Method, system and facility for controlling resource allocation within a manufacturing environment

• US 6,615,092 B2
• Filed: 03/05/2001
• Issued: 09/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Widis, Nicholas J., Pape, Mark Allen, Bickley, Branden Clark, Hunt, Brian J., Williams, Richard M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Picard, Leo
• Assistant Examiner(s): FRANK, ELLIOT L
• Application Number:
  US09/800,046
• Publication Number:
  US 20020123814A1
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: 700/96, 700/99-102, 700/445-116, 700/213-216, 700/226, 705/8
• US Class Current: 700/99
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4183 characterised by data acquisition, e.g. workpiece identification
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31385 Determine rate of MFL out of each process within each workstation
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31406 Data management, shop management, memory management
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32181 Monitor production, assembly apparatus with multiple sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A method, a system and a facility provide for the control of resource allocation within a build to order manufacturing environment. A system for providing a control center for a manufacturing facility is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of information sources operably associated with manufacturing products within the manufacturing facility. A user interface of the system displays selective information associated with portions of the manufacturing facility within a control center operable to manage production within the manufacturing facility. The system further includes a resource allocator operably coupled to the control center and the plurality of information sources and the resource allocator is operable to monitor work in process within the manufacturing facility.

Claims

1. A manufacturing facility employing dynamic allocation of resources for assembling and shipping products comprising:

a centralized information system that monitors respective work-in-process (WIP) profiles for build, packaging, and shipping facilities within the manufacturing facility;

wherein the respective WIP profiles for the build, packaging, and shipping facilities include information obtained in substantially real-time by the centralized information system;

wherein the WIP profile for the build facility identifies product volume within the build facility;

wherein the WIP profile for the packaging facility identifies product volume within the packaging facility;

wherein the WIP profile for the shipping facility identifies product volume within the shipping facility;

the centralized information system operable to display information from the respective WIP profiles for the build, packaging, and shipping facilities in a user interface in a control center for the manufacturing facility;

the centralized information system operable to receive user input specifying a desired reallocation of resources within one or more of the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility; and

the centralized information system operable to respond to the user input by automatically communicating with one or more of the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility to implement the desired reallocation of resources.

2. The manufacturing facility of claim 1 further comprising a process monitor operable to monitor a process activity associated with two or more of the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility.

3. The manufacturing facility of claim 2 wherein the process monitor determines process errors for one or more of the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility.

4. The manufacturing facility of claim 1 further comprising the control center operable to pull products associated with an order from the manufacturing facility for tender to a carrier associated with the order, based on shipping criteria associated with the order and based on WIP profiles for two or more of the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility.

5. The manufacturing facility of claim 4 further comprising the control center operable to optimize the manufacture of products based on a delivery capability of the carrier and a ship criteria of the order.

6. The manufacturing facility of claim 5 further comprising the control center operable to access an order request and allocate resources within the manufacturing facility to manufacture one or more systems based on the order request.

7. The manufacturing facility of claim 6 further comprising the control center operable to:

determine carrier availability and available carrier capacity;

to reallocate manufacturing resources within the build facility to process an order that can be shipped with the available carrier capacity of the available carrier;

to determine availability of a loading dock door; and

to allocate the loading dock door for the orders based on available resources within the shipping facility.

8. The manufacturing facility of claim 1 further comprising an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) associated with the control center and operable to retrieve product for an order based on ship criteria for the order, and based on availability of a carrier.

9. The facility of claim 1 further comprising the control center operable to reallocate resources based on available capacity for an incoming carrier.

10. A system for providing a control center for a manufacturing facility comprising:

a plurality of information sources operably associated with manufacturing products for a customer order within the manufacturing facility;

a work-in-process (WIP) profile monitor that maintains WIP profiles for build, packaging, and shipping facilities within the manufacturing facility, such that the WIP profiles include substantially real-time data that represents product volume within the build, packaging, and shipping facilities, respectively;

a user interface within a control center operable to manage production within the manufacturing facility, the user interface operable to display information from the WIP profiles for the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility;

the user interface operable to receive user input that specifies a desired reallocation of resources within one or more of the build facility, the packaging facility; and

the shipping facility; and

a resource allocator operably coupled to the control center, that automatically communicates with one or more of the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility to implement the desired reallocation of resources.

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising a dock and scheduling user interface displayed within the control center, wherein the dock and scheduling user interface facilitates reallocation of resources for an order based on a ship criteria for the order and carrier information for the order.

12. The system of claim 10 further comprising a WIP profile monitor and resource allocation user interface displayed within the control center.

13. The system of claim 10 further comprising:

a process error and identification user interface displayed within the control center; and

an equipment error ID and recovery user interface displayed within the control center.

14. The system of claim 10 further comprising at least one database operable to provide real-time access to information associated with manufacturing a computer system.

15. The system of claim 10 wherein the system provides access to information associated one or more carriers, the information including capacity of the carrier.

16. The system of claim 10 further comprising control logic operable to allocate resources based on a ship criteria and carrier information associated with an order.

17. The system of claim 16 further comprising control logic operable to:

identify an unavailable resource within the manufacturing facility;

determining available capacity at a substitute resource for the unavailable resource within the manufacturing facility;

-and

route products to the substitute resource.

18. A method for controlling allocation of resources within a build to order manufacturing facility comprising:

monitoring a work-in-process (WIP) profile for a build facility within the manufacturing facility, wherein the WIP profile for the build facility includes substantially real-time data that represents product volume within the build facility;

monitoring a WIP profile for a packaging facility within the manufacturing facility, wherein the WIP profile for the packaging facility includes substantially real-time data that represents product volume within the packaging facility;

monitoring a WIP profile for a shipping facility within the manufacturing facility, wherein the WIP profile for the shipping facility includes substantially real-time data that represents product volume within the shipping facility;

displaying information from the WIP profiles for the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility on a user interface of a control center for the manufacturing facility;

after displaying information from the WIP profiles for the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility in the control center, receiving user input that specifies a desired reallocation of resources within one or more of the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility; and

in response to receiving the user input, automatically communicating with one or more of the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility to implement the desired reallocation of resources.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein:

the operation of displaying information from the WIP profiles comprises displaying information that pertains to a bottleneck restricting completion and shipment of an order; and

the operation of automatically communicating with one or more of the build facility, the packaging facility, and the shipping facility to implement the desired reallocation of resources comprises dynamically allocating resources to relieve the bottleneck.

20. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

determining available shipping capacity based on shipping and scheduling information for a carrier that serves the manufacturing facility;

analyzing WIP profiles for an order associated with the carrier;

determining a complete percentage of the order, based on the WIP profiles; and

dynamically assigning the carrier to a dock associated with the manufacturing facility in response to determining the complete percentage of the order.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

retrieving required product to fill the order from an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS);

processing the product for shipment; and

transporting the product to the assigned dock for tender to the carrier.

22. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

detecting an error associated with a resource within the manufacturing facility;

updating the user interface to display the detected error; and

re-allocating resources based on user input received after the detected error has been displayed.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the operation of detecting an error comprises detecting an equipment error within the manufacturing facility.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein the detecting comprises detecting a process error.

25. The method of claim 22 further comprising:

deploying a simulator to evaluate a re-allocation of resources; and

re-allocating resources based on evaluation results from the simulator.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

displaying graphical illustrations of pieces of equipment within the manufacturing facility; and

displaying operational status information for the pieces of equipment.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

automatically updating the WIP profile for at least one area in the manufacturing facility based on scans of each product unit entering the area and each product unit leaving the area, such that the WIP profile is updated for individual product units as those units progress through the manufacturing facility.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

determining total product volume within at least one area in the manufacturing facility by aggregating information on individual product units in the WIP profile for that area.

29. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

recognizing ship criteria associated with the order;

analyzing one or more WIP profiles associated with the order;

determining whether the ship criteria associated with the order have been satisfied, based on the analysis of the one or more WIP profiles; and

in response to determining that a ship criterion among the ship criteria has not been satisfied, displaying information that identifies the unsatisfied ship criterion.