Recipe Change Management via Activity-Formula Association
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing systems for managing recipes and process flows are inefficient in handling changes in production environments, such as supplier changes, equipment updates, and regulatory shifts, leading to difficulties in rapidly adapting production processes.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and apparatus for managing changes in recipes and process flows, which involves receiving activity and formula descriptions, associating them based on relationships, and updating draft sets of processing information to reflect improvements, allowing for rapid classification and creation of new recipes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If existing systems for managing recipes and process flows are used, then production processes can be maintained, but the systems are inefficient in handling changes in production environments, leading to difficulties in rapidly adapting production processes
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments recipe management into distinct functional modules: receiving activity descriptions, receiving formula descriptions, determining associations, and copying activity descriptions. This modular architecture enables independent optimization of each component for handling changes efficiently while maintaining overall system adaptability to production environment variations.
2Productivity
If manual methods are used to manage recipe changes, then flexibility in decision-making is maintained, but the process is time-consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically copies activity descriptions from existing recipes to create new recipes rapidly. The copying mechanism includes copying the activity description, associating it with formula descriptions, and establishing predecessor/successor relationships, thereby eliminating manual recreation efforts while maintaining recipe integrity and reducing creation time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-service through automated determination of associations between activity descriptions and formula descriptions using executable rules. This automation reduces reliance on manual intervention, accelerates the recipe management process, and maintains consistency without increasing operational complexity for users.
3Reliability
If comprehensive recipe information is stored to ensure complete process documentation, then accuracy and reliability are improved, but the time required to manage and update recipes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system establishes predecessor and successor relationships between activity descriptions in advance, creating a structured framework before changes are needed. This preliminary organization of recipe information allows for rapid updates and modifications while maintaining complete process documentation, as the relational structure is already in place to guide efficient change management.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method for managing change of sets of processing information that describe a process flow includes receiving a first activity description describing a first activity for performing a process flow, receiving a first formula description describing a first input and an output of the process flow, receiving a second formula description describing a second input and the same output of the process flow, and associating the first activity description with one of the first formula description and the second formula description.