User interface for bill of materials

• US 20030220853A1
• Filed: 05/22/2002
• Published: 11/27/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Mason, Stanley T., Cornish, Rick, Gilman, Charles Robert, St. Louis, Thomas A., Rajiv, Vrinda, Dausch, Mark Edward, Back, Andrew, Scanlon, James Robert, Michaelis, Gary Paul
• Application Number:
  US10/063,904
• Publication Number:
  US 20030220853A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/29
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41865 characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31053 Planning, generate assembly plans
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31061 Selection of assembly process parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32083 Alternative, variant operation planning, revision specification of product
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32084 Planning of configuration of product, based on components
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A method, system, and storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer program code for managing changes in a bill of materials are disclosed and include providing an editor, the editor having a first frame and an adjacent second frame, displaying a parts list in the first frame of the editor, the parts list forming a subset of the bill of materials, and displaying search results from a search for parts in the second frame of the editor. A user interface for managing and navigating a bill of materials, the bill of materials listing a plurality of parts, is disclosed. The user interface includes a first frame including a parts list listing at least a subset of the bill of materials, a second frame providing search results of a search or details of a part listed in the first frame, and a third frame containing function buttons for performing operations between the first frame and the second frame.

Claims

1. A method for managing changes in a bill of materials, the bill of materials listing a plurality of parts, the method comprising:

providing an editor, the editor having a first frame and an adjacent second frame;

displaying a parts list in the first frame of the editor, the parts list forming a subset of the bill of materials;

displaying search results from a search for parts in the second frame of the editor.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein providing an editor comprises opening an editor by clicking on an editor button.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying a parts list comprises providing an expandable list of parts.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising searching for parts by entering either type or name of a part in a third frame of the editor.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing search results in an expandable list format in the second frame.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising adding a part selected from the search results to a selected location in the parts list.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising selecting an add button and prompting for entry of part attributes prior to adding a part to the parts list.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising removing a part from the parts list by selecting a part to be removed and selecting a remove button.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising replacing a part selected from the parts list with a part selected from the search results.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising changing an attribute value of a part in the parts list.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein changing an attribute value of a part comprises opening a dialog box and changing a quantity, sequence number, feature and option code, or feature and option number of a part.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the first frame and the second frame include scroll bars.

13. The method of claim 4 wherein the third frame includes a button bar containing a search button, an add button, a remove button, and a replace button.

14. The method of claim 4 further comprising presenting the first, second, and third frames simultaneously visible in their entirety.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the first, second, and third frames are contained in a main screen accessible via the World Wide Web.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein each part in the parts list includes a details icon, further comprising selecting a details icon and displaying details of a part adjacent the selected details icon within the second frame.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising toggling between the search results and the details within the second frame.

18. A system for managing changes in a bill of materials, the bill of materials listing a plurality of parts, the system comprising:

an entry device for entering information related to the parts;

a screen for viewing an editor; and

a signal processor having memory for storing signals including program signals defining an executable program for,

providing the editor, the editor having a first frame and an adjacent second frame;

displaying a parts list in the first frame of the editor, the parts list forming a subset of the bill of materials;

displaying search results from a search for parts in the second frame of the editor.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the first frame and the second frame occupy discrete portions of the screen.

20. The system of claim 19 further comprising a third frame comprising a data entry text box and function buttons, the third frame occupying a discrete portion of the screen.

21. A storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer program code for managing changes in a bill of materials, the bill of materials listing a plurality of parts, the storage medium including instructions for causing a computer to implement a method comprising:

providing an editor, the editor having a first frame and an adjacent second frame;

displaying a parts list in the first frame of the editor, the parts list forming a subset of the bill of materials;

displaying search results from a search for parts in the second frame of the editor.

22. A user interface for managing and navigating a bill of materials, the bill of materials listing a plurality of parts, the user interface comprising:

a first frame including a parts list listing at least a subset of the bill of materials;

a second frame providing search results of a search or details of a part listed in the first frame;

a third frame containing function buttons for performing operations between the first frame and the second frame.

23. The user interface of claim 22 wherein the first frame, second frame, and third frame each occupy a discrete portion of a main screen of an editor.

24. The user interface of claim 22 wherein the third frame includes a data entry text box for entering information for searching.

25. The user interface of claim 22 wherein the function buttons include a search button, an add button, a remove button, and a replace button.

26. The user interface of claim 22 wherein the first frame includes a details icon adjacent each part in the parts list, wherein clicking on a details icon of a selected part displays details of the selected part in the second frame.

27. The user interface of claim 22 wherein the parts list and the search results are each expandable lists including expand and collapse icons.

28. The user interface of claim 22 wherein each part listed in the parts list and each part listed in the search results includes a selection area for selecting a part for performing an editing function.

29. The user interface of claim 22 further comprising a dialog box overlapping at least one of the first frame, the second frame, and the third frame, the dialog box including data entry text boxes for editing a part”

s attributes.