Activity Based Real-Time Production Instruction Adaptation

• US 20100332008A1
• Filed: 08/19/2008
• Published: 12/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Koh, Eng Hin, Zemke, Matthew H., Knipfer, Ivory Wellman, Tan, Ser Huay
• Granted Patent: US 7,920,935 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/103
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/003 Repetitive work cycles; Sequence of movements
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 25/02 of industrial processes; of machinery

Abstract

A manufacturing process for automatically delivering an appropriate level of instructions to a manufacturing operator on demand based on the manufacturing operator'"'"'s level of activity and performance, the particular characteristics of the product being manufactured, and the particular production environment. Responsive to receiving an order for a product, the manufacturing process identifies an authorization level assigned to an operator performing a particular manufacturing activity on a part in the product and assigns a default level of instructions to the operator based on the authorization level. The process collects and models characteristics about the manufacturing environment, performance history of the operator, and knowledge decay of the operator to determine an appropriate level of instructions to provide to the operator performing a particular manufacturing activity. The manufacturing instructions associated with the appropriate level of instructions are then provided to the operator.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for automatically adjusting manufacturing instructions during production activity in a manufacturing environment, the computer implemented method comprising:

responsive to receiving an order for a product, identifying an authorization level assigned to an operator performing a particular manufacturing activity on a part in the product;

assigning a default level of instructions to the operator based on the authorization level;

collecting characteristics about the manufacturing environment, performance history of the operator, and knowledge decay of the operator;

modeling the characteristics about the manufacturing environment, performance history of the operator, and knowledge decay of the operator to determine an appropriate level of instructions to provide to the operator performing the particular manufacturing activity; and

providing manufacturing instructions associated with the appropriate level of instructions to the operator.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling the characteristics about the manufacturing environment further comprises:

comparing the characteristics of the manufacturing environment against a set of environmental override criteria associated with the part in the product;

responsive to a determination that the characteristics of the manufacturing environment matches the set of environmental override criteria, identifying a second level of instructions associated with the set of environmental override criteria; and

automatically adjusting the manufacturing instructions assigned to the operator performing the particular manufacturing activity from the default level of instructions to the second level of instructions.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling the characteristics about the performance history of the operator further comprises:

comparing characteristics of the performance history of the operator against a set of performance history override criteria associated with the part in the product;

responsive to a determination that the characteristics of the performance history of the operator matches the set of performance history override criteria, identifying a third level of instructions associated with the set of performance history override criteria; and

automatically adjusting the manufacturing instructions assigned to the operator performing the particular manufacturing activity from the second level of instructions to the third level of instructions.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling the characteristics about the knowledge decay of the operator further comprises:

comparing characteristics of the knowledge decay of an operator against a set of knowledge decay override criteria associated with the part in the product;

responsive to a determination that the characteristics of the knowledge decay of the operator matches the set of knowledge decay override criteria, identifying a fourth level of instructions associated with the set of knowledge decay override criteria; and

automatically adjusting the manufacturing instructions assigned to the operator performing the particular manufacturing activity from the third level of instructions to the fourth level of instructions.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein comparing the characteristics of the manufacturing environment against a set of environmental override criteria further comprises:

accessing an environmental override table comprising the set of environmental override criteria; and

locating a record in the environmental override table that matches the manufacturing environment characteristics.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5, wherein the set of environmental override criteria includes product key, production facility data, and order skew information.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 6, wherein the production facility data includes at least one of location, shift, language, or time window.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 5, wherein environmental override table comprises a parameter specifying one or more directions in which subsequent adjustments of the build instructions are allowed.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 3, wherein comparing the characteristics of the performance history of the operator against a set of performance history override criteria further comprises:

accessing a performance override table comprising the set of performance history override criteria; and

locating a record in the performance override table that matches the characteristics of the performance history of the operator.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 9, wherein the set of performance override criteria includes product key, cycle time, and product quality data.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein comparing the characteristics of the knowledge decay of the operator against a set of knowledge decay override criteria further comprises:

