Transportation Cost Reliability Control for Factory Logistics

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing transportation control systems face challenges in accurately measuring and responding to dynamically changing transportation costs in factories and warehouses, leading to inefficiencies and imbalances in buffer usage, which can result in reduced production and transportation efficiency.

Innovation Solution

A transportation operation control system that includes a transportation cost acquisition unit, a correction unit, a presence status acquisition unit, and a calculation unit to accurately measure and correct transportation costs based on reliability, and calculate the importance degree of operations, ensuring flexible response to changing costs without reducing efficiency.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If transportation cost measurement is performed frequently to respond to dynamic changes, then responsiveness to cost changes is improved, but transportation efficiency is reduced due to increased measurement overhead

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveresponsiveness to cost changesVSAvoidtransportation efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts the measurement frequency of transportation costs based on their reliability and importance degrees. High-importance costs with low reliability are measured more frequently, while low-importance costs are measured less frequently, optimizing the balance between responsiveness and efficiency

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the parameter of measurement frequency based on the reliability and importance degree of each transportation cost. By adjusting this parameter dynamically, the system achieves adaptive measurement that responds to cost changes without excessive overhead

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Productivity

If transportation cost measurement is performed less frequently to maintain efficiency, then transportation efficiency is preserved, but measurement accuracy deteriorates due to outdated cost data

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetransportation efficiencyVSAvoidcost measurement accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses feedback from reliability information and importance degrees to determine measurement frequency. This feedback mechanism ensures that costs requiring frequent updates are measured appropriately while maintaining overall system efficiency

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The measurement frequency is not fixed but dynamically adjusted based on the specific characteristics of each transportation cost, allowing the system to maintain accuracy where needed while preserving efficiency overall

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Measurement precision

If all transportation costs are measured with high frequency, then cost accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases due to excessive data processing

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecost measurement accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies different measurement frequencies to different transportation costs based on their local characteristics (importance and reliability). This localized approach ensures accuracy where needed without uniformly increasing system complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of measuring all costs with equal high frequency, the system applies partial action by selectively measuring only those costs that require frequent updates based on their importance and reliability, reducing unnecessary data processing

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

4Productivity

If transportation operations are optimized based on current cost data, then production efficiency is improved, but buffer imbalance occurs due to dynamic cost fluctuations

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveproduction efficiencyVSAvoidbuffer balance

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary assessment of transportation cost reliability and importance before optimization, allowing it to anticipate which cost changes are significant and prepare appropriate responses that maintain buffer balance

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes operational parameters dynamically based on the reliability and importance of cost data, adjusting optimization strategies to maintain buffer balance while responding to significant cost fluctuations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS11436551B2Transportation operation control device, transportation operation control method, and recording medium in which transportation operation control program is stored

Publication Date: 2022.09.06 NEC CORP

AI summary

This transportation operation control device includes: a transportation cost acquisition unit that acquires a transportation cost obtained from a transportation operation for transporting an article to a transportation destination site from a transportation source site among a plurality of sites, the transportation cost being acquired in association with the combination between the transportation source site and the transportation destination site; a correction unit that calculates a corrected cost obtained by correcting the transportation cost on the basis of information indicating the reliability related to the transportation cost; a presence status acquisition unit that acquires presence status information indicating a presence status of the article between the transportation source site and the transportation destination site; and a calculation unit that calculates the importance degree of the transportation operation relative to the combination on the basis of the presence status information and the corrected cost.