Method and apparatus for scheduling work orders in a manufacturing process

• US 6,088,626 A
• Filed: 04/24/1998
• Issued: 07/11/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Infor (Amersfoort) BV (Infor Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Lilly Software Associates, Inc. (Infor Incorporated)
• Inventors: Lilly, Richard T., Layne, David V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Grant, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Robinson, Victoria
• Application Number:
  US09/065,932
• Time in Patent Office: 809 Days
• Field of Search: 700/96, 700/99, 700/100, 705/106, 705/8, 283/55
• US Class Current: 700/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A computerized system is provided for scheduling a plurality of work orders in a manufacturing process. Each work order to be scheduled specifies a set of operations to be performed using a plurality of resources and materials. Data including resource availability information for each resource used in the manufacturing process, material availability information for each material used in the manufacturing process, and work order information is received and stored in a computer. The work order information includes a release date for the work order, a want date for the work order, operations information, and material requirements information. The operations information includes the identity and sequence of operations to be performed for the work order, the identity of the resources needed to perform each operation, a minimum resource capacity needed to perform each operation, and the time needed to perform the operation. The materials information includes the identity of the materials needed to perform each operation and the quantity of each material needed for the operation. Resource capacity and a start date/time and a finish date/time are assigned to each operation based upon the resource availability information, the material availability information, and the work order information. The assigned resource-capacity, the assigned start date/time, and the assigned finish date/time for each operation are displayed on a computer screen in a graphical format.

Claims

1. A computerized method for scheduling a plurality of work orders for manufacturing products in a manufacturing process, each work order comprising a set of operations to be performed using a plurality of resources and materials, the method comprising:

monitoring the availability of each resource used in the manufacturing process;

monitoring the availability of each material used in the manufacturing process;

inputting work order information for each work order to be scheduled, comprising (1) a release date and a want date for the work order, (2) operations information, and (3) material requirements information;

assigning resource capacity and a start date/time and a finish date/time to each operation based upon the resource availability, the material availability and the work order information by selecting a start date/time for each operation based upon a determination that both the resource capacity and the material required for that operation are concurrently available on such start date/time, to provide a schedule; and

outputting the assigned resource capacity, the assigned start date/time and the assigned finish date/time for each operation in a graphical format.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the resource availability monitoring step comprises monitoring for each operation the identity of each resource used in the manufacturing process, the available capacity for the resource, the dates when the resource capacity is available, and the capacity for the resource that has been assigned to previously scheduled operations.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the material availability monitoring step comprises monitoring for each operation the identity of the material, the dates when the material becomes available, and the quantity of the material available on each date.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the operations information comprises the identity and sequence of operations to be performed for the work order, the identity of the resources needed to perform each operation, a minimum resource capacity needed to perform each operation, and the time needed to perform each operation.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the material requirements information comprises the identity of the materials needed to perform each operation and the quantity of each material needed for the operation.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the work order information further comprises at least one of the identity of the product to be manufactured, the quantity of the product to be manufactured, and a relative priority for each work order.

7. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of displaying on a computer screen selected work order information.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the operations information comprises at least one of the time needed to set up the resources needed to perform each operation and the time needed to run each operation per unit of output from the operation.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the operations information further comprises at least one of the time needed to transfer the output from each operation to the next operation in the sequence and the minimum quantity of output units required to be completed before beginning the next operation in the sequence.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein the operations information further comprises at least one of the yield of output units per unit of input for the operation and the quantity of output units per unit of input that will be discarded as scrap.

11. The method according to claim 1 wherein the operations information further comprises a minimum resource capacity that could be used to perform the operation and the maximum resource capacity is assigned to the operation if the maximum resource capacity is available, and if the maximum resource capacity is not available, then a resource capacity not less than the minimum resource capacity is assigned to the operation.

12. The method according to claim 1 wherein the material requirements information further comprises at least one of the quantity of material that will be discarded as scrap during issuance of material to the work order and the rate at which material will be discarded as scrap during performance of the operation for which the material is needed.

13. The method according to claim 1 further comprising at least one of (a) the step of revising and storing the resource availability information based upon the assigned resource capacity, the assigned start date/time, and the assigned finish date/time, and (b) the step of revising and storing the material availability information based upon the material requirements information for the scheduled operation.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the work order information further comprises a relative priority for each work order and the operations for each work order are scheduled in the order of the work order priority.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the material availability information is determined by the following steps:

(1) determining a first total quantity of a material needed to perform all operations that have been scheduled prior to a given date;

(2) determining a second total quantity of the material that will be received in inventory on the date; and

(3) determining the difference between the first total quantity and the second total quantity.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the process of assigning a start date/time and a finish date/time to an operation based upon the material availability information comprises the steps of:

(1) determining a proposed start date/time for the operation;

(2) for each material required for the operation,

(a) determining a first total quantity of the material needed to perform all operations that have been scheduled prior to the proposed start date/time;

(b) determining a second total quantity of the material that will be in inventory on the proposed start date/time; and

(c) computing the difference between the first total quantity and the second total quantity; and

(3) comparing the difference to the material requirement for the operation.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

(4) where the difference equals or exceeds the material requirement for the operation, assigning the proposed start date/time as the start date/time; and

(5) where the difference is less than the material requirement for the operation, assigning a start date/time based upon the proposed start date/time and the time required to obtain an additional quantity of the material needed for the operation.

