Real-time production tracking and scheduling system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of determining the expected time required for the performance of a task by an employee, comprising the steps of:
- a) entering into a computer memory an initial estimate of the time normally required for the performance of said task;
b) entering into said memory data representing the actual time used by said employee in performing tasks;
c) maintaining in said memory for said employee a cumulative historical efficiency factor representing the ratio of the sum of times previously actually used by said employee for the performance of tasks to the sum of the times previously estimated for the performance of those tasks;
d) multiplying said initial estimate by said efficiency factor; and
e) generating from said multiplication an adjusted estimate of the time required for the performance of said task by said employee.
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Abstract
A computerized method of enabling the management of an automotive repair shop to optimize production by computing a job completion target through optimally scheduling a sequence of tasks on the basis of the availability and historical efficiency of individual technicians and historical average idle time of technicians and vehicles during the performance of the job, and providing detailed performance data of individual technicians on individual jobs for problem evaluation if the computed optimized target is not met.
58 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of determining the expected time required for the performance of a task by an employee, comprising the steps of:
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a) entering into a computer memory an initial estimate of the time normally required for the performance of said task;
b) entering into said memory data representing the actual time used by said employee in performing tasks;
c) maintaining in said memory for said employee a cumulative historical efficiency factor representing the ratio of the sum of times previously actually used by said employee for the performance of tasks to the sum of the times previously estimated for the performance of those tasks;
d) multiplying said initial estimate by said efficiency factor; and
e) generating from said multiplication an adjusted estimate of the time required for the performance of said task by said employee. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A method of predictively scheduling a job performed for a customer involving the performance of a plurality of tasks by a plurality of employees each performing one of said tasks, comprising the steps of:
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a) entering into a computer memory an estimate of the time required to perform each of said tasks;
b) maintaining in said memory information for each employee regarding the availability time at which that employee is next expected to be available to perform a given one of said tasks;
c) entering into said memory the beginning and end time of each task or portion thereof performed by each of said employees;
d) maintaining in said memory, for each employee, an efficiency factor representing the ratio of the time historically actually used by said employee to perform tasks to the time estimated for the performance of those tasks;
e) selecting from said memory for a first of said tasks a first employee next expected to be available to perform said first task;
f) multiplying said estimate of the time required to perform said first task by said efficiency factor of the selected employee to generate an expected actual time for performing said first task;
g) adding said expected actual time to the availability time of the selected employee to generate a new availability time of the selected employee for subsequent jobs;
h) repeating said selecting, multiplying and adding steps for each additional task;
i) generating from said repeating step the total expected actual time for the performance of said job;
j) adding said total expected actual time to the availability time of said first employee; and
k) generating from said last-named adding step an expected completion time of said job. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
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6. In a vehicular repair shop, a method of monitoring the performance of the repair of a vehicle by technicians, comprising the steps of:
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a) entering into a computer memory, for each task involved in the repair of said vehicle, information representative of i) the identity of the vehicle, ii) the identity of the technician, the start time of the task and the end time of each portion of the task, and iii) an estimate of the time normally believed to be required to perform the task;
b) computing, from said entered information, the efficiency of said technician as the ratio of the actual time taken by the technician to perform the task to the time estimated for the performance of the task. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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12. A computerized method of operating an automotive repair shop, comprising the steps of:
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a) estimating the labor hours required to perform a sequence of tasks necessary for a given repair job;
b) maintaining a computer database containing, for each task-performing employee, efficiency data representing a historical average of the ratio of the hours actually spent on a task by the employee to the hours estimated for that task;
c) generating from said database a revised estimate of said hours for said task; and
d) updating said efficiency data in said database when said employee has performed said task.
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21. A computerized method of predicting the time of completion of a job involving the performance of sequential tasks by a plurality of employees, comprising the steps of:
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a) maintaining in a database data representing the availability time at which each employee is expected to next be available;
b) selecting an employee for each of said sequential tasks;
computing, for each employee, a block of time expected to be needed for the performance of his task;
d) adding said blocks of time to the availability time of the employee selected to perform the first of said tasks; and
e) generating from said adding step an indication of the expected completion time of said job. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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Specification