SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INCREASING USAGE OF RECYCLING IN MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
First Claim
1. A method of optimizing a manufacturing process to increase usage of recycling in said manufacturing process, comprising:
- describing the manufacturing process using a plurality of nodes, each node representing a component or a process;
connecting the plurality of nodes with directed edges to form a directed graph, the directed graph representing possible manufacturing process flows from a begin node to an end node;
assigning to each edge a value representative of a benefit resulting from usage of recycling in a component or process; and
determining a longest path from the begin node to the end node in the directed graph to identify a manufacturing process flow maximizing usage of recycling in the manufacturing process.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for optimizing manufacturing processes to increase usage of recycling in a manufacturing process. In an embodiment, the method comprises: describing a manufacturing process using a plurality of nodes, each node representing a component or a process; connecting the plurality of nodes with directed edges to form a directed graph, the directed graph representing possible manufacturing process flows from a begin node to an end node; assigning to each edge a value representative of the benefit resulting from usage of recycling in a component or process; and determining a longest path from the begin node to the end node in the directed graph to identify a manufacturing process flow maximizing usage of recycling in the manufacturing process.
11 Citations
21 Claims
-
1. A method of optimizing a manufacturing process to increase usage of recycling in said manufacturing process, comprising:
-
describing the manufacturing process using a plurality of nodes, each node representing a component or a process; connecting the plurality of nodes with directed edges to form a directed graph, the directed graph representing possible manufacturing process flows from a begin node to an end node; assigning to each edge a value representative of a benefit resulting from usage of recycling in a component or process; and determining a longest path from the begin node to the end node in the directed graph to identify a manufacturing process flow maximizing usage of recycling in the manufacturing process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A system for optimizing a manufacturing process to increase usage of recycling in a manufacturing process, comprising:
-
means for describing the manufacturing process using a plurality of nodes, each node representing a component or a process; means for connecting the plurality of nodes with directed edges to form a directed graph, the directed graph representing possible manufacturing process flows from a begin node to an end node; means for assigning to each edge a value representative of a benefit resulting from usage of recycling in a component or process; and means for determining a longest path from the begin node to the end node in the directed graph to identify a manufacturing process flow maximizing usage of recycling in the manufacturing process. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A data processor readable medium storing data processor code that when loaded onto and executed by a data processing device adapts the device to execute a method of optimizing a manufacturing process to increase usage of recycling in a manufacturing process, the data processor readable medium comprising:
-
code for describing the manufacturing process using a plurality of nodes, each node representing a component or a process; code for connecting the plurality of nodes with directed edges to form a directed graph, the directed graph representing possible manufacturing process flows from a begin node to an end node; code for assigning to each edge a value representative of a benefit resulting from usage of recycling in a component or process; and code for determining a longest path from the begin node to the end node in the directed graph to identify a manufacturing process flow maximizing usage of recycling in the manufacturing process. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
Specification