed (each manufacturing process in the current short-term planning period) from the priority information acquisition unit 53 (S49), and calculates the remaining working time of each manufacturing process based on the acquired progress rate of each manufacturing process using the above-mentioned formula (1) (S50).

[0122] Then, based on the calculated remaining work time for each manufacturing process, the shipping plan generation unit 55 rearranges the execution order of each shipping plan 28 generated for the next short schedule planning period so that the execution order of the shipping plan 28 corresponding to the manufacturing process with the less remaining work time is made earlier, and also performs a simulation to change the scheduled shipping start time and scheduled shipping end time of the corresponding parts (S51).

[0123] Next, the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 determines whether or not a part request has been given from the priority order information obtaining unit 53 at that time (S52). If the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 obtains a negative result in this determination, the unit proceeds to step S54. On the other hand, if the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 obtains a positive result in the determination in step S52, the unit executes a simulation based on the simulation results of step S51, in which the execution order of each outbound delivery plan 28 is changed so that the execution order of the outbound delivery plan 28 for the part for which the part request has been given is the earliest. At this time, the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 changes the scheduled outbound delivery start time of the part in the corresponding outbound delivery plan 28 so that the scheduled outbound delivery start time of the part for which the part request has been given is set to the current time (S53).

[0124] Next, the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 determines whether stockout information INF2 has been provided by the priority information obtaining unit 53 at that time (S54). If the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 obtains a negative result in this determination, the unit proceeds to step S56. On the other hand, if the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 obtains a positive result in the determination in step S54, the unit rearranges the execution order of each outbound delivery plan 28 so that the outbound delivery plan 28 corresponding to the out-of-stock part recognized based on the simulation result of step S52 (or the simulation result of step S51 if the processing of step S52 has not been performed) is executed earliest. At this time, the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 changes the scheduled outbound delivery start time of the out-of-stock part in the corresponding outbound delivery plan 28 so that the scheduled outbound delivery start time of that part is set to the current time (S55).

[0125] Thereafter, the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 determines whether or not the processes of steps S52 and S53 for all part requests and the processes of steps S54 and S55 for all out-of-stock information INF2 have been completed (S56). If the outbound delivery plan generating unit 55 obtains a negative result in this determination, it returns to step S52, and thereafter repeats the processes of steps S52 to S56 until it obtains a positive result in step S56.

[0126] Then, when the outbound delivery plan generation unit 55 eventually obtains a positive result in step S56 by completing the processes of steps S52 and S53 for all part requests and the processes of steps S54 and S55 for all stockout information INF2, it transmits the execution sequence of each outbound delivery plan 28 obtained as described above to the outbound delivery instruction determination unit 56. Furthermore, the outbound delivery instruction determination unit 56 generates an outbound delivery plan list screen 60 displaying a post-simulation outbound delivery plan list 63 and an outbound delivery instruction sequence display area 64 based on the above-mentioned simulation results provided from the outbound delivery plan generation unit 55, and transmits the screen data to the operation terminal 9. As a result, the outbound delivery plan list screen 60 displaying the post-simulation outbound delivery plan list 63 in addition to the pre-simulation outbound delivery plan list 61 is displayed on the display device 9B of the operation terminal 9 (S57).

[0127] The shipping instruction determination unit 56 then waits for the worker to perform a predetermined operation on the operation terminal 9 to select either the output order of the part shipping instructions 29 before the simulation (the execution order of the original shipping plan 28) or the output order of the part shipping instructions 29 after the simulation in which the output order of the part shipping instructions 29 has been swapped (the simulation result in which the execution order of the shipping plan 28 has been swapped) (S58).

[0128] Then, when the worker selects either the output order of the part shipping instructions 29 before the simulation or the output order of the part shipping instructions 29 after the simulation, steps S59 to S64 are executed in the same manner as steps S17 to S22 in the first embodiment, and then this second shipping plan generation process ends.

