Display System for Print Order Scheduling and Resource Allocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing display systems for print orders and printed material generating steps have limited flexibility in adjusting operation schedules, making it difficult to manage resources across multiple orders and steps, leading to complications in rescheduling and resource allocation.
Innovation Solution
A display system that includes a step-image display unit, delivery-date-image display unit, and resource-information display unit, allowing for the visualization of print order steps and resource allocation across multiple orders, enabling easier review and rescheduling of steps and resource reassignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If operation schedule is adjusted individually for each print order or printed material generating step, then scheduling flexibility within each order is improved, but resource utilization across multiple orders deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual print order schedules into a unified comprehensive schedule that displays all print orders and their steps together. This allows operators to view and adjust schedules across multiple orders simultaneously, enabling effective resource allocation and utilization while maintaining scheduling flexibility for each individual order.
2Ease of operation
If detailed schedule adjustment is enabled for each print order, then operational control is improved, but system complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the schedule display into hierarchical levels: individual print orders, printing steps within orders, and resources across orders. This segmentation allows operators to control the level of detail displayed, enabling detailed operational control when needed while reducing perceived complexity through organized, manageable views.
Solution Approach 2:
The schedule display system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it displays individual order schedules, shows resource allocation across orders, enables schedule adjustment, and provides resource utilization overview. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate systems into a single unified interface.
3Productivity
If resource allocation is managed per print order, then order-specific optimization is improved, but cross-order resource sharing deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines resource information from multiple print orders into a unified display that shows resource allocation and availability across all orders. This merged view enables operators to identify surplus resources in one order and reallocate them to other orders, achieving cross-order resource sharing while maintaining order-specific optimization.
Data Source
AI summary
A display system includes a step-image display unit, a delivery-date-image display unit, and a resource-information display unit. The step-image display unit displays, for each print order, a step image in which multiple steps that each execute a process using a resource assigned in advance are arranged on a time axis, the step image illustrating a printed material generating step. The delivery-date-image display unit displays an image illustrating a delivery date of each print order at a corresponding position on the time axis. The resource-information display unit displays information on another resource that is different from the resource assigned in advance to each of the steps and that is usable in each of the steps.