accessing a knowledge decay override table comprising the set of knowledge decay override criteria; and

locating a record in the knowledge decay table that matches the characteristics of the knowledge decay of the operator.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 10, wherein the set of knowledge decay override criteria includes product key data and operator certification data.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein comparing the characteristics of the knowledge decay of the operator against a set of knowledge decay override criteria further comprises:

measuring a frequency in which the operator crosses operator certification level boundaries; and

using the measured frequency to determine whether the operator requires retraining or recertification.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling the characteristics about the manufacturing environment, performance history of the operator, and knowledge decay of the operator is performed on an order by order basis, a product by product basis, or a product part by product part basis.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein adjusting the level of instructions assigned to the operator comprises changing the level of instructions to one of a higher level to provide less instruction detail to the operator or a lower level to provide more instruction detail to the operator.

16. A computer program product for automatically adjusting manufacturing instructions during production activity in a manufacturing environment, the computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer usable program code tangibly embodied thereon, the computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code for identifying, in response to receiving an order for a product, an authorization level assigned to an operator performing a particular manufacturing activity on a part in the product;

computer usable program code for assigning a default level of instructions to the operator based on the authorization level;

computer usable program code for collecting characteristics about the manufacturing environment, performance history of the operator, and knowledge decay of the operator;

computer usable program code for modeling the characteristics about the manufacturing environment, performance history of the operator, and knowledge decay of the operator to determine an appropriate level of instructions to provide to the operator performing a particular manufacturing activity; and

computer usable program code for providing manufacturing instructions associated with the appropriate level of instructions to the operator.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the computer usable program code for modeling the characteristics about the manufacturing environment further comprises:

computer usable program code for comparing the characteristics of the manufacturing environment against a set of environmental override criteria associated with the part in the product;

computer usable program code for identifying, in response to a determination that the characteristics of the manufacturing environment matches the set of environmental override criteria, a second level of instructions associated with the set of environmental override criteria; and

computer usable program code for automatically adjusting the manufacturing instructions assigned to the operator performing the particular manufacturing activity from the default level of instructions to the second level of instructions.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the computer usable program code for modeling the characteristics about the performance history of the operator further comprises:

computer usable program code for comparing characteristics of the performance history of the operator against a set of performance history override criteria associated with the part in the product;

computer usable program code for identifying, in response to a determination that the characteristics of the performance history of the operator matches the set of performance history override criteria, a third level of instructions associated with the set of performance history override criteria; and

computer usable program code for automatically adjusting the manufacturing instructions assigned to the operator performing the particular manufacturing activity from the second level of instructions to the third level of instructions.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the computer usable program code for modeling the characteristics about the knowledge decay of the operator further comprises:

computer usable program code for comparing characteristics of the knowledge decay of an operator against a set of knowledge decay override criteria associated with the part in the product;

computer usable program code for identifying, in response to a determination that the characteristics of the knowledge decay of the operator matches the set of knowledge decay override criteria, a fourth level of instructions associated with the set of knowledge decay override criteria; and

computer usable program code for automatically adjusting the manufacturing instructions assigned to the operator performing the particular manufacturing activity from the third level of instructions to the fourth level of instructions.

20. A data processing system for automatically adjusting manufacturing instructions during production activity in a manufacturing environment, the data processing system comprising:

a bus;

a storage device connected to the bus, wherein the storage device contains computer usable code;

at least one managed device connected to the bus;

a communications unit connected to the bus; and

a processing unit connected to the bus, wherein the processing unit executes the computer usable code to identifying, in response to receiving an order for a product, an authorization level assigned to an operator performing a particular manufacturing activity on a part in the product;

assign a default level of instructions to the operator based on the authorization level;

collect characteristics about the manufacturing environment, performance history of the operator, and knowledge decay of the operator;

model the characteristics about the manufacturing environment, performance history of the operator, and knowledge decay of the operator to determine an appropriate level of instructions to provide to the operator performing a particular manufacturing activity; and

provide manufacturing instructions associated with the appropriate level of instructions to the operator.