CUSTOMIZABLE SCHEDULING TOOL, MANUFACTURING EXECUTING SYSTEM CONTAINING THE TOOL AND METHOD OF USING THE TOOL

• US 20100305736A1
• Filed: 06/01/2010
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Arduini, Milvia Pierpaola
• Granted Patent: US 8,396,581 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A customizable scheduling tool is used in a system for managing and controlling manufacturing processes planned by enterprise resource planning (ERP) and produced by a plant floor. A manufacturing executing system (MES) implements the planned manufacturing process and controls the corresponding production at the plant floor. The scheduling tool contains a set of built in data relating to the plant floor forming a data model and built in formula templates. The scheduling tool contains measures for defining new data, and the measures are operable to edit new fields to expand the built in set of data, and measures for modifying a built-in formula template. Ideally a manufacturing executing system (MES) contains such a tool and utilizes a method of using the tool.

Claims

1. A customizable scheduling tool usable in a system for managing and controlling manufacturing processes planned by enterprise resource planning (ERP) and produced by a plant floor, wherein a manufacturing executing system (MES) implements the manufacturing process planned and controls a corresponding production at the plant floor, the scheduling tool comprising:

a set of built in data relating to the plant floor forming a data model and built-in formula templates;

means for defining new data, said means for defining new data being operable to edit new fields to expand the set of built in data; and

means for modifying the built-in formula template.

2. The customizable scheduling tool according to claim 1, wherein said means for defining new data includes a data model editor having a graphical user interface, and means for editing a new data field.

3. The customizable scheduling tool according to claim 2, wherein said data model editor has a set of tree organized data forming a build-in data model.

4. The customizable scheduling tool according to claim 3, further comprising means for adding in the new data field in the data model being a tree organized data model.

5. The customizable scheduling tool according to claim 4, wherein values taken by the new field comes from one of a database model of the customizable scheduling tool, are derived from data of the database model, and are external data provided by a user.

6. The customizable scheduling tool according to claim 1, wherein said means for modifying the built-in formula template contains a formula editor having a graphical user interface operable to create a new formula template.

7. The customizable scheduling tool according to claim 6, wherein said formula editor has at least one of a tree organised set of variables, mathematical operators and functions usable to build a new formula template.

8. The customizable scheduling tool according to claim 7, further comprising an object browser usable to select at least one of at least one variable, a mathematical operator, and a function contained in said formula editor to modify the built-in formula template.

9. A manufacturing executing system (MES), comprising:

a customizable scheduling tool containing a set of built in data relating to a plant floor forming a data model and built-in formula templates, means for defining new data, said means for defining new data being operable to edit new fields to expand the set of built in data, and means for modifying the built-in formula template.

10. A method of customizing a formula template using a customizable scheduling tool, which comprises the steps of:

a) selecting a built-in formula template to modify;

b) selecting at least one of at least one variable, a function, and an operator contained in a formula editor using a browser of the formula editor;

c) verifying that at least one of the variable, an argument used in the function, and the operator is defined;

d) allowing a user to browse a data model to associate a proper data field to at least one of the variable, an argument for the variable and arguments undefined; and

e) linking a new selected data field to one of a formula template variable and the argument.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein a value of each data field comes from one of a built-in database of the customizable scheduling tool, a remote database, and has been introduced by the user.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein at least one of the variables selected in step b) is linked to a new data field introduced in the data model of the customizable scheduling tool by the user.