Move lot size balancing system and method

• US 7,930,051 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2008
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Kealoha, John III, Gupta, Mohan K., Wang, Chung, Jaillet, Patrick, Wang, Flora F., Mai, Quang N., Samal, Nirod, Niemeyer, Dirk, Adair, David B., Hirota, Melissa, Burrell, James V., Whobrey, Andrea L., Jain, Lalit, Kita, Ryan K., Chao, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Hartman, Jr.; Ronald D
• Application Number:
  US12/108,407
• Publication Number:
  US 20080319820A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,091 Days
• Field of Search: 700 95- 97, 700/99, 700100-101, 705 7- 9, 705 28- 29
• US Class Current: 700/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• 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: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data

Abstract

A method and system for allowing a vehicle dealer and manufacturer to match dealer orders and manufacturing plant shipments easily and equitably are disclosed. The method significantly decreases processing time, saving valuable time, money, and manpower resources. An automated linear expression calculation for determining and balancing vehicle allocation allows for equitable balancing of manufacturing plant orders and efficient optimization. The linear expression calculation may be performed in an iterative series of steps. The linear expression calculation handles a plurality of attribute features, thereby accommodating a plurality of dealer requests and vehicle options. The linear expression calculation creates a matrix representing the plurality of attribute features, and with each iteration the values within the matrix are refined and optimized, with the resulting matrix representing an optimized and balanced allocation of manufacturing plant production orders among a plurality of manufacturing plants.

Claims

1. A method for calculating and sending balanced assignments based on dealer orders that are optimized for manufacturing plant output, comprising:

receiving order data descriptive of a plurality of requested vehicle options;

combining the order data with manufacturing plant data, the manufacturing plant data representing production capabilities of a plurality of manufacturing plants, to generate a manufacturing plant production order;

identifying attribute constraints within the manufacturing plant production order by determining which of the requested vehicle options are subject to the production capabilities;

performing a calculation using a linear expression on the manufacturing plant production order and the attribute constraints, the calculation dividing the manufacturing plant production order into balanced assignments among the plurality of manufacturing plants according to the multiple attribute constraints; and

sending at least one of the balanced assignments to at least one of the plurality of manufacturing plants.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the attribute constraints include variants of vehicle specifications.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the variants of vehicle specifications include combinations of features that a manufacturing plant is prepared to produce.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the attribute constraints include constraints on production of each of the plurality of manufacturing plants.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the attribute constraints include manufacturing capabilities of each of the plurality of manufacturing plants.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying one of the individual manufacturing plant orders before sending it to the manufacturing plant.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the attribute constraints are weighted according to a pre-determined ranking hierarchy.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the calculation using a linear expression includes:

applying each of the weighted attribute constraints to the manufacturing plant production order;

calculating a minimum production constraint for each of a plurality of manufacturing plants according to the plurality of weighted attribute constraints,

applying a minimum production tolerance, for each of the plurality of manufacturing plants, to the manufacturing plant production order; and

generating a set of balanced assignments that distributes the manufacturing plant production order among the plurality of manufacturing plants wherein each of the plurality of manufacturing plants is assigned an individual manufacturing plant order.

9. A method for calculating and sending balanced assignments based on dealer orders that are optimized for manufacturing plant output, comprising:

receiving a plurality of orders for vehicles with multiple vehicle types, from a plurality of dealers;

receiving data about production capabilities of a plurality of manufacturing plants;

identifying attribute constraints based on the multiple vehicle types and the production capabilities;

applying a linear expression to the plurality of orders based on the attribute constraints, thereby dividing the plurality of orders into balanced assignments among the plurality of manufacturing plants according to the multiple attribute constraints; and

