Conveyance Route Capacity Assignment for Lower-Cost Material Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing conveyance systems in factories and warehouses face challenges in reducing costs while maintaining conveyance efficiency, as existing methods do not effectively combine various conveyance devices like conveyance vehicles, unidirectional conveyors, and omnidirectional conveyors to optimize route design.
Innovation Solution
A conveyance route design device that determines improvement target places and assigns conveyance devices of lower capacity to specific routes, using a determination unit to identify areas for device changes and an assignment unit to allocate less expensive conveyance vehicles or conveyors, thereby reducing costs without compromising efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high-capacity conveyance devices are used in all routes, then conveyance efficiency is maintained, but system cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by matching conveyance device capacity to the specific requirements of each route based on object flow volume. High-capacity devices are deployed only where necessary, while low-capacity devices serve routes with smaller flows, optimizing the balance between conveyance efficiency and system cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of device capacity selection from a uniform high-capacity approach to a variable approach based on route-specific flow characteristics. By analyzing object movement history and determining appropriate device capacities for different routes, the system achieves cost reduction while maintaining necessary conveyance efficiency.
2Quantity of substance
If conveyance devices are changed to lower capacity devices, then system cost is reduced, but conveyance efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary analysis of object movement history and route characteristics before making device assignment decisions. By pre-calculating the appropriate device capacity for each route based on historical data, the system ensures that efficiency requirements are met before deploying lower-capacity, cost-effective devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically determines optimal device assignments by analyzing its own operational data (object movement history) and making intelligent decisions about device capacity selection, eliminating the need for external expert intervention while maintaining efficiency standards.
3Manufacturing precision
If skilled designers are used for layout design, then design quality is maintained, but manpower cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the system to automatically perform conveyance route design and device assignment functions that previously required skilled human designers. The system analyzes historical data, determines optimal routes, and makes device selections autonomously, maintaining design quality while eliminating dependency on expensive expert manpower.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of human expert designers with an automated computational system that uses algorithms to analyze data and make design decisions. This substitution maintains or improves design consistency and quality while significantly reducing manpower costs and addressing skill shortages.
Data Source
AI summary
A conveyance route design device is capable of reducing costs while maintaining object conveyance efficiency. The determination unit determines an improvement target place that satisfies criteria for changing a current conveyance device to a conveyance device of lower conveyance capacity than the current conveyance device, for a plurality of conveyance routes. The assignment unit assigns the conveyance device of lower conveyance capacity to an improvement candidate route which is a conveyance route including the improvement target place.