Production Line Module Planning for Tact-Balanced Throughput
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Solution Overview
Problem
In existing production line design methods, the operation of accessory equipment such as conveyors, AGVs, and component supplying apparatuses is not considered during process design, leading to potential tact balance issues and decreased production throughput.
Innovation Solution
A production line design device that integrates equipment design, control design, and arrangement design in a specific order, using a computation unit to extract candidate module groups and plan operations, ensuring compatibility and optimizing module configurations to improve key performance indicators (KPIs) without deteriorating throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If accessory equipment operation design is performed after process design, then equipment design flexibility is improved, but production throughput deteriorates due to lost tact balance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by integrating accessory equipment operation design into the process design phase itself, rather than performing it afterward. The computation unit extracts candidate module groups and plans operations simultaneously during process design, ensuring that conveyor, AGV, and component supplying apparatus operations are coordinated with the main process flow from the beginning, thus maintaining tact balance while preserving equipment design flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the process design and accessory equipment operation design into a single integrated design phase. The computation unit combines process design, equipment design, and operation planning simultaneously, extracting candidate module groups that include both process modules and accessory equipment modules, thereby eliminating the sequential approach that causes tact balance loss
2Device complexity
If control design is performed after process design, then design complexity is reduced, but production throughput deteriorates due to uncoordinated equipment operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing control design considerations during the process design phase itself. The computation unit plans operations and coordinates equipment control simultaneously with process design, extracting candidate module groups that include control coordination information, thus ensuring equipment operations are synchronized with the process flow from the beginning while managing design complexity through integrated computation
3Loss of time
If module configurations are not optimized, then design time is reduced, but key performance indicators deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing module configuration optimization during the design phase itself using the computation unit. The system extracts candidate module groups and evaluates their performance characteristics, identifying optimal configurations that satisfy KPI requirements before finalization, thus achieving both time efficiency and performance reliability through proactive optimization rather than iterative refinement
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a quasi-optimal solution for a production line such that a KPI is further improved without deteriorating production throughput after the production line is designed. The invention includes: a storage unit configured to store product CAD information pertaining to a shape of a product, component attribute information pertaining to an attribute of a component, module group specification information pertaining to a specification of a module group implemented by combining attributes of modules as a production resource of the product for respective work processes of the component, and module specification information pertaining to a specification of the module; and a computation unit configured to design a production line by executing an equipment design, a control design, a process design, and an arrangement design in this order. The computation unit includes a candidate module group extraction unit that is a functional unit configured to use the information stored in the storage unit to perform the equipment design, and that is configured to extract a configuration pattern of a candidate module group obtained by combining a candidate of the module group that is work-compatible for each component of the product and the module that is handled in the candidate of the module group.