Method and apparatus for scheduling work orders in a manufacturing process

• US 20060271222A1
• Filed: 08/08/2006
• Published: 11/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/1994
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Infor (Amersfoort) BV (Infor Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Infor Global Solutions (Infor Incorporated)
• Inventors: Lilly, Richard T., Layne, David V.
• Granted Patent: US 7,519,444 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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
• 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: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

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:

(1) receiving data in a computer, said data comprising;

(a) resource availability information for each resource used in the manufacturing process;

(b) material availability information for each material used in the manufacturing process;

(c) work order information comprising, for each work order to be scheduled;

(i) a release date for the work order and a want date for the work order;

(ii) operations information comprising 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; and

(iii) material requirements information comprising the identity of the materials needed to perform each operation and the quantity of each material needed for the operation;

(2) assigning resource capacity and a start date/time and a finish date/time to each operation based upon the resource availability information, the material availability information, and the work order information; and

(3) displaying on a computer screen 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 information comprises, for each resource used in the manufacturing process, the identity of the resource, the available capacity for the resource, the dates when said 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 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.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the material availability information further comprises an amount of time necessary to obtain additional material.

5. The method according to claim 3 further comprising the step of displaying on a computer screen selected material availability information.

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 7, wherein said selected work order information is displayed in the form of an acyclic directed graph.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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 said maximum resource capacity is assigned to the operation if said maximum resource capacity is available, and if said maximum resource capacity is not available, then a resource capacity not less than the minimum resource capacity is assigned to the operation.

13. 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 older and the rate at which material will be discarded as scrap during performance of the operation for which the material is needed.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sequence of operations comprises at least one subset of operations for manufacturing an intermediate product, and at least two operations for a single work order are scheduled concurrently.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein more than one dissimilar resource are assigned to a single operation.

18. 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 said material that will be received in inventory on said date; and

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

19. 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 said first total quantity and said second total quantity; and

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

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising the steps of:

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

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

21. The method according to claim 1, wherein more than one schedule is simultaneously displayed on a computer screen.

22. The method according to claim 1, wherein the assigned resource capacity, the assigned start dates/times, and the assigned finish dates/times are displayed in the form of a bar graph.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the range of dates that may be displayed on the computer screen is variable.

24. 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:

(1) means for receiving data in a computer, said data comprising;

(a) a resource availability information for each resource used in the manufacturing process;

(b) material availability information for each material used in the manufacturing process;

(c) work order information comprising, for each work order to be scheduled;

(i) a release date for the work order and a want date for the work order;

(ii) operations information comprising 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; and

(iii) material requirements information comprising the identity of the materials needed to perform each operation and the quantity of each material needed for the operation;

(2) means for assigning resource capacity and a start date/time and a start date/time to each operation based upon the resource availability information, the material availability information, and the work order information; and

(3) means for displaying on a computer screen the assigned resource capacity, the assigned start date/time, and the assigned finish date/time for each operation in a graphical format.

25. The system according to claim 24, 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 said resource capacity is available, and the capacity for the resource that has been assigned to previously scheduled operations.

26. The system according to claim 24, 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.

27. The system according to claim 26, wherein the material availability information further comprises an amount of time necessary to obtain additional material.

28. The system according to claim 26 further comprising means for displaying on a computer screen selected material availability information.

29. The system according to claim 24, 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.

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

31. The system according to claim 30, wherein said displaying means comprises means for displaying said selected work order information in the form of an acyclic directed graph.

32. The system according to claim 24, 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.

33. The system according to claim 24, 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.

34. The system according to claim 24, 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.

35. The system according to claim 24, wherein the operations information further comprises a minimum resource capacity that could be used to perform the operation and said assigning means comprises means for assigning said maximum resource capacity to the operation if said maximum resource capacity is available, and means for assigning a resource capacity not less than the minimum resource capacity to the operation if said minimum resource capacity is not available.

36. The system according to claim 24, 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.

37. The system according to claim 24 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.

38. The system according to claim 24, wherein the work order information further comprises a relative priority for each work order, and said assigning means comprises means for scheduling the operations for each work order in the order of the work order priority.

39. The system according to claim 24, wherein the sequence of operations comprises at least one subset of operations for manufacturing an intermediate product, and said assigning means comprises means for scheduling at least two operations concurrently.

40. The system according to claim 24, wherein said assigning means comprises means for assigning more than one dissimilar resource to a single operation.

41. The system according to claim 24, wherein said displaying means comprises means for displaying more than one schedule on a computer screen simultaneously

42. The system according to claim 24, wherein said 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.

43. The system according to claim 43, wherein said displaying means comprises means for displaying a variable range of dates on the computer screen.

44. A method for scheduling a plurality of operations in a manufacturing process, each operation to be performed using a plurality of resources and materials, the method comprising:

(1) receiving and storing data in a computer, said data comprising;

(a) resource information comprising the identity of the resources needed to perform each operation, a minimum resource capacity needed to perform each operation, and the availability of each of said resources;

(b) materials information comprising the identity of the materials needed to perform each operation, the quantity of each material needed to perform each operation, and the availability of each of said materials;

(2) assigning resource capacity, a start date/time, and a finish date/time to the operation based upon the resource information and the materials information;

arid

(3) displaying on a computer screen the assigned resource capacity, the assigned start date/time, and the assigned finish date/time for each operation in a graphical format.