Continuous production planning using a transition matrix
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of continuous production planning, comprising:
- accessing, by a computer, a transition matrix comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with first and second end products;
identifying, by the computer, a forbidden transition associated with production of the first and second end products, the forbidden transition identifying an unusable transition product produced when production equipment continues manufacturing a product while the production equipment is in the process of changing from manufacturing the first end product to manufacturing the second end product;
identifying, by the computer, a bridge product associated with the forbidden transition, the bridge product representing a product to be manufactured between production of the first and second end products and selected based on one or more rules reflecting one or more user preferences, the one or more rules identifying criteria that identifies the bridge product;
determining, by the computer, a quantity of the bridge product to be manufactured by identifying an existing demand of the bridge product and an additional quantity of the bridge product to be produced by the production equipment; and
scheduling, by the computer, production of the first and second end products and the bridge product, wherein the bridge product is scheduled for production between the production of the first and second end products.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for continuous production planning includes identifying a forbidden transition associated with production of first and second end products. The forbidden transition indicates that a manufacturer should not produce the first and second end products consecutively. The method also includes identifying a bridge product associated with the forbidden transition. The bridge product represents a product that the manufacturer could produce between production of the first and second end products. The method further includes determining a quantity of the bridge product that could be produced by the manufacturer. In addition, the method includes scheduling production of the first and second end products and the bridge product. At least a portion of the quantity of the bridge product is scheduled for production between the production of the first and second end products.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of continuous production planning, comprising:
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accessing, by a computer, a transition matrix comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with first and second end products; identifying, by the computer, a forbidden transition associated with production of the first and second end products, the forbidden transition identifying an unusable transition product produced when production equipment continues manufacturing a product while the production equipment is in the process of changing from manufacturing the first end product to manufacturing the second end product; identifying, by the computer, a bridge product associated with the forbidden transition, the bridge product representing a product to be manufactured between production of the first and second end products and selected based on one or more rules reflecting one or more user preferences, the one or more rules identifying criteria that identifies the bridge product; determining, by the computer, a quantity of the bridge product to be manufactured by identifying an existing demand of the bridge product and an additional quantity of the bridge product to be produced by the production equipment; and scheduling, by the computer, production of the first and second end products and the bridge product, wherein the bridge product is scheduled for production between the production of the first and second end products. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer-implemented method of continuous production planning, comprising:
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accessing, by a computer, a transition matrix comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with first and second end products; identifying, by the computer, a forbidden transition associated with production of the first and second end products, the forbidden transition identifying an unusable transition product produced when production equipment continues manufacturing a product while the production equipment is in the process of changing from manufacturing the first end product to manufacturing the second end product; identifying, by the computer, a bridge product associated with the forbidden transition, the bridge product representing a product to be manufactured between production of the first and second end products; determining, by the computer, a quantity of the bridge product to be manufactured by; determining a demand quantity needed to satisfy existing demand for the bridge product; determining a maximum quantity of the bridge product that the production equipment can produce; comparing the demand quantity and the maximum quantity; and determining an additional quantity of the bridge product that the production equipment can produce in addition to the demand quantity of the bridge product, the additional quantity equal to a difference between the demand quantity and the maximum quantity when the demand quantity is less than the maximum quantity, the additional quantity equal to zero when the demand quantity is not less than the maximum quantity; and scheduling, by the computer, production of the first and second end products and the bridge product, wherein the bridge product is scheduled for production between the production of the first and second end products. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system of continuous production planning, comprising:
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memory accessing a transition matrix comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with first and second end products; memory identifying a forbidden transition associated with production of the first and second end products, the forbidden transition identifying an unusable transition product produced when production equipment continues manufacturing a product while the production equipment is in the process of changing from manufacturing the first end product to manufacturing the second end product; and one or more processors collectively configured to; identify a bridge product associated with the forbidden transition, the bridge product representing a product to be manufactured between production of the first and second end products and selected based on one or more rules reflecting one or more user preferences, the one or more rules identifying criteria that identifies the bridge product; determine a quantity of the bridge product to be manufactured by identifying an existing demand of the bridge product and an additional quantity of the bridge product to be produced by the production equipment; and schedule production of the first and second end products and the bridge product, wherein the bridge product is scheduled for production between the production of the first and second end products. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system of continuous production planning, comprising:
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memory accessing a transition matrix comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with first and second end products; memory identifying a forbidden transition associated with production of the first and second end products, the forbidden transition identifying an unusable transition product produced when production equipment continues manufacturing a product while the production equipment is in the process of changing from manufacturing the first end product to manufacturing the second end product; and one or more processors collectively configured to; identify a bridge product associated with the forbidden transition, the bridge product representing a product to be manufactured between production of the first and second end products; determine a quantity of the bridge product to be manufactured by; determining a demand quantity needed to satisfy existing demand for the bridge product; determining a maximum quantity of the bridge product that the production equipment can produce; comparing the demand quantity and the maximum quantity; and determining an additional quantity of the bridge product that the production equipment can produce in addition to the demand quantity of the bridge product, the additional quantity equal to a difference between the demand quantity and the maximum quantity when the demand quantity is less than the maximum quantity, the additional quantity equal to zero when the demand quantity is not less than the maximum quantity; and schedule production of the first and second end products and the bridge product, wherein the bridge product is scheduled for production between the production of the first and second end products. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A non transitory computer-readable medium embodied with software for continuous production planning, the software when executed by one or more processors is configured to:
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access a transition matrix comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with first and second end products; identify a forbidden transition associated with production of the first and second end products, the forbidden transition identifying an unusable transition product when production equipment continues manufacturing a product while the production equipment is in the process of changing from manufacturing the first end product to manufacturing the second end product; identify a bridge product associated with the forbidden transition, the bridge product representing a product to be manufactured between production of the first and second end products and selected based on one or more rules reflecting one or more user preferences, the one or more rules identifying criteria that identifies the bridge product; determine a quantity of the bridge product to be manufactured by identifying an existing demand of the bridge product and an additional quantity of the bridge product to be produced by the production equipment; and schedule production of the first and second end products and the bridge product, wherein the bridge product is scheduled for production between the production of the first and second end products.
