System and method to improve manufacturing

• US 20060235706A1
• Filed: 04/14/2005
• Published: 10/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Time Wise Solutions, LLC
• Original Assignee: Time Wise Solutions, LLC
• Inventors: Rodrigue, Rodney, Meadows, Larry, Shehata, Terry, Stimac, Alfredo
• Granted Patent: US 7,747,470 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A system and related method for the rapid response to one or more product fabrication bid requests. The system includes a translation function for translating received product information into information suitable for a manufacturer to produce fabrication information. The system further includes a product fabrication function for generating product fabrication setup sheets and programming based on the translated product information. The system also includes a bid preparation function that produces bid information, such as pricing and scheduling, based on the generated product fabrication information. A process that had taken days to complete is finished in minutes. The related method includes the steps of querying a database of available manufacturers for their capability and available equipment to fabricate a desired product. The method also includes the steps of translating received product information into manufacturing information applicable to one or more identified manufacturers, generating product fabrication information specific to the one or more identified manufacturers, and producing responsive bid information based on the generated product fabrication information. A plurality of identified manufacturers may join together to use the system and method to respond to a bid request.

Claims

1. A method to enable a rapid response to a request to bid on the manufacture of a product, the method comprising the steps of:

a. obtaining information associated with the manufacture of the product;

b. identifying the manufacturing capabilities of one or more manufacturers considered capable of manufacturing the product;

c. translating the information associated with the manufacture of the product into a format that is compatible with the identified manufacturing capabilities;

d. generating product fabrication information specific to the one or more manufacturers; and

e. generating bid information based on the generated product fabrication information.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the step of querying a database of one or more manufacturers to produce a list of one or more manufacturers capable of manufacturing the product.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of generating product fabrication information includes the step of establishing tool crib requirements and machining computer programming codes for one or more identified fabrication machines.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of generating product fabrication information includes generating one or more machine setup instruction sheets.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the product fabrication information includes the identification of one or more required machines, machinery settings, manhours required to fabricate, and cost of materials.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the information associated with the manufacture of the product is a two-dimensional drawing of the product.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the two-dimensional drawing is translated into a three-dimensional rendering of the product.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the information associated with the manufacture of the product is a physical specimen of the product.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the physical specimen is rendered into a digitized format and translated into physical dimensions for generation of one or more machine drawings.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein physical dimensions of the physical specimen are generated using a coordinate measuring machine.

11. A system to enable a rapid response to a request to bid on the manufacture of a product, the system comprising:

a. a translation function for translating information associated with the manufacture of the product into a format that is compatible with the manufacturing capabilities of one or more manufacturers;

b. a product fabrication function for generating product fabrication information based on the translated information; and

c. a bid preparation function for generating bid information based on the product fabrication information.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11 further comprising an updatable database of manufacturers with the interest and capability to manufacture products, wherein the database may be queried to identify such manufacturers.

13. The system as claimed in claim 12 wherein the database includes information of the equipment and required equipment operation information of the manufacturers.

14. The system as claimed in claim 11 further comprising a coordinate measuring machine to produce physical dimensions of product information including a physical specimen.

15. The system as claimed in claim 11 further comprising a computer processor and wherein one or more of the translation function, the product fabrication function, and the bid preparation function are embodied in one or more computer programs.

16. The system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the product information includes a two-dimensional drawing and the translation function generates a three-dimensional rendering of the product.

17. The system as claimed in claim 16 wherein the product fabrication function generates fabrication machine identification information, one or more setup instruction sheets for the identified machine, machine programming codes.

18. The system as claimed in claim 17 wherein the bid preparation function produces output based on the machine identification information, the one or more setup sheets, and the programming codes, selected from the group consisting of product price, fabrication scheduling, three-dimensional product rendering, and selected machine information.

19. The system as claimed in claim 11 wherein a plurality of manufacturers are joined together to produce one or more portions of the product to be fabricated.