Methods and apparatus for electronically representing manufacturing flow

• US 20070142953A1
• Filed: 12/20/2005
• Published: 06/21/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Fanuc Automation Americas Incorporated (General Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: GE Fanuc Automation Americas Incorporated (General Electric Company)
• Inventors: McCarthy, Gregory
• Granted Patent: US 8,121,719 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/115
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/04 Manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/30 Computing systems specially adapted for manufacturing

Abstract

A method of electronically representing manufacturing flow is provided. The method allows a manufacturer to electronically track an infinite number of attributes related to components used in the production of a finished product. Using these attributes, the manufacturer can perform product recalls based upon information pertinent to a malfunctioning part, rather than a statistical recall. This allows a manufacturer to perform a recall without having to recall substantially more products than necessary.

Claims

1. A method for electronically representing manufacturing flow comprising:

receiving an order for a finished product;

transmitting a subset of the order indicative of a component for the finished product;

building traceability data indicative of parts used to produce the component;

tracking the parts used in the finished product using the traceability data to facilitate producing finished product data; and

storing the order, traceability data, and finished product data in a central database to facilitate tracking the parts used in a plurality of finished products; and

recalling the finished product based on the parts used to produce the component and at least one of a supplier of the component and a lot number of a lot, wherein the component is produced by the supplier during a production of the lot.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein receiving an order further comprises using electronically configurable rules to facilitate substituting the order for another order.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein building traceability data further comprises:

transmitting the subset to the supplier;

receiving component data from the supplier, the component data indicative of the component as-built; and

transmitting the component data to a central system wherein the central system compiles the component data to produce the traceability data.

4. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein tracking parts further comprises broadcasting the traceability data to a factory location.

5. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein tracking parts further comprises:

transmitting the traceability data to a plant floor system;

utilizing the traceability data to generate a plurality of part identifications identifying parts used by the plant floor system to produce the finished product; and

compiling the part identifications at the plant floor system to produce the finished product data.

6. A method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising managing the order, traceability data, and finished product data by setting parameters within the central database, said parameters indicative of an attribute of the order wherein the order can have infinite attributes.

7. A method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising placing and managing a hold on the order based on malfunction of a part used in a previously finished product.

8. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein traceability data includes serial numbers, lot numbers, or discrete and process data.

9. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein receiving an order further comprises loading the order into an electronic representation.

10. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the order subset is based on the location of the component to be used in the finished product.

21. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein said recalling the finished product comprises recalling the finished product based on the parts used to produce the component, the supplier of the component, and the lot number of the lot.

11. A system for electronically representing manufacturing flow comprising:

an order management system for receiving an order for a finished product, said order management system transmits a subset of said order indicative of a component for said finished product;

a document delivery system to receive said subset of said order, said document delivery system transmits traceability data indicative of plurality of parts used to produce said component identified in said subset;

a manufacturing tracker to receive said traceability data and track said parts used to produce said finished product, said manufacturing tracker produces finished product data, wherein the finished product is recalled based on the parts used to produce the component and at least one of a supplier of the component and a lot number of a lot, wherein the component is produced by the supplier during a production of the lot; and

a central database to store said order, traceability data, and finished product data to track said parts used in a plurality of finished products.

12. A system in accordance with claim 11 wherein said order management system further comprises electronically configurable rules to substitute said order for another order.

13. A system in accordance with claim 11

wherein the supplier receives said subsets and produces said component, said supplier produces component data indicative of said component as-built;

and

a central system to produce said traceability data based on said component data.

14. A system in accordance with claim 11 further comprising a broadcast system to broadcast said traceability data to a factory location.

15. A system in accordance with claim 11 further comprising a plant floor system, said traceability data transmitted to said plant floor system to generate a plurality of part identifications identifying said parts used by said plant floor system to produce said finished product, said finished product data based on said part identifications.

16. A system in accordance with claim 11 wherein said central database manages said order, traceability data, and finished product data by setting parameters indicative of an attribute of the order, wherein the order can have infinite attributes.

17. A system in accordance with claim 11 wherein said central database places a hold on said order based on the malfunction of a part used in a previously finished product.

18. A system in accordance with claim 11 wherein said traceability data includes serial numbers, lot numbers, or discrete and process data.

19. A system in accordance with claim 11 wherein said order management system loads said order into an electronic representation.

20. A system in accordance with claim 11 wherein said subset is based on the location of said component to be used in said finished product.