sending at least one of the balanced assignments to at least one of the manufacturing plants.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the attribute constraints include variants of vehicle specifications.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the variants of vehicle specifications include combinations of features that a manufacturing plant is prepared to produce.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the attribute constraints include constraints on production of each of the plurality of manufacturing plants.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the attribute constraints include manufacturing capabilities of each of the plurality of manufacturing plants.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising modifying one of the balanced assignments before sending it to the manufacturing plant.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the attribute constraints are weighted according to a pre-determined ranking hierarchy.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the application of a linear expression includes:

applying each of the weighted attribute constraints to the plurality of orders;

calculating a minimum production constraint for each of a plurality of manufacturing plants according to the plurality of weighted attribute constraints;

applying a minimum production tolerance, for each of the plurality of manufacturing plants, to the plurality of orders; and

generating a set of balanced assignments that distributes the plurality of orders among the plurality of manufacturing plants wherein each of the plurality of manufacturing plants is assigned an individual manufacturing plant order.

17. Computer-readable storage media containing software thereon which, when loaded and executed on a computer, and in combination with execution of other software on the computer, causes the following actions to occur:

order data descriptive of a plurality of requested vehicle options is received;

a manufacturing plant production order is generated by combining the order data with manufacturing plant data, the manufacturing plant data representing production capabilities of a plurality of manufacturing plants;

attribute constraints are identified within the manufacturing plant production order by determining which of the requested vehicle options are subject to the production capabilities;

a calculation is performed using a linear expression on the manufacturing plant production order and the attribute constraints, the calculation dividing the manufacturing plant production order into balanced assignments among the plurality of manufacturing plants according to the multiple attribute constraints; and

at least one of the balanced assignments is sent to at least one of the plurality of manufacturing plants.

18. Computer-readable storage media containing software thereon which, when loaded and executed on a computer, and in combination with execution of other software on the computer, causes the following actions to occur:

a plurality of orders for vehicles with multiple vehicle types is received from a plurality of dealers;

data about production capabilities of a plurality of manufacturing plants is received;

attribute constraints based on the multiple vehicle types and the production capabilities are identified;

a linear expression is applied to the plurality of orders based on the attribute constraints, thereby dividing the plurality of orders into balanced assignments among the plurality of manufacturing plants according to the multiple attribute constraints; and

at least one of the balanced assignments is sent to at least one of the manufacturing plants.

19. Computer-readable storage media containing software thereon which, when loaded and executed on a computer, and in combination with execution of other software on the computer, causes the following actions to occur:

order data descriptive of a plurality of requested vehicles is received, the order data including specified vehicle options;

the order data is combined with manufacturing plant data, the manufacturing plant data representing vehicle production capabilities of a plurality of manufacturing plants, to generate a manufacturing plant production order;

attribute constraints are identified within the manufacturing plant production order by determining which of the specified vehicle options of the manufacturing plant production order are subject to the vehicle production capabilities of the manufacturing plants;

a calculation is performed using a linear expression on the manufacturing plant production order and the attribute constraints, the calculation dividing the manufacturing plant production order into balanced assignments among the plurality of manufacturing plants according to the multiple attribute constraints; and

a production order is sent to each of the plurality of manufacturing plants based on the calculated balanced assignments.

20. The computer-readable storage media of claim 19, wherein the manufacturing plant data includes limitations on the combination of features or variations that a factory is prepared to produce.

21. The computer-readable storage media of claim 20, wherein the limitations indicate an upper production bound and a lower production bound.

22. The computer-readable storage media of claim 19, wherein the attribute constraints are weighted according to a pre-determined ranking hierarchy.

23. The computer-readable storage media of claim 22, wherein the calculation using a linear expression causes the following additional actions to occur:

each of the weighted attribute constraints is applied to the manufacturing plant production order;

a minimum production constraint is calculated for each of the plurality of manufacturing plants according to the plurality of weighted attribute constraints;

a minimum production tolerance for each of the plurality of manufacturing plants is applied to the manufacturing plant production order; and

a set of balanced assignments that distributes the manufacturing plant production order among the plurality of manufacturing plants is generated, wherein each of the plurality of manufacturing plants is assigned a balanced production order.