Map Based Routing from Bill of Materials

• US 20150058052A1
• Filed: 08/26/2013
• Published: 02/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Kohlhoff, Stephan
• Granted Patent: US 9,741,015 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials

Abstract

A method and system includes a bill of materials stored on a computer readable storage device, listing multiple components to be assembled. A mapping table is stored on a computer readable storage device having rows listing attributes of components of the bill of materials and a routing operation attribute identifying work centers or another unique attribute. A plurality of routing templates stored on a computer readable storage device, the routing templates identifying work centers and routing operations between work centers. A route generator utilizes the mapping table to map components from the bill of materials to a routing template and its operations.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a bill of materials stored on a computer readable storage device, listing multiple components to be assembled;

a mapping table stored on a computer readable storage device having rows listing components of the bill of materials and a routing attribute;

a plurality of routing templates stored on a computer readable storage device, the routing templates identifying work centers and routing operations between work centers; and

a route generator to utilize the mapping table to map components from the bill of materials to a routing template and its operations.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the routing templates comprise templates for a manufacturing routing.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the routing templates for manufacturing routing include loops to handle rework.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the routing templates comprise templates for enterprise resource planning routing.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the routing templates for enterprise resource planning include work centers for ordering components.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the route generator includes code stored on a computer readable storage device to determine a number of hits on templates corresponding to the multiple components and selecting the template with the most hits to map the components.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the mapping table includes a functional name for each component and the corresponding routing attribute identifying a work center.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein components in the bill of materials are listed in an order of manufacture.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein when a component does not match an operation in a routing template, the route generator is adapted to insert the component into the routing template based on the order of manufacture in the bill of materials.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein when a component does not match any operation, the route generator is adapted to allow a user to manually add an operation and to insert a row in the mapping table corresponding to the component and routing attributes that have been manually added.

11. A method comprising:

obtaining a bill of materials identifying components in an order corresponding to an order of assembling the components during manufacture;

selecting, via a programmed machine, a routing template based on a mapping table having an entry for each component that identifies the component and identifies a routing attribute for the component; and

modifying the template based on the mapping table to generate a routing for the identified components.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the routing comprises a manufacturing routing that includes loops to handle rework.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the routing comprises an enterprise resource planning routing that includes work centers for ordering components.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein selecting a routing template includes determining a number of operations in each of a plurality of templates corresponding to the bill of materials components and selecting the template with the most corresponding operations.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the mapping table includes a functional name for each component and the corresponding routing attribute identifying a work center.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein when a component does not match an operation in a routing template, the method includes inserting the component into the routing template based on the order of manufacture in the bill of materials.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein when a component does not match any operation, the method further comprises:

allowing a user to manually add an operation; and

inserting a row in the mapping table corresponding to the component and routing attributes that have been manually added.

18. A computer readable storage device including instructions for causing a computer to implement a method, the method comprising:

obtaining a bill of materials identifying components in an order corresponding to an order of assembling the components during manufacture;

selecting, via a programmed machine, a routing template based on a mapping table having an entry for each component that identifies the component and identifies a routing attribute for the component; and

modifying the template based on the mapping table to generate a routing for the identified components.

19. The computer readable storage device of claim 18 wherein the method is adapted to generate both a manufacturing routing that includes loops to handle rework and an enterprise resource planning routing that includes work centers for ordering components using the same bill of materials and mapping table.

20. The computer readable storage device of claim 18 wherein selecting a routing template includes determining a number of operations in each of a plurality of templates corresponding to the bill of materials components and selecting the template with the most corresponding operations.