Process Control Component for Throughput Management in Materials Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Materials handling facilities face inefficiencies due to poor performance in sequential processes, leading to accumulation of items and reduced processing capability, which affects their ability to reach full throughput capacity.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for process management that includes a process control component to manage throughput rates by generating target rates and adjusting them in real-time based on measured performance and capacity thresholds, ensuring efficient flow of units through the facility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If sequential processes operate independently without coordinated throughput control, then each process can maximize its own processing speed, but items accumulate between processes and overall facility throughput is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors actual throughput performance of each process and uses this feedback to dynamically adjust target throughput rates. When a process performs below its target rate, the system identifies downstream processes that can accommodate additional items and adjusts their target rates accordingly, creating a closed-loop control system that prevents item accumulation while maximizing overall facility throughput
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic target throughput rate adjustment rather than static fixed rates. The system adapts target rates in real-time based on measured process performance, allowing the facility to respond to variability in process speeds and maintain optimal throughput conditions, thereby preventing item accumulation without sacrificing productivity
2Productivity
If target throughput rates are set high to maximize processing capability, then facility capacity utilization increases, but process performance variability causes item accumulation and reduces effective throughput
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes the parameter of target throughput rates based on measured process performance. When processes exhibit variability or underperformance, the system adjusts target rates to account for this variability, ensuring that capacity utilization remains high while maintaining reliable and consistent throughput performance
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of process performance data to identify trends and variability patterns before they cause significant item accumulation. By anticipating performance deviations and adjusting target throughput rates in advance, the system maintains reliable throughput consistency while preserving high capacity utilization
3Productivity
If the facility operates at full processing capability, then throughput is maximized, but poor performance in any single process creates bottlenecks that reduce overall capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the facility into discrete processes with individually monitored throughput performance. By analyzing each process separately and identifying specific bottlenecks, the system can apply targeted throughput rate adjustments to individual processes rather than uniformly reducing all process speeds, thereby maintaining overall processing capability while managing coordination complexity through structured process decomposition
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments of a system and method for process management in a materials handling facility are described. Embodiments may include a process control component configured to generate a model of multiple unit handling processes of a materials handling facility. For each process, the model may indicate a measured throughput rate. The process control component may be configured to, based on at least one target output rate that is a goal for the output rate of a given unit handling process, evaluate the model to generate a particular target throughput rate that is a goal for the respective throughput rate of a particular unit handling process that is performed prior to the given unit handling process. The process control component may be configured to, based on the particular target throughput rate, generate one or more instructions to control the respective throughput rate of units processed by the particular unit handling process.