18. The method according to claim 1 wherein the assigning step further comprises traversing the operations of each work order in at least one of the forward direction or the backward direction.

19. A computerized system for scheduling a plurality of work orders for manufacturing products in a manufacturing process, each work order comprising a set of operations to be performed using a plurality of resources and materials, the system comprising:

means for monitoring the availability of each resource used in the manufacturing process;

means for monitoring the availability of each material used in the manufacturing process;

means for inputting work order information for each work order to be scheduled, the work order information comprising (1) a release date and a want date for the work order, (2) operations information, and (3) material requirements information;

means for assigning resource capacity and a start date/time and a finish date/time to each operation based upon the resource availability, the material availability and the work order information by selecting a start date/time for each operation based upon a determination that both the resource capacity and the material required for that operation are concurrently available on such start date/time, to provide a schedule; and

means for outputting the assigned resource capacity, the assigned start date/time and the assigned finish date/time for each operation in a graphical format.

20. The system according to claim 19 wherein the resource availability information comprises, for each resource used in the manufacturing process, the identity of the resource, the available capacity for the resource, the dates when the resource capacity is available, and the capacity for the resource that has been assigned to previously scheduled operations.

21. The system according to claim 19 wherein the material availability information comprises, for each material used in the manufacturing process, the identity of the material, the dates when the material becomes available, and the quantity of the material available on each date.

22. The system according to claim 19 wherein the operations information comprises the identity and sequence of operations to be performed for the work order, the identity of the resources needed to perform each operation, a minimum resource capacity needed to perform each operation, and the time needed to perform each operation.

23. The system according to claim 19 wherein the material requirements information comprises the identity of the materials needed to perform each operation and the quantity of each material needed for the operation.

24. The system according to claim 19 further comprising means for displaying on a computer screen selected work order information.

25. The system according to claim 19 wherein the work order information further comprises at least one of the identity of the product to be manufactured, the quantity of the product to be manufactured, and a relative priority for each work order.

26. The system according to claim 19 wherein the operations information comprises at least one of the time needed to set up the resources needed to perform each operation and the time needed to run each operation per unit of output from the operation.

27. The system according to claim 19 wherein the operations information further comprises at least one of the time needed to transfer the output from each operation to the next operation in the sequence and the minimum quantity of output units required to be completed before beginning the next operation in the sequence.

28. The system according to claim 19 wherein the operations information further comprises at least one of the yield of output units per unit of input for the operation and the quantity of output units per unit of input that will be discarded as scrap.

29. The system according to claim 19 wherein the operations information further comprises a minimum resource capacity that could be used to perform the operation and the assigning means comprises means for assigning the maximum resource capacity to the operation if the maximum resource capacity is available, and means for assigning a resource capacity not less than the minimum resource capacity to the operation if the minimum resource capacity is not available.

30. The system according to claim 19 wherein the material requirements information further comprises at least one of the quantity of material that will be discarded as scrap during issuance of material to the work order and the rate at which material will be discarded as scrap during performance of the operation for which the material is needed.

31. The system according to claim 19 further comprising at least one of:

(a) means for revising and storing the resource availability information based upon the assigned resource capacity, the assigned start date/time, and the assigned finish date/time, and (b) means for revising and storing the material availability information based upon the material requirements information for the scheduled operation.

32. The system according to claim 19 wherein the work order information further comprises a relative priority for each work order, and the assigning means comprises means for scheduling the operations for each work order in the order of the work order priority.

33. The system according to claim 19 wherein the displaying means comprises means for displaying resource capacity, the assigned start dates/times, and the assigned finish dates/times in the form of a bar graph.

34. A computerized method for scheduling a plurality of work orders, each comprising a set of operations to be performed using a plurality of resources and materials, for manufacturing products in a manufacturing process, the method comprising:

monitoring the availability of each resource and each material used in the manufacturing process;

inputting for each work order to be scheduled work order information including a release date, a want date, operations information, and material requirements information;

assigning resource capacity and a start date/time and a finish date/time to each operation based upon the resource availability, the material availability and the work order information by selecting a start date/time for each operation based upon a determination that the resource capacity and the material required for that operation are concurrently available on such start date/time, to provide a schedule; and

outputting the assigned resource capacity, the assigned start date/time and the assigned finish date/time for each operation in a graphical format.