[0129] (2-3) Effects of this embodiment With the manufacturing execution system 51 of this embodiment having the above configuration, a production line 4 with less remaining work time can be supplied with parts sooner, taking into consideration that the production line 4 will be ready for production work in the next short-term schedule period. Furthermore, with this manufacturing execution system 51, necessary parts can be immediately shipped out of stock in response to stockout information INF2 from the equipment control device 17 or parts requests from workers, without waiting for the next short-term schedule period.

[0130] Therefore, according to the manufacturing execution system 51 of this embodiment, the manufacturing work of the product can be made more efficient.

[0131] (3) Third embodiment (3-1) Configuration of the Manufacturing Execution System According to the Present Embodiment 1, the manufacturing system according to the second embodiment is generally designated by 70. This manufacturing system 70 has the same configuration as the manufacturing system 50 of the second embodiment, except that the configuration of the manufacturing execution system 71 is different.

[0132] 12, in which the same reference numerals are assigned to parts corresponding to those in Fig. 7, shows the logical configuration of a manufacturing execution system 71 according to this embodiment. This manufacturing execution system 71 has the same configuration as the manufacturing execution system 51 according to the second embodiment, except that the configurations of the shipping plan generation unit 73 and the shipping instruction determination unit 74 of the item management system unit 72 are different.

[0133] In practice, in the case of the manufacturing execution system 71 of this embodiment, the outbound delivery plan generation unit 73, like the outbound delivery plan generation unit 33 (FIG. 2) of the manufacturing execution system 8 of the first embodiment, has a function of generating, for each manufacturing order, an outbound delivery plan 28 (FIG. 3(B)) of parts required in each manufacturing process to be executed in the next short-term schedule period based on the manufacturing instructions 27 (FIG. 3(A)) provided by the manufacturing instruction acquisition unit 31, and a function of checking whether these parts are in stock at the automated warehouse 2. The outbound delivery plan generation unit 73 outputs each outbound delivery plan 28 for each manufacturing order thus generated and information on whether the parts are in stock at the automated warehouse 2 to the outbound delivery instruction determination unit 74.

[0134] In addition, the outbound delivery plan generating unit 73 of this embodiment also has an automatic determination function that determines whether the number of times parts are shipped in the next short-term scheduling period will be smaller if the outbound delivery plan 28 is generated on a production order basis or if the outbound delivery plan 28 is generated on a part-by-part basis as in the conventional case.

[0135] In this case, the number of times parts are shipped when the shipping plan 28 is generated on a manufacturing order basis is the same as the number of manufacturing orders 27 for the next short-term planning period, and the number of times parts are shipped when the shipping plan 28 is generated on a part-by-part basis is the same as the number of parts to be shipped from the automated warehouse 2 in the next short-term planning period.

[0136] Therefore, the outbound delivery plan generating unit 73 makes the above-mentioned determination by comparing the number of such manufacturing orders 27 with the number of such parts. When the outbound delivery plan 28 is generated for each manufacturing order, the outbound delivery plans 28 for multiple parts are combined into one outbound delivery plan 28, so that the number of deliveries for the former is usually less than the number of deliveries for the latter.

[0137] Furthermore, if the outbound delivery plan generating unit 73 determines that generating outbound delivery plans 28 on a manufacturing order basis results in fewer part outbound deliveries than generating outbound delivery plans 28 on a part-by-part basis, it executes a simulation to change the execution order of each outbound delivery plan 28 generated on a manufacturing order basis as needed based on the remaining operation time of each currently executed manufacturing process provided by the priority information acquiring unit 53, the stock-out information INF2 and part requests, and the prioritization master 54. The outbound delivery plan generating unit 73 then outputs the results of this simulation to the outbound delivery instruction determining unit 74.

[0138] On the other hand, if the output plan generation unit 73 determines that generating an output plan 28 on a part-by-part basis results in fewer parts being shipped than generating an output plan 28 on a manufacturing order-by-manufacturing order basis, it generates an output plan 28 on a part-by-part basis, and performs a simulation to rearrange the execution order of each generated output plan 28 as necessary based on the remaining work time of each currently executed manufacturing process given by the priority information acquisition unit 53, the stock-out information INF2 and part requests, and the prioritization master 54, and outputs the simulation results to the output instruction determination unit 74.

