Rough-cut capacity planning with production constraints and dynamic bottleneck considerations
First Claim
1. A method of assessing the sufficiency of a plurality of machines for processing a number of items, the method comprising:
- obtaining machine availability information indicative of availability of said machines for processing said items;
obtaining machine capacity information indicative of a capacity of each of said machines for processing said items;
obtaining machine preference information indicative of a preference of each of said machines for processing said items;
determining a capacity constraint based on said machine availability information, said machine capacity information and said machine preference information; and
allocating at least some of said machines to process at least some of said items based on said machine availability information, machine capacity information and machine preference information, subject to said capacity constraint.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
To assess the sufficiency of a plurality of machines for processing a number of items, machine availability information indicative of availability of the machines for processing the items, machine capacity information indicative of a capacity of each of the machines for processing the items, and machine preference information indicative of a preference of each of the machines for processing the items are obtained. A capacity constraint, such as an upper limit of items to be processed during a time interval, is determined based on the machine availability information, machine capacity information and machine preference information. At least some of the machines are allocated to process at least some of the items based on the machine availability information, machine capacity information and machine preference information, subject to the capacity constraint. The resulting rough-cut capacity plan may be used to balance available capacity against required capacity.
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method of assessing the sufficiency of a plurality of machines for processing a number of items, the method comprising:
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obtaining machine availability information indicative of availability of said machines for processing said items;
obtaining machine capacity information indicative of a capacity of each of said machines for processing said items;
obtaining machine preference information indicative of a preference of each of said machines for processing said items;
determining a capacity constraint based on said machine availability information, said machine capacity information and said machine preference information; and
allocating at least some of said machines to process at least some of said items based on said machine availability information, machine capacity information and machine preference information, subject to said capacity constraint. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of assessing the sufficiency of a plurality of work centers for processing a plurality of jobs during a time interval, each work center having a group of machines for performing an operation, each job having a job priority and including one or more operations to be performed upon a set of like items, each machine having a preference level for processing the items associated with each job, said preference level being one of a range of machine preference levels, the method comprising:
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determining which jobs of said plurality of jobs have an operation that is associated with a work center having an available machine whose preference level for processing the items associated with the job matches a current machine preference level, said current machine preference level having been selected from said range of machine preference levels in decreasing preference order, said determining resulting in a set of candidate jobs;
selecting from said set of candidate jobs a job whose job priority is at least as high as the job priority of any other job in said set of candidate jobs, said selecting resulting in a selected job, the items associated with said selected job being referred to as selected items; and
at each work center associated with an operation of the selected job, allocating one or more machines having either said current machine preference level or a lower machine preference level in respect of the selected items to process a chosen number of units of the selected items, said allocating of machines being performed in decreasing order of machine preference level in respect of the selected items. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of assessing sufficiency of a plurality of work centers for processing a plurality of jobs during a time interval, comprising:
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choosing a machine preference level as a current chosen level, said current chosen level being a highest level of all levels not yet chosen as a chosen level;
selecting as a current job a highest priority job of a set of jobs having at least one operation requiring said current chosen level at a work center having an available machine; and
allocating machine capacity to said current job across all work centers. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. A machine-readable medium including code for assessing the sufficiency of a plurality of machines for processing a number of items, comprising:
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machine-executable code for obtaining machine availability information indicative of availability of said machines for processing said items;
machine-executable code for obtaining machine capacity information indicative of a capacity of each of said machines for processing said items;
machine-executable code for obtaining machine preference information indicative of a preference of each of said machines for processing said items;
machine-executable code for determining a capacity constraint based on said machine availability information, said machine capacity information and said machine preference information; and
machine-executable code for allocating at least some of said machines to process at least some of said items based on said machine availability information, machine capacity information and machine preference information, subject to said capacity constraint. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A machine-readable medium including code for assessing the sufficiency of a plurality of work centers for processing a plurality of jobs during a time interval, each work center having a group of machines for performing an operation, each job having a job priority and including one or more operations to be performed upon a set of like items, each machine having a preference level for processing the items associated with each job, said preference level being one of a range of machine preference levels, comprising:
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machine-executable code for determining which jobs of said plurality of jobs have an operation that is associated with a work center having an available machine whose preference level for processing the items associated with the job matches a current machine preference level, said current machine preference level having been selected from said range of machine preference levels in decreasing preference order, said determining resulting in a set of candidate jobs;
machine-executable code for selecting from said set of candidate jobs a job whose job priority is at least as high as the job priority of any other job in said set of candidate jobs, said selecting resulting in a selected job, the items associated with said selected job being referred to as selected items; and
machine-executable code for, at each work center associated with an operation of the selected job, allocating one or more machines having either said current machine preference level or a lower machine preference level in respect of the selected items to process a chosen number of units of the selected items, said allocating of machines being performed in decreasing order of machine preference level in respect of the selected items. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A machine-readable medium including code assessing sufficiency of a plurality of work centers for processing a plurality of jobs during a time interval, comprising:
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machine-executable code for choosing a machine preference level as a current chosen level, said current chosen level being a highest level of all levels not yet chosen as a chosen level;
machine-executable code for selecting as a current job a highest priority job of a set of jobs having at least one operation requiring said current chosen level at a work center having an available machine; and
machine-executable code for allocating machine capacity to said current job across all work centers. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50)
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51. A computing device comprising a processor and persistent storage memory in communication with said processor storing machine readable instructions for directing said device to assess the sufficiency of a plurality of machines for processing a number of items, the device comprising:
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means for obtaining machine availability information indicative of availability of said machines for processing said items;
means for obtaining machine capacity information indicative of a capacity of each of said machines for processing said items;
means for obtaining machine preference information indicative of a preference of each of said machines for processing said items;
means for determining a capacity constraint based on said machine availability information, said machine capacity information and said machine preference information; and
means for allocating at least some of said machines to process at least some of said items based on said machine availability information, machine capacity information and machine preference information, subject to said capacity constraint.
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52. A computing device comprising a processor and persistent storage memory in communication with said processor storing machine readable instructions for directing said device to assess the sufficiency of a plurality of work centers for processing a plurality of jobs during a time interval, each work center having a group of machines for performing an operation, each job having a job priority and including one or more operations to be performed upon a set of like items, each machine having a preference level for processing the items associated with each job, said preference level being one of a range of machine preference levels, the device comprising:
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means for determining which jobs of said plurality of jobs have an operation that is associated with a work center having an available machine whose preference level for processing the items associated with the job matches a current machine preference level, said current machine preference level having been selected from said range of machine preference levels in decreasing preference order, said determining resulting in a set of candidate jobs;
means for selecting from said set of candidate jobs a job whose job priority is at least as high as the job priority of any other job in said set of candidate jobs, said selecting resulting in a selected job, the items associated with said selected job being referred to as selected items; and
means for, at each work center associated with an operation of the selected job, allocating one or more machines having either said current machine preference level or a lower machine preference level in respect of the selected items to process a chosen number of units of the selected items, said allocating of machines being performed in decreasing order of machine preference level in respect of the selected items.
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53. A computing device comprising a processor and persistent storage memory in communication with said processor storing machine readable instructions for directing said device to assess sufficiency of a plurality of work centers for processing a plurality of jobs during a time interval, the device comprising:
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means for choosing a machine preference level as a current chosen level, said current chosen level being a highest level of all levels not yet chosen as a chosen level;
means for selecting as a current job a highest priority job of a set of jobs having at least one operation requiring said current chosen level at a work center having an available machine; and
means for allocating machine capacity to said current job across all work centers.
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Specification