Manufacturing Operation Grouping Consistency Checking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manufacturing planning and execution systems face challenges in efficiently planning and executing complex manufacturing processes due to the high granularity of information and intricate interrelationships between operations, making it difficult for users to appreciate higher-level issues and requiring frequent updates to master data.
Innovation Solution
The system implements methods to generate electronic data for planning by performing consistency checks on proposed groupings of manufacturing operations, aggregating information, and adjusting groupings to ensure each grouping has a single occurrence of process steps with multiple alternative steps, removing parallel branching boundaries, and defining missing grouping boundaries, to simplify the planning process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If detailed execution-level manufacturing operations are defined with high granularity, then manufacturing precision and control are improved, but device complexity and difficulty of operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments manufacturing operations into two distinct levels: execution-level operations (detailed, granular) and planning-level operations (aggregated, simplified). This segmentation allows detailed operational control to be maintained while presenting a simplified view for planning activities. The system automatically generates planning-level operations by aggregating execution-level operations, thereby reducing the complexity perceived by planning users without sacrificing operational precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a hierarchical dimension to the manufacturing operation structure, creating multiple levels of abstraction (execution level and planning level). This dimensional approach allows the same manufacturing process to be viewed and managed at different granularities simultaneously, enabling planning users to work with aggregated operations while execution systems maintain detailed operational definitions.
2Manufacturing precision
If detailed execution-level manufacturing operations are defined with high granularity, then manufacturing precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the user interface and data presentation into two distinct layers: a detailed execution layer for operational control and a simplified planning layer for high-level decision-making. Planning users interact only with aggregated planning-level operations, which automatically hide the complexity of underlying execution-level details, thereby improving ease of operation for planning activities while maintaining precision in execution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces planning-level operations as an intermediary layer between user planning activities and detailed execution operations. This intermediary automatically aggregates multiple execution-level operations into single planning-level representations, filtering out excessive detail and presenting a manageable view for planning users, thus improving ease of operation without sacrificing operational precision.
3Manufacturing precision
If master data and routing definitions are defined up front with detailed granularity, then manufacturing precision is improved, but adaptability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic data generation where planning-level operations are not statically defined but automatically generated from execution-level operations when needed. This dynamic approach allows the system to adapt to changing planning requirements without modifying the stable, precise execution-level master data. The planning-level data can be regenerated with different aggregation parameters, providing flexibility while maintaining execution precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary aggregation of execution-level operations into planning-level operations in advance of planning activities. This preliminary action creates a simplified data structure that can be easily modified and re-aggregated for different planning scenarios, while the detailed execution-level master data remains unchanged and precise. The system can re-execute the aggregation process with different parameters to adapt to new planning requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Generating data used in planning the execution of a manufacturing process includes consistency checks that are performed on proposed groupings of manufacturing operations to make sure that the groupings are defined in a way that enables the information to be aggregated for use in planning. To do this, defined groupings are received for multiple execution-level manufacturing operations that are defined in a manufacturing process execution-level electronic data model and that define a process flow to produce a product. In one aspect, for each of the defined groupings, it is determined whether the defined grouping includes multiple occurrences of a process step definition that has multiple different defined alternative steps, and if so, the defined groupings are changed so that each defined grouping of the defined groupings has no more than a single occurrence of a process step definition that has multiple different defined alternative steps.