Bill of Material Synchronization via Revision History Comparison
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of updating and verifying bills of material between multiple systems, particularly when engineering and manufacturing departments make changes, leads to difficulties in ensuring synchronization and accuracy across different systems.
Innovation Solution
A method and system using a physical computing system to synchronize source and target bills of material by receiving tree structures, calculating changes, and updating nodes based on revision histories, ensuring accurate synchronization through recursion and comparison of changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual verification methods are used to synchronize bills of material between multiple systems, then data accuracy can be maintained, but the complexity of the synchronization process increases and time consumption rises
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary verification system that acts as a mediator between the source system and target system. This intermediary automatically compares bill of material data, identifies discrepancies, and manages the synchronization process, thereby maintaining data accuracy while reducing the complexity of direct manual verification between multiple systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service synchronization by automatically detecting changes in the source system and propagating them to target systems without requiring manual intervention. The automated verification process compares data structures, identifies modifications, and updates target systems autonomously, maintaining accuracy while simplifying the overall process.
2Loss of time
If automated synchronization methods are implemented between multiple systems, then time consumption is reduced, but the risk of verification errors and data inconsistency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the automated synchronization system continuously monitors for changes in the source system, verifies the nature of changes against predefined criteria, and only propagates valid modifications to target systems. This feedback loop ensures that automated processes maintain reliability by validating each synchronization action before execution.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary verification actions before executing synchronization. It pre-compares data structures, validates change types, and checks compatibility rules before applying updates to target systems. This preliminary action prevents verification errors by ensuring only valid changes are propagated, maintaining reliability while keeping the process automated and time-efficient.
3Measurement precision
If frequent synchronization checks are performed to maintain data accuracy, then data consistency is improved, but the computational resources and processing time required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic synchronization checks rather than continuous monitoring. The system schedules verification operations at intervals, comparing source and target systems at predetermined times. This periodic action maintains data consistency through regular updates while significantly reducing computational resource consumption compared to continuous real-time synchronization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial synchronization by focusing verification efforts only on specific data elements that are likely to change or are critical to the business process. Rather than checking every single data point in the bill of material, it targets key modification points, maintaining data consistency for critical information while reducing overall computational resource requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A method performed by a computing system configured to synchronize a source bill of material with a target bill of material includes, in response to a determination by the physical computing system that a revision has been applied to a source node from a tree structure representing the source bill of material since a corresponding target node from a tree structure representing the target bill of material was last updated, calculating a change from the source node to the target node with the physical computing system, and updating, with the physical computing system, the target node with the revision if the calculated change matches a stored difference derived from a revision history associated with the source bill of material.