[0139] Similar to the outbound delivery instruction determination unit 34 (FIG. 2) of the first embodiment, the outbound delivery instruction determination unit 74 has a function of generating screen data for an outbound delivery plan list screen 80 shown in FIG. 13 in which the same reference numerals are used to denote parts corresponding to those in FIG. 9, based on information on each outbound delivery plan 28 for each manufacturing order unit provided by the outbound delivery plan generation unit 73 and information on the availability of stock of each part to be shipped in these outbound delivery plans 28, and transmitting the generated screen data to the operation terminal 9, thereby displaying the outbound delivery plan list screen 80 on the display device 9B.

[0140] This outbound delivery plan list screen 80 has the same configuration as the outbound delivery plan list screen 60 described above with reference to Fig. 9, except that an automatic determination button 81 is provided at the bottom of the screen. This automatic determination button 81 is a button for turning on the automatic determination function of the outbound delivery plan generation unit 73 described above.

[0141] Then, when the automatic determination button 81 is clicked on the shipping plan list screen 80 displayed on the display device 9B of the operation terminal 9 to set the automatic determination function of the shipping plan generation unit 73 to ON, and then the simulation execution button 65 is clicked, the shipping instruction determination unit 74 notifies the shipping plan generation unit 73 of this.

[0142] When receiving this notification, the outbound delivery plan generation unit 73 executes the above-mentioned processing based on the automatic determination function, and when it determines that in the next sub-schedule planning period, generating outbound delivery plans 28 on a manufacturing order basis will result in fewer parts being shipped than generating outbound delivery plans 28 on a part-by-part basis, it executes the above-mentioned simulation to change the execution order of each outbound delivery plan 28 generated on a manufacturing order basis as necessary, and outputs the simulation results to the outbound delivery instruction determination unit 74.

[0143] Furthermore, when the outbound shipping plan generating unit 73 determines that generating outbound shipping plans 28 on a part-by-part basis will result in fewer part shipments in the next short schedule planning period than generating outbound shipping plans 28 on a manufacturing order-by-manufacturing order basis, it generates outbound shipping plans 28 on a part-by-part basis, executes a simulation to change the execution order of each generated outbound shipping plan 28 as necessary, and outputs the simulation results to the outbound shipping instruction determining unit 74.

[0144] Then, based on the simulation results thus provided by the shipping plan generation unit 73, the shipping instruction determination unit 74 generates screen data for an shipping plan list screen 80 in which a post-simulation shipping plan list and a second shipping instruction order display area similar to the post-simulation shipping plan list 63 and the second shipping instruction order display area 64 of the shipping plan list screen 60 described above with reference to Figure 9 are displayed at the bottom of the screen, and transmits the generated screen data to the operation terminal 9.

[0145] As a result, for example, when the outbound shipping plan generation unit 73 provides the results of a simulation in which the execution order of each outbound shipping plan 28 generated for each manufacturing order is changed as necessary, a post-simulation outbound shipping plan list similar to the post-simulation outbound shipping plan list 63 in FIG. 9 in which detailed information about each outbound shipping plan 28 for each manufacturing order is arranged in the execution order after the simulation, and a second outbound shipping instruction order display area similar to the second outbound shipping instruction order display area 64 in FIG. 9 in which the order of each outbound shipping instruction according to these outbound shipping plans 28 is displayed, is displayed in the lower part of the screen of the outbound shipping plan list screen 80.

[0146] Furthermore, when the output plan generation unit 73 provides the results of a simulation in which the execution order of each output plan 28 generated on a part-by-part basis is changed as necessary, the lower section of the output plan list screen 80 displays a post-simulation output plan list similar to the post-simulation output plan list 63 in Figure 9 in which detailed information about each output plan 28 on a part-by-part basis is arranged in the execution order after the simulation, and a second output instruction order display area similar to the second output instruction order display area 64 in Figure 9 in which the order of each output instruction according to these output plans 28 is displayed.

