System for scheduling product planning

• US 7,139,719 B1
• Filed: 10/08/2000
• Issued: 11/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Blue Yonder Group, Inc. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: i2 Technologies US Incorporated (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kumar, Krishna, Fors, John, Cherneff, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOFTIS, JOHNNA RONEE
• Application Number:
  US09/684,076
• Time in Patent Office: 2,235 Days
• Field of Search: 705/8, 705/9, 705/7, 700/95, 700/99
• US Class Current: 705/7.23
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41865 characterised by job scheduling, process planning, material flow
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32082 Planing, material requiring planning MRP, request
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32258 Resource, machine assignment preferences, actual and anticipated load
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32328 Dynamic scheduling, resource allocation, multi agent negotiation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063118 Staff planning in a project environment
• 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 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A product development scheduler uses a distributed, constraint based system for modeling allocation of resources. All resources for all active development projects are provided at a central location, so that resources are not allocated twice across different projects. Real time availability of resources allows accurate modeling, and changes in resource status are reflected by the scheduler. Availability of materials are tracked through the supply chain to ensure true availability for planning purposes.

Claims

1. A method for scheduling development planning for a plurality of products of an enterprise, comprising:

Receiving a list of a plurality of products to be developed;

receiving a list of required completion dates, each completion date specifying the completion date for the development of a corresponding product in the plurality of products;

receiving, for each product in the plurality of products, a project definition of a project for developing the product, each project definition defining;

a plurality of phases associated with the project for development the product, the plurality of phases having a plurality of tasks required to complete a project for developing the product associated with the project definition; and

a list of resources required to complete each task defined in the product definition, at least one of the plurality of tasks for at least one of the plurality of projects requiring a material to be provided by an outside party distinct from the enterprise;

receiving a list of available resources, each resource in the list of available resources comprises;

a capacity level, representing a function of time available to each resource;

an availability level, representing a function duration available to each resource; and

an ability level, including at attribute level, representing a function of work characteristic capable of being performed by each resource and a competency level, representing a function of competence of each resource;

receiving, for each task associated with each phase of the project definition requiring a resource, a specified minimum ability level of one of more resources to be used for that task;

receiving a list of materials available from outside parties distinct from the enterprise and a schedule of availability of the materials available from the outside parties; and

maintaining a scheduler operable to automatically generate a development schedule comprising all tasks for all projects, the development schedule allocating the resources such that each resource is allocated at a level less than or equal to its capacity, the development schedule also allocating the resources that have an ability level at least as high as the specified minimum ability level, the development schedule also scheduling tasks that require materials from outside parties at a time when such materials will be available;

monitoring the materials identified in the list of materials from outside parties distinct from the enterprise using one or more supply chain tools operable to monitor the outside parties; and

automatically modifying the development schedule based on material availability information obtained by the one or more supply chain tools.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each task is associated with a task definition comprising at least one of:

type information identifying the type of task;

hierarchy relationship information comprising one or more pointers to one or more related tasks and information regarding a sequence for performing related tasks;

duration information specifying a quantity of time the task will take to complete;

resource information specifying one or more resources to be used and a desired ability; and

progress information specifying progress of the particular task.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the task definition further comprises scheduling requirements comprising one or more of:

one or more constraints associated with the particular task; and

policy information specifying one or more rules for enforcing the one or more constraints.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more constraints comprise:

one or more built-in constraints provided by the scheduler; and

one or more user-specified constraints.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a particular task comprises a plurality of subtasks, a task definition for the particular task specifying the plurality of subtasks and an order in which the plurality of subtasks should be performed.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of tasks are defined in a hierarchy specifying relationships among related tasks, at least one task comprising a plurality of sub-tasks, each sub-task being associated with an identification of one or more resources for performing the leaf task.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a particular task in the plurality of tasks comprises a standard tasks for repeated use, the method further comprising storing a task definition for the particular task comprising a list of sub-tasks for performing the particular task and a list of resources for performing the sub-tasks in the list of sub-tasks.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each available resource in the list of available resources is associated with a resource definition comprising:

the capacity of the resource;

availability of the resource; and

ability of the resource comprising attribute information identifying a type of work associated with the resource and competency information indicating how well the resource performs the type of work identified in the attribute information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of available resources is defined in a hierarchy specifying relationships among related resources, at least one resource comprising a plurality of sub-resources.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving project status information from a user, the project status information regarding the status of a project in the plurality of projects; and

automatically modifying the development schedule based on the project status information.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving resource status information from a user, the resource status information regarding the status of available resources in the list of available resources; and

automatically modifying the development schedule based on the resource status information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the resource status information comprises a change in the capacity of a resource.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the scheduler is operable to automatically generate the development schedule using a genetic algorithm.

