Manufacturing Timeline Visualization for Planned-vs-Actual Deviations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing visualization systems for manufacturing status fail to provide a clear representation of the manufacturing status of products processed through multiple stages, making it difficult to identify deviations from planned values.
Innovation Solution
A visualization system that shifts time axes based on planned processing periods, allowing line segments to be perpendicular to the axes, enabling easy visualization of deviations by representing record values as inclinations relative to planned values.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If time axes are arranged in parallel with equal scales to show actual manufacturing data, then the visualization preserves data accuracy, but it becomes difficult to clearly identify deviations from planned values
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a third dimension by shifting time axes horizontally based on planned processing periods. Instead of only showing time progression vertically, the horizontal position of each time axis now represents the planned timing, creating a two-dimensional visualization space that simultaneously displays both actual time progression and planned scheduling, making deviations visually apparent through misalignment between actual and planned positions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces perpendicular reference lines as an intermediary element that connects corresponding time points across different time axes. These reference lines serve as a visual mediator that helps operators easily compare actual manufacturing progress against planned schedules by showing where deviations occur relative to the perpendicular alignment, without altering the actual data representation
2Ease of operation
If time axes are shifted to align with planned values making line segments perpendicular, then deviation visualization becomes easy, but the arrangement complexity of time axes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the positional parameter of time axes from a fixed equal-scale arrangement to a dynamic arrangement where each time axis is horizontally shifted by an amount corresponding to its planned processing period. This parameter change transforms the visualization so that perpendicular line segments naturally represent on-time completion, while any deviation from perpendicularity immediately indicates scheduling variance, simplifying deviation detection despite the more complex axis positioning
Data Source
AI summary
A visualization system creates a first time axis associated with a start time of a first process and a second time axis associated with an end time of the first process or a start time of a second process subsequent to the first process such that a perpendicular line to the first time axis extends from a time point on the first time axis and intersects the second time axis at a time point thereon, the time point on the second time axis being after the lapse of a time period since the time point on the first time axis, the time period being determined from a planned value of a processing period of the first process or a planned value of the start time of the second process. The visualization system disposes the time axes associated with respective processes and a line segment, and displays them on a display apparatus.