[0147] Then, in the same way as in the second embodiment, the worker can then determine the output order of each shipping instruction 29 (FIG. 3(C)) corresponding to each shipping plan 28 for each production instruction or part, and each shipping instruction 29 is output to the signal generating unit 35 in the determined output order. Then, thereafter, the same processing as in the second embodiment is performed in the manufacturing execution system 71, whereby the required parts are shipped from the automated warehouse 2 at the required timing and supplied to the corresponding manufacturing line 4.

[0148] (3-2) Processing Flow in the Manufacturing Execution System of the Present Embodiment Next, with reference to Figures 12 to 16, we will explain the flow of a series of processes (hereinafter referred to as the third manufacturing execution control process) that are periodically executed in the manufacturing execution system 51 to manufacture products based on a production plan created by the core system 7.

[0149] Fig. 14 shows the flow of the third manufacturing execution control process. Note that, since the third manufacturing execution control process is the same as the first manufacturing execution control process described above with reference to Fig. 5 except for step S73, a description of each step other than step S73 will be omitted.

[0150] 15A to 15C show specific processing details of the third item management process executed by the manufacturing execution system 71 in step S73 of the third manufacturing execution control process. This third item management process is started at a predetermined timing after the manufacturing instructions 27 for each manufacturing process to be executed in the next short schedule planning period, which have been created by the manufacturing instruction creation unit 23 of the MES basic unit 20, are stored in the manufacturing instruction storage area SA1 of the memory.

[0151] Then, first, steps S80 to S86 are executed in the same manner as steps S40 to S46 of the second goods management process described above with reference to Fig. 11A. As a result, the shipping plan list screen 80 described above with reference to Fig. 13 is displayed on the display device 9B of the operation terminal 9.

[0152] Next, the shipping instruction determination unit 74 determines whether the shipping order determination button 66 on the shipping plan list screen 80 has been clicked, thereby determining the execution order of each shipping plan 28 (S87). If the determination result is negative, the shipping instruction determination unit 56 determines whether the simulation execution button 65 on the shipping plan list screen 60 has been clicked (S88).

[0153] If the shipping instruction determination unit 74 obtains a negative result in this determination, it returns to step S87, and thereafter repeats the loop of step S87-step S88-step S87 until a positive result is obtained in either step S87 or step S88.

[0154] Then, if the shipping order determination button 66 on the shipping plan list screen 80 is clicked and a positive result is obtained in step S87, the process proceeds to step S109.

[0155] Furthermore, if a positive result is obtained in step S88 by clicking the simulation execution button 65 on the shipping plan list screen 80, the shipping instruction determination unit 74 determines whether the automatic determination button 81 on the shipping plan list screen 80 has been clicked and the automatic determination function of the shipping plan generation unit 73 has been set to on (S89).

[0156] If the outgoing instruction determination unit 74 obtains a negative result in this determination, it requests the outgoing plan generation unit 73 to execute a simulation for changing the execution order of the outgoing plan 28 for each production instruction as necessary (S90).

[0157] Thus, based on this request, the processes of steps S49 to S62 of the second item management process described above with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B are similarly executed (S100), after which the third item management process ends.

[0158] In response to this, if the departing instruction determination unit 74 obtains a positive result in the determination at step S89, it requests the departing plan generation unit 73 to execute processing based on the above-mentioned automatic determination function (S91).

[0159] Upon receiving this request, the shipping plan generation unit 73 acquires the progress rate of each currently ongoing manufacturing process via the priority information acquisition unit 53 (S92), and calculates the remaining working time of each currently ongoing manufacturing process based on these acquired progress rates using the above-mentioned equation (1) (S93).

[0160] Next, based on the remaining work time of each manufacturing process calculated in step S93, the shipping plan generation unit 73 rearranges the execution order of each shipping plan 28 generated for the next short schedule planning period so that the shipping plan 28 corresponding to the manufacturing process with the least remaining work time among the shipping plans 28 for each manufacturing order is executed earliest (so that the execution order of that shipping plan 28 becomes the first), and also performs a simulation to change the scheduled shipping start time and scheduled shipping end time of the corresponding parts (S94).