14. A system for scheduling development planning for a plurality of products of an enterprise, comprising:

a list of a plurality of products to be developed;

a list of required completion dates, each completion date specifying the completion date for the development of a corresponding product in the plurality of products;

for each product in the plurality of products, a project definition of a project for developing the product, each project definition defining;

a plurality of phases associated with the project for development the product, the plurality of phases having a plurality of tasks required to complete a project for developing the product associated with the project definition; and

a list of resources required to complete each task defined in the product definition, at least one of the plurality of tasks for at least one of the plurality of projects requiring a material to be provided by an outside party distinct from the enterprise;

a list of available resources, each resource in the list of available resources comprises;

a capacity level, representing a function of time available to each resource;

an availability level, representing a function duration available to each resource; and

an ability level, including at attribute level, representing a function of work characteristic capable of being performed by each resource and a competency level, representing a function of competence of each resource;

for each task associated with each phase of the project definition requiring a resource, a specified minimum ability level of one of more resources to be used for that task;

a list of materials available from outside parties distinct from the enterprise;

a scheduler operable to automatically generate a development schedule comprising all tasks for all projects, the development schedule allocating the resources such that each resource is allocated at a level less than or equal to its capacity, the development schedule also allocating the resources that have an ability level at least as high as the specified minimum ability level, the development schedule also scheduling tasks that require materials from outside parties at a time when such materials will be available;

the scheduler further operable to;

monitor the materials identified in the list of materials from outside parties distinct from the enterprise using one or more supply chain tools operable to monitor the outside parties; and

automatically modify the development schedule based on material availability information obtained by the one or more supply chain tools.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein each task is associated with a task definition comprising at least one of:

type information identifying the type of task;

hierarchy relationship information comprising one or more pointers to one or more related tasks and information regarding a sequence for performing related tasks;

duration information specifying a quantity of time the task will take to complete;

resource information specifying one or more resources to be used and a desired ability; and

progress information specifying progress of the particular task.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the task definition further comprises scheduling requirements comprising one or more of:

one or more constraints associated with the particular task; and

policy information specifying one or more rules for enforcing the one or more constraints.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more constraints comprise:

one or more built-in constraints provided by the scheduler; and

one or more user-specified constraints.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein a particular task comprises a plurality of subtasks, a task definition for the particular task specifying the plurality of subtasks and an order in which the plurality of subtasks should be performed.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the plurality of tasks are defined in a hierarchy specifying relationships among related tasks, at least one task comprising a plurality of sub-tasks, each sub-task being associated with an identification of one or more resources for performing the leaf task.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein a particular task in the plurality of tasks comprises a standard tasks for repeated use, the system further operable to store a task definition for the particular task comprising a list of sub-tasks for performing the particular task and a list of resources for performing the sub-tasks in the list of sub-tasks.

21. The system of claim 14, wherein each available resource in the list of available resources is associated with a resource definition comprising:

the capacity of the resource;

availability of the resource; and

ability of the resource comprising attribute information identifying a type of work associated with the resource and competency information indicating how well the resource performs the type of work identified in the attribute information.

22. The system of claim 14, wherein the list of available resources is defined in a hierarchy specifying relationships among related resources, at least one resource comprising a plurality of sub-resources.

23. The system of claim 14, wherein the scheduler is further operable to:

receive project status information from a user, the project status information regarding the status of a project in the plurality of projects; and

automatically modify the development schedule based on the project status information.

24. The system of claim 14, wherein the scheduler is further operable to:

receive resource status information from a user, the resource status information regarding the status of available resources in the list of available resources; and

automatically modify the development schedule based on the resource status information.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the resource status information comprises a change in the capacity of a resource.

26. The system of claim 14, wherein the scheduler is operable to automatically generate the development schedule using a genetic algorithm.

27. Software for scheduling development planning for a plurality of products of an enterprise, the software being embodied in computer-readable media and when executed operable to:

Receive a list of a plurality of products to be developed;

receive a list of required completion dates, each completion date specifying the completion date for the development of a corresponding product in the plurality of products;

receive, for each product in the plurality of products, a project definition of a project for developing the product, each project definition defining;

a plurality of phases associated with the project for development the product, the plurality of phases having a plurality of tasks required to complete a project for developing the product associated with the project definition; and

a list of resources required to complete each task defined in the product definition, at least one of the plurality of tasks for at least one of the plurality of projects requiring a material to be provided by an outside party distinct from the enterprise;

receive a list of available resources, each resource in the list of available resources comprises;

a capacity level, representing a function of time available to each resource;

an availability level, representing a function duration available to each resource; and

an ability level, including at attribute level, representing a function of work characteristic capable of being performed by each resource and a competency level, representing a function of competence of each resource;

receive, for each task associated with each phase of the project definition requiring a resource, a specified minimum ability level of one of more resources to be used for that task;

receive a list of materials available from outside parties distinct from the enterprise and a schedule of availability of the materials available from the outside parties; and

maintain a scheduler operable to automatically generate a development schedule comprising all tasks for all projects, the development schedule allocating the resources such that each resource is allocated at a level less than or equal to its capacity, the development schedule also allocating the resources that have an ability level at least as high as the specified minimum ability level, the development schedule also scheduling tasks that require materials from outside parties at a time when such materials will be available;

monitor the materials identified in the list of materials from outside parties distinct from the enterprise using one or more supply chain tools operable to monitor the outside parties; and

automatically modify the development schedule based on material availability information obtained by the one or more supply chain tools.

28. The software of claim 27, wherein each task is associated with a task definition comprising at least one of:

type information identifying the type of task;

hierarchy relationship information comprising one or more pointers to one or more related tasks and information regarding a sequence for performing related tasks;

duration information specifying a quantity of time the task will take to complete;

resource information specifying one or more resources to be used and a desired ability; and

progress information specifying progress of the particular task.

29. The software of claim 28, wherein the task definition further comprises scheduling requirements comprising one or more of:

one or more constraints associated with the particular task; and

policy information specifying one or more rules for enforcing the one or more constraints.

30. The software of claim 29, wherein the one or more constraints comprise:

one or more built-in constraints provided by the scheduler; and

one or more user-specified constraints.

31. The software of claim 27, wherein a particular task comprises a plurality of subtasks, a task definition for the particular task specifying the plurality of subtasks and an order in which the plurality of subtasks should be performed.

32. The software of claim 27, wherein the plurality of tasks are defined in a hierarchy specifying relationships among related tasks, at least one task comprising a plurality of sub-tasks, each sub-task being associated with an identification of one or more resources for performing the leaf task.

33. The software of claim 27, wherein a particular task in the plurality of tasks comprises a standard tasks for repeated use, the software further operable to store a task definition for the particular task comprising a list of sub-tasks for performing the particular task and a list of resources for performing the sub-tasks in the list of sub-tasks.

34. The software of claim 27, wherein each available resource in the list of available resources is associated with a resource definition comprising:

the capacity of the resource;

availability of the resource; and

ability of the resource comprising attribute information identifying a type of work associated with the resource and competency information indicating how well the resource performs the type of work identified in the attribute information.

35. The software of claim 27, wherein the list of available resources is defined in a hierarchy specifying relationships among related resources, at least one resource comprising a plurality of sub-resources.

36. The software of claim 27, further operable to:

receive project status information from a user, the project status information regarding the status of a project in the plurality of projects; and

automatically modify the development schedule based on the project status information.

37. The software of claim 27, further operable to:

receive resource status information from a user, the resource status information regarding the status of available resources in the list of available resources; and

automatically modify the development schedule based on the resource status information.

38. The software of claim 37, wherein the resource status information comprises a change in the capacity of a resource.

39. The software of claim 27, wherein the scheduler is operable to automatically generate the development schedule using a genetic algorithm.