Production Planning Chart with Material Sufficiency Indicators

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Solution Overview

Problem

Production planning systems lack effective visualization tools to immediately indicate material sufficiency and resource availability, leading to potential constraint violations and inefficiencies in scheduling operations.

Innovation Solution

A computer program product that displays a chart for production planning with a timeline, material areas, and resource areas, including a material sufficiency indicator and scheduling hints to show whether sufficient materials are available for scheduled operations, providing immediate feedback on resource and material constraints during scheduling.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If production planning is performed without visual feedback tools, then planning complexity is reduced, but material sufficiency and constraint violations cannot be immediately detected

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial sufficiency informationVSAvoidchart visualization system

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses color-coded indicators (e.g., red for insufficient material, green for sufficient material) to visually represent material sufficiency and constraint status. This allows planners to immediately perceive critical information without complex analysis, resolving the contradiction by making information visible through simple visual cues rather than complex computational tools.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #32Color changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces manual calculation and verification methods with an automated computational system that calculates material requirements, checks constraints, and generates visual indicators. This substitution of mechanical/manual processes with automated information processing resolves the contradiction by providing comprehensive feedback without requiring proportional increases in system complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Reliability

If detailed material tracking is implemented for all operations, then material sufficiency is ensured, but scheduling time and complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial availability assuranceVSAvoidscheduling time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary calculations of material requirements and constraint checks during the scheduling process itself, rather than requiring separate verification steps. The system proactively identifies potential material shortages and constraint violations before finalizing the schedule, ensuring reliability without adding significant time overhead through integrated real-time analysis.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements immediate visual feedback through material sufficiency indicators and constraint violation alerts that update dynamically as operations are scheduled. This continuous feedback mechanism allows planners to adjust schedules in real-time based on material availability information, ensuring reliability while minimizing scheduling time through iterative refinement rather than exhaustive analysis.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Measurement precision

If manual verification of material sufficiency is performed for each operation, then accuracy is improved, but productivity decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematerial sufficiency detection accuracyVSAvoidscheduling speed

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces manual verification processes with an automated computational system that continuously calculates material requirements and compares them against available inventory. This automated system maintains high detection accuracy by systematically evaluating all operations against material constraints while dramatically increasing scheduling speed through computer-based processing rather than manual calculation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements continuous automated monitoring of material sufficiency across all scheduled operations, rather than requiring discrete manual checks. The system continuously updates material availability status and constraint compliance as operations are added or modified, maintaining high accuracy through persistent computational evaluation while enabling rapid scheduling through automated real-time analysis.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #20Continuity of useful action

Data Source

PatentUS8942839B2User interface including scheduling hint and material sufficiency indicator for production planning

Publication Date: 2015.01.27 SAP SE

AI summary

The description refers to a method, computer program product, and computer system for displaying a chart for production planning. The chart includes a timeline, a material area associated with each of one or more materials and a resource area associated with each of one or more resources. The chart also includes a material sufficiency indicator provided within one or more of the material areas to indicate whether or not a sufficient amount of the associated material is available at one or more identified times to meet a demand of the one or more scheduled operations. The chart includes a scheduling hint that is displayed within a material area when an operation identifier has been selected. The scheduling hint identifies one or more portions within the material area for a material as providing either sufficient material or insufficient material for performance of the operation associated with the selected operation identifier.