[0161] Next, the outbound delivery plan generation unit 73 calculates the number of deliveries of parts from the automated warehouse 2 in the next short-term planning period in accordance with each outbound delivery plan 28 for each manufacturing order (S95). As described above, this number of deliveries is the same as the number of manufacturing orders for the next short-term planning period (the number of items in the outbound delivery plan 28 for each manufacturing order), so the outbound delivery plan generation unit 73 counts this number.

[0162] Furthermore, the outbound delivery plan generating unit 73 calculates the number of times that the parts will be delivered from the automated warehouse 2 in the next short-term planning period when an outbound delivery plan for each part is generated and executed on a part-by-part basis (S96). As described above, this number of deliveries is the same as the number of parts to be delivered from the automated warehouse 2 in the next short-term planning period, so the outbound delivery plan generating unit 73 counts this number.

[0163] Then, the shipping plan generation unit 73 compares the number of shipments obtained in step S95 with the number of shipments obtained in step S96 (S97), and determines the shipping plan 28 with the larger number of shipments as the shipping plan for the parts in the next short-term planning period (S98).

[0164] Next, the outbound delivery plan generation unit 73 determines whether or not the outbound delivery plan 28 determined in step S98 is the outbound delivery plan 28 generated for each production order (S99). If a positive result is obtained in this determination, the processes of steps S49 to S62 of the second item management process described above with reference to Figures 11A and 11B are executed in the same manner as described above (S100), and then the third item management process ends.

[0165] On the other hand, if the determination in step S99 is affirmative, the outbound delivery plan generation unit 73 generates an outbound delivery plan 28 for each part, as shown in FIG. 16(B), and arranges the generated outbound delivery plans 28 in the order in which the corresponding outbound delivery plans 28 for each manufacturing order were rearranged by the simulation in step S94 (S101).

[0166] Thereafter, steps S102 to S107 are executed for these part-based shipping plans 28 in the same manner as steps S52 to S57 in Fig. 11B. As a result, based on the processing results of steps S102 to S106, in step S107, a post-simulation shipping plan list listing detailed information about each part-based shipping plan 28 and a second shipping instruction order display area displaying the output order of each shipping instruction 29 corresponding to each part-based shipping plan 28 are displayed in the lower part of the shipping plan list screen 80 described above with reference to Fig. 13.

[0167] The shipping instruction determination unit 73 then waits for the worker to perform a predetermined operation on the operation terminal 9 to select either the output order of the part shipping instructions 29 before the simulation (the execution order of the original shipping plan 28) or the output order of the part shipping instructions 29 after the simulation in which the output order of the part shipping instructions 29 has been swapped (the simulation result in which the execution order of the shipping plan 28 has been swapped) (S108).

[0168] Then, when the worker eventually selects either the output order of part shipping instructions 29 before the simulation or the output order of part shipping instructions 29 after the simulation, steps S109 to S114 are executed in the same manner as steps S58 to S62 in Fig. 11B. Note that steps S109 to S114 are executed for each shipping plan 28 for each part when proceeding from step S108 to step S109, and are executed for each shipping plan for each production order when proceeding from step S100 to step S109.

[0169] Then, for example, when steps S109 to S114 are executed for each part-based shipping plan 28, in step S112, as shown in Figure 16 (C), shipping instructions 29 corresponding to each part-based shipping instruction 29 are output in sequence from the shipping instruction determination unit 74 to the signal generation unit 35.

[0170] Furthermore, in step S112, a shipping instruction signal S1 (FIG. 12) and a transport instruction signal S2 (FIG. 12) based on these part-by-part shipping instructions 28 are generated by the signal generating unit 35 and given to the warehouse control unit 5B (FIG. 12) of the warehouse management and control system 5 (FIG. 12) and the AGV control unit 6B (FIG. 12) of the AGV operation management and control system 6 (FIG. 12), and based on these shipping instruction signal S1 and transport instruction signal S2, each part is shipped out of the automated warehouse 2 and supplied to the corresponding production line 4, as shown in FIG. 16(D).

[0171] Then, when the processing of steps S109 to S113 is completed and a positive result is obtained in step S114, this third parts management processing ends.

[0172] (3-3) Effects of this embodiment According to manufacturing execution system 71 of this embodiment having the above configuration, of parts shipping plan 28 on a production order basis and parts shipping plan 28 on a part basis, the one with the fewer number of parts shipping times is adopted as shipping plan 28 for the next short schedule planning period, and therefore the total time required for parts shipping can be reduced.

[0173] Therefore, according to this manufacturing execution system 71, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of waiting times in manufacturing operations due to waiting for parts to be delivered from the warehouse, thereby making the efficiency of product manufacturing operations even greater.

[0174] (4) Other embodiments In the above-described first to third embodiments, the manufacturing execution systems 8, 51, and 71 are described as being configured using a single computer device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the manufacturing execution systems 8, 51, and 71 may be configured using a distributed computing system made up of multiple computer devices.

[0175] In addition, in the above-mentioned first to third embodiments, the case where the shipping instruction determination units 34, 56, 74 have the function of a display unit that displays necessary information on the display device 9B of the operation terminal 9 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the shipping plan generation units 33, 55, 73 may have the function of such a display unit, and further, the shipping instruction determination units 34, 56, 74 may all have the function of the shipping plan generation units 33, 55, 73.

[0176] Furthermore, in the above-described first to third embodiments, the information to be taken into consideration in prioritizing the execution order of the multiple shipping plans 28 generated by the shipping plan generation units 33, 55, 73 is the progress rate of each manufacturing process currently being carried out and the stock-out information INF2 sent from the equipment control device 17 when a part required for manufacturing the product is out of stock, and the request to be taken into consideration in performing such prioritization is a part request sent from the operation terminal 9 in response to a predetermined operation by the worker, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various other information and requests can be widely applied as the information and request to be taken into consideration in performing such prioritization. [Industrial Applicability]

[0177] The present invention can be widely applied to various parts management devices that manage the delivery of parts stored in a warehouse. [Explanation of symbols]

[0178] 1... Manufacturing system, 2... Automated warehouse, 3... AGV, 4... Manufacturing line, 5... Warehouse management and control system, 5B... Warehouse control unit, 6... AGV operation management and control system, 6B... AGV control unit, 7... Core system, 8, 51, 71... Manufacturing execution system, 9... Operation terminal, 9B... Display device, 20... MES basic unit, 22... Short-term schedule planning unit, 23... Manufacturing instruction creation unit, 25... Operation results import unit, 26... Process progress management unit, 27...Manufacturing instruction, 28...Shipping plan, 29...Shipping instruction, 30, 52, 72...Item management system section, 33, 55, 73...Shipping plan generation section, 34, 56, 74...Shipping instruction determination section, 35...Signal generation section, 36...Signal output section, 40, 60, 80...Shipping plan list screen, 54...Prioritization master, INF1...Warehouse inventory information, INF2...Operation performance information, INF3...Progress rate information, S1...Shipping instruction signal, S2...Transport instruction signal.

Claims

1. In a parts management device that manages the delivery of parts stored in a warehouse, a manufacturing instruction acquisition unit that acquires manufacturing instructions that are created in association with each manufacturing process of a product to be executed in the next predetermined period and that indicate the content of the manufacturing process; a shipping plan generation unit that generates, for each of the manufacturing instructions, a shipping plan that summarizes plans for shipping all of the parts required in the manufacturing process corresponding to the manufacturing instruction; a signal generating unit that generates, based on each of the shipping plans, a shipping instruction signal that instructs shipping of the corresponding part from the warehouse; a signal output unit that outputs the leaving instruction signal generated by the signal generation unit; A parts management device comprising:

2. a priority information acquisition unit that acquires information and / or requirements to be taken into consideration in prioritizing the execution order of the plurality of outbound plans generated by the outbound plan generation unit; a display unit that displays necessary information on a predetermined display device; The shipping plan generation unit executing a simulation for changing the execution order of the generated plurality of outbound plans as necessary based on the information and / or the request acquired by the priority order information acquisition unit; The display unit The simulation result of the simulation is displayed on the display device.

