Time-Based Demand Pull System for High-Variety Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-variety production environments face challenges in inventory management due to the inability of existing methods like Kanban to handle the complexity of producing unique parts infrequently, leading to inefficiencies and increased inventory levels.
Innovation Solution
A Time-based Demand Pull System (TDPS) that uses a computer system to analyze work orders across multiple work centers, determining the optimal flow and authorization of work orders based on priority-setting rules, arrival times, and need times to synchronize production and minimize inventory.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If Kanban scheduling is used for inventory replenishment, then inventory levels are reduced and production is synchronized, but the method does not work well in high-complexity production environments where unique parts are produced infrequently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the Kanban system from a quantity-based parameter to a time-based parameter. Instead of using Kanban cards that trigger replenishment when inventory reaches a certain level, the system calculates authorized work hours based on the time required for downstream work centers to complete their current work. This parameter change allows the system to adapt to high-complexity environments where unique parts are produced infrequently, as the authorization is based on time rather than requiring repeated production of the same part.
2Adaptability or versatility
If POLCA push-pull system is implemented with pull-signal based on production hours, then high-variety production is managed, but the system normalizes all production parts based on hours required which may not account for actual arrival timing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by calculating the authorized work hours for upstream work centers in advance, based on the projected completion time of current work at downstream work centers. The system determines how many hours of work can be authorized upstream before the downstream center will need the parts. This preliminary calculation of authorized hours based on time rather than just normalizing by production hours ensures that work orders are authorized at the correct time to match actual arrival timing at downstream centers.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for managing work orders (WOs) includes: identifying connections between a server and electronic devices, each of the electronic devices corresponding to a work center (WC) of a plurality of WCs, each WC having a WO queue; and controlling production by: storing status information for a subject WC and adjacent WCs that are immediately upstream of the subject WC; identifying a next WO to be authorized for production at one of the upstream adjacent WCs based on a priority-setting rule; determining a need time until the subject WC is available to start work on the next WO; determining an arrival time until the next WO will arrive at the subject WC; and modifying the WO queue of the upstream WC to authorize the next WO at the upstream adjacent WC if the arrival time is greater than or equal to the need time of the subject WC.