Quality management and intelligent manufacturing with labels and smart tags in event-based product manufacturing
First Claim
1. A system for storing, during a process, data associated with a material, the system comprising:
- a control system for collecting, during a first process, event data relating to a material, the event data comprising an event code and a value pertaining to an attribute or physical property of the material affected by the event; and
a memory device for storing the collected event data as a data record, wherein an identifier within the memory device is associated with the data record, the data record being accessible via its associated identifier so that the collected event data in the memory device is obtainable during a second process occurring subsequent to the first process, the second process adapted to be modified responsive to the event data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Providing quality management and intelligent manufacturing with labels and smart tags in event-based product manufacturing. Some of the disclosed embodiments include a system, method, and computer-readable media for storing, during a process, data associated with a material. Also disclosed are a method of collecting, storing, and reporting machine productivity, waste, and delay information on an event basis in a manufacturing system, a method of capturing and storing material history, a method of automating tracking of positions of components used in a process and correlating portions of a component with production problems, an improved inventory management system, and a method of tracking and recording actions of specific operators of a process performed by a machine. The embodiments are operable in an intelligent manufacturing system including a process for converting raw materials to a product, a process control system including one or more sensors capable of generating an alarm in response to an event that results in one of waste, machine delay, or decrease product quality, a data logger associated with the process control system for obtaining event parameters associated with the event, a database on a server for recording event parameters obtained by the data logger, and a reporting system cooperatively associated with the database for reporting productivity parameters regarding the process derived at least in part from the event parameters.
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Citations
90 Claims
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1. A system for storing, during a process, data associated with a material, the system comprising:
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a control system for collecting, during a first process, event data relating to a material, the event data comprising an event code and a value pertaining to an attribute or physical property of the material affected by the event; and
a memory device for storing the collected event data as a data record, wherein an identifier within the memory device is associated with the data record, the data record being accessible via its associated identifier so that the collected event data in the memory device is obtainable during a second process occurring subsequent to the first process, the second process adapted to be modified responsive to the event data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for storing data associated with a material, the method comprising:
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collecting, during a first process, event data relating to a material; and
storing the collected event data as a data record, wherein the event data comprises information indicating the location within the material where a quality defect may occur, wherein an identifier is associated with the data record, the data record being accessible via its associated identifier so that the collected event data is obtainable during a second process occurring subsequent to the first process, the second process adapted to be modified responsive to the event data to reduce the impact on the process of a quality defect in the material. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable components comprising:
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a control module collecting, during a first process, event data relating to a material; and
a database module storing the event data collected by the control module as a data record, wherein an identifier within the database module is associated with the data record, the data record being accessible via its associated identifier so that the collected event data in the database module is obtainable during a second process occurring subsequent to the first process, wherein the event data is used to modify an operating condition of the second process. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method for collecting, storing, and reporting machine productivity, waste, and delay information on an event basis in a manufacturing system, the method comprising:
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monitoring an event via a process sensor;
detecting an event trigger in response to the monitoring;
obtaining data in response to the detecting, the data comprising a process variable from a control system, a measure of the waste, delay, or quality loss associated with the event, and operator input;
automatically validating the obtained data;
formatting and recording the validated data; and
generating a report based on the recorded data. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43)
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44. A method in an event-based manufacturing system, the method comprising:
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receiving a vendor identifier from a manufacturer;
receiving an order for a material from the manufacturer;
producing the material;
creating a batch code for the produced material;
measuring a material property of the produced material;
storing the measured material property as material property data in a material property database for access by the manufacturer;
applying a label including an identifier to the produced material, the identifier comprising the vendor identifier and the created batch code;
shipping the produced material and its applied label to the manufacturer;
producing a product using the produced material as a raw material in a process having a control system configured to record waste and delay events as event data in an event database comprising event records; and
correlating event data to the material property data in the material property database. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. One or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a data structure representing an identifier for a material in an event-based manufacturing system, the data structure comprising:
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a first field storing a vendor code representing a vendor of the material; and
a second field storing a batch code assigned by the vendor representing a batch of the material. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51)
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- 52. In an event-based manufacturing system, one or more computer-readable media for use in conjunction with a second process occurring after a first process, the computer-readable media having stored thereon a data structure representing event data for a material, the data structure comprising one or more fields storing data describing characteristics of the material and one or more codes describing the nature of an event, the data structure being populated during the first process and being accessible during the second process.
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58. A method to capture and store material history in an event-based manufacturing system, the method comprising:
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implementing a common database format among a plurality of vendors;
receiving data in the common database format from each of the plurality of vendors, the data representing event data collected for a material during a process; and
storing the received data in a database for access during a subsequent process, the second process being adapted to be automatically modified responsive the received data. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. A method for automated tracking of positions of components used in a process and correlating portions of a component with production problems, the method comprising:
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embedding a plurality of identification devices in a material;
monitoring the plurality of identification devices as the material passes through a component to obtain material position data indicating a position of the material with respect to the component;
storing the material position data in a database comprising or operatively associated with event-based data for the process; and
correlating the stored material position data with a quality control issue to identify corrective action. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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74. An improved inventory management system in an event-based manufacturing system, the improved inventory management system comprising computer-executable instructions for:
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monitoring at least one identification device associated with an inventory item from a first process;
determining a physical location of the inventory item in response to the monitoring to use the inventory item in a second process; and
associating the physical location of the inventory item with event-based data from the manufacture of the inventory item pertaining to the quality of the inventory item. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84)
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85. In a distributed control system for event-based manufacturing, a method for tracking and recording actions of specific operators of a process performed by a machine, the system comprising:
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reading, from a plurality of scanning devices, an identification device identifying an operator;
verifying an identity of the operator;
tracking a time and place of the operator relative to the process via the reading and the verifying. - View Dependent Claims (86, 87, 88, 89, 90)
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Specification