2. The parts management device according to claim 1.

3. a prioritization master in which a priority is defined for each of the information and / or each of the requests; The shipping plan generation unit Based on the information and / or the request acquired by the priority information acquisition unit, the simulation is executed by referring to the prioritization master and changing the execution order of the plurality of shipping plans as necessary.

3. The parts management device according to claim 2.

4. The display unit The execution order of the outbound planning before the execution of the simulation and the execution order of the outbound planning after the execution of the simulation are displayed on the display device, and one selected is determined as the execution order of the outbound planning for the next predetermined period.

3. The parts management device according to claim 2.

5. The information to be considered in order to prioritize the execution order of the plurality of outbound plans is: At least one of information on the progress rate of each of the manufacturing processes in the current predetermined period and stock-out information indicating a shortage of the part in the facility, The requirements to be considered for prioritizing the execution order of the plurality of outbound plans are: A request for delivery of the part given by the user.

3. The parts management device according to claim 2.

6. The outbound plan generation unit generating the outsourcing plan for each of the parts required for each of the manufacturing processes of the product to be executed in the next predetermined period; The number of times the parts will be shipped from the warehouse to be executed in the next predetermined period based on the generated shipping plan for each part is compared with the number of times the parts will be shipped from the warehouse to be executed in the next predetermined period based on the shipping plan for each manufacturing order, and the shipping plan for each part or each manufacturing order with the fewer number of times of shipping is determined as the shipping plan for the parts in the next predetermined period.

2. The parts management device according to claim 1.

7. A parts management method executed by a parts management device that manages the delivery of parts stored in a warehouse, comprising: a first step of acquiring manufacturing instructions that are created in association with each manufacturing process of a product to be executed in a next predetermined period and that indicate the content of the manufacturing process; a second step of generating, for each of the manufacturing instructions, a shipping plan that summarizes plans for shipping all of the parts required in the manufacturing process corresponding to the manufacturing instruction; a third step of generating a shipping instruction signal instructing shipping of the corresponding part from the warehouse based on each of the shipping plans; a fourth step of outputting the generated departure instruction signal; A parts management method comprising:

8. In the first step, the parts management device Obtaining information and / or requirements to be taken into consideration for prioritizing the execution order of the generated plurality of outbound plans; In the second step, the parts management device Based on the acquired information and / or request, a simulation is performed to change the execution order of the generated plurality of outbound plans as necessary; The simulation results are displayed on a display device.

8. The parts management method according to claim 7.

9. The parts management device a prioritization master in which a priority is defined for each of the information and / or each of the requests; In the second step, the parts management device Based on the acquired information and / or the request, the simulation is executed to change the execution order of the plurality of shipping plans as necessary by referring to the prioritization master.

9. The parts management method according to claim 8.

10. The parts management device The execution order of the outbound planning before the execution of the simulation and the execution order of the outbound planning after the execution of the simulation are displayed on the display device, and one selected is determined as the execution order of the outbound planning for the next predetermined period.

9. The parts management method according to claim 8.

11. The information to be considered in order to prioritize the execution order of the plurality of outbound plans is: At least one of information on the progress rate of each of the manufacturing processes in the current predetermined period and stock-out information indicating a shortage of the part in the facility, The requirements to be considered for prioritizing the execution order of the plurality of outbound plans are: A request for delivery of the part given by the user.

9. The parts management method according to claim 8.

12. In the second step, the parts management device generating the outsourcing plan for each of the parts required for each of the manufacturing processes of the product to be executed in the next predetermined period; The number of times the parts will be shipped from the warehouse to be executed in the next predetermined period based on the generated shipping plan for each part is compared with the number of times the parts will be shipped from the warehouse to be executed in the next predetermined period based on the shipping plan for each manufacturing order, and the shipping plan for each part or each manufacturing order with the fewer number of times of shipping is determined as the shipping plan for the parts in the next predetermined period.

8. The parts management method according to claim 7.

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