Production Line Planning Using Priority Order Patterns
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Solution Overview
Problem
In manufacturing processes where multiple products with different work patterns are fed into a single work line, existing methods like target tracking and weighting coefficients often lead to local congestion and inefficiencies, increasing the number of man-hours required to optimize the feeding order.
Innovation Solution
A planning program and method that generates multiple priority order patterns for work groups, specifying the order of processes and objects to equalize work frequency, thereby reducing congestion and man-hours by automatically determining optimal feeding orders using a target tracking method and priority order patterns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a target tracking method is used to equalize work pattern frequency, then work frequency equalization is improved, but local congestion occurs and increases user man-hours
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the work line into multiple work groups and introduces intermediate storage areas between them. This segmentation allows independent control of each work group's feeding order, enabling work frequency equalization without causing local congestion by decoupling the workflow into manageable segments with buffer zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediate storage areas as mediators between work groups. These storage areas act as buffers that absorb fluctuations in work flow, preventing local congestion while maintaining work frequency equalization. The intermediate storage serves as a decoupling mechanism between upstream and downstream work groups.
2Adaptability or versatility
If weighting coefficients are introduced to specify process order, then process ordering capability is improved, but the weighting coefficient and output result may not coincide with user assumptions and increases user man-hours
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the system to automatically determine optimal feeding orders for each work group based on their respective work patterns and frequencies. The planning unit self-adjusts the process ordering without requiring user input of weighting coefficients, making the system adaptive while eliminating the time-consuming manual calibration of parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using user-defined weighting coefficients, the patent changes the approach by automatically calculating feeding orders based on observed work frequencies and patterns. The system dynamically adjusts process ordering parameters based on actual operational data, achieving adaptability without manual parameter tuning.
3Measurement precision
If multiple priority order patterns are generated and automatically processed, then planning accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent manages system complexity by segmenting the planning process into independent work groups, each with its own priority order patterns. This modular approach allows multiple patterns to be generated and processed without overwhelming the system, as each work group can be planned independently and then integrated.
Data Source
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AI summary
A planning program that causes at least one computer to execute a process, the process includes generating a plurality of priority order patterns in which priority orders are assigned to a plurality of work groups, when processes selected from the plurality of work groups are sequentially performed on each of a plurality of objects; specifying an order of processes in the work group for each of the priority orders according to the priority orders of the plurality of priority order patterns; and specifying an order of the plurality of objects corresponding to the specified order of processes.