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30. A computer-implemented method of continuous production planning, comprising:
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accessing, by a computer, a transition comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with first and second end products; identifying, by the computer, a forbidden transition associated with production of the first and second end products using the transition matrix, the forbidden transition identifying an unusable transition product when production equipment continues manufacturing a product while the production equipment is in the process of changing from manufacturing the first end product to manufacturing the second end product, the transition matrix comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with two products of a plurality of products and identifying whether a transition between the two products of the plurality of products is allowable or forbidden, the plurality of products including the first and second end products; identifying, by the computer, a bridge product associated with the forbidden transition by converting the transition matrix to a graph comprising a plurality of nodes each associated with one of the plurality of products and identifying a shortest path between a source node and a destination node in the graph, the source node associated with the first end product, the destination node associated with the second end product, the bridge product representing a product that the production equipment could produce between production of the first and second end products; determining, by the computer, a demand quantity of the bridge product needed to satisfy existing demand for the bridge product; determining, by the computer, an additional quantity of the bridge product that the production equipment can produce in addition to the demand quantity of the bridge product; and scheduling, by the computer, production of quantities of the first and second end products and at least a portion of one or more of the demand quantity and the additional quantity of the bridge product, wherein the bridge product is scheduled for production between the production of the first and second end products.
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31. A system of continuous production planning, comprising:
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memory configured to store a transition matrix, the transition matrix comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with two products of a plurality of products and identifying whether a transition between the two products of the plurality of products is allowable or forbidden, the plurality of products including first and second end products; and one or more processors collectively configured to; identify a forbidden transition associated with production of the first and second end products using the transition matrix, the forbidden transition identifying an unusable transition product when production equipment continues manufacturing a product while the production equipment is in the process of changing from manufacturing the first end product to manufacturing the second end product; identify a bridge product associated with the forbidden transition by converting the transition matrix to a graph comprising a plurality of nodes each associated with one of the plurality of products and identifying a shortest path between a source node and a destination node in the graph, the source node associated with the first end product, the destination node associated with the second end product, the bridge product representing a product that the production equipment could produce between production of the first and second end products; determine a demand quantity of the bridge product needed to satisfy existing demand for the bridge product; determine an additional quantity of the bridge product that the production equipment can produce in addition to the demand quantity of the bridge product; and schedule production of quantities of the first and second end products and at least a portion of one or more of the demand quantity and the additional quantity of the bridge product, wherein the bridge product is scheduled for production between the production of the first and second end products.
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32. A non transitory computer-readable medium embodied with software for continuous production planning, the software when executed by one or more processors is configured to:
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access a transition matrix comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with first and second end products; identify a forbidden transition associated with production of the first and second end products using the transition matrix, the forbidden transition identifying an unusable transition product when production equipment continues manufacturing a product while the production equipment is in the process of changing from manufacturing the first end product to manufacturing the second end product, the transition matrix comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with two products of a plurality of products and identifying whether a transition between the two products of the plurality of products is allowable or forbidden, the plurality of products including the first and second end products; identify a bridge product associated with the forbidden transition by converting the transition matrix to a graph comprising a plurality of nodes each associated with one of the plurality of products and identifying a shortest path between a source node and a destination node in the graph, the source node associated with the first end product, the destination node associated with the second end product, the bridge product representing a product that the production equipment could produce between production of the first and second end products; determine a demand quantity of the bridge product needed to satisfy existing demand for the bridge product; determine an additional quantity of the bridge product that the production equipment can produce in addition to the demand quantity of the bridge product; and schedule production of quantities of the first and second end products and at least a portion of one or more of the demand quantity and the additional quantity of the bridge product, wherein the bridge product is scheduled for production between the production of the first and second end products.
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33. A non transitory computer-readable medium embodied with software for continuous production planning, the software when executed by one or more processors is configured to:
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access a transition matrix comprising a plurality of transition values each associated with first and second end products; identify a forbidden transition associated with production of the first and second end products, the forbidden transition identifying an unusable transition product when production equipment continues manufacturing a product while the production equipment is in the process of changing from manufacturing the first end product to manufacturing the second end product; identify a bridge product associated with the forbidden transition, the bridge product representing a product to be manufactured between production of the first and second end products; determine a quantity of the bridge product to be manufactured by; determining a demand quantity needed to satisfy existing demand for the bridge product; determining a maximum quantity of the bridge product that the production equipment can produce; comparing the demand quantity and the maximum quantity; and determining an additional quantity of the bridge product that the production equipment can produce in addition to the demand quantity of the bridge product, the additional quantity equal to a difference between the demand quantity and the maximum quantity when the demand quantity is less than the maximum quantity, the additional quantity equal to zero when the demand quantity is not less than the maximum quantity; and schedule production of the first and second end products and the bridge product, wherein the bridge product is scheduled for production between the production of the first and second end products. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification