WO2016171213A1

WO2016171213A1 - Production management device

Info

Publication number: WO2016171213A1
Application number: PCT/JP2016/062634
Authority: WO
Inventors: 栄司田中; 洋一東條
Original assignee: 栄司田中; 洋一東條
Priority date: 2015-04-22
Filing date: 2016-04-21
Publication date: 2016-10-27
Also published as: JP6109455B2; JPWO2016171213A1

Abstract

A device for performing production management of a production system that has multiple pieces of production equipment (21) equipped with signal towers (22) indicating operating states of the production equipment. The production management device is provided with: a lighting state detection unit (12) for detecting a lighting state of the signal tower (22) of each of the production equipment (21); a check-required state data storage unit (13) for storing data of a lighting pattern of the signal tower of each of the production equipment (21) within a predetermined period of time, which indicates that the operating state thereof should be checked; a check-required production equipment identification unit (14) that, upon obtaining a lighting pattern on the basis of the lighting state of the production equipment (21) detected by the lighting state detection unit (12), identifies production equipment for which the lighting pattern data stored in the check-required state data storage unit (13) matches said lighting pattern; and a check-required production equipment information output unit (15) for outputting information related to the production equipment identified by the check-required equipment facility identification unit (14).

Description

Production management device

The present invention relates to a production management apparatus for centrally managing a plurality of processes in a line production system and operations by a plurality of cells in a cell production system.

Normally, when a product is produced, it is necessary to go through a plurality of processes, and production facilities necessary for the process are provided for each process. If there is a delay in progress due to a malfunction or misalignment of production equipment in some of these multiple processes, work in progress manufactured in the previous process may stay or work in progress in subsequent processes. Will be delayed, resulting in a delay in the entire production operation and a decrease in production volume. Also, if overtime work is increased to compensate for the reduced production, production costs will increase. Therefore, it is a common desire of manufacturers to manage the status of work in each of the plurality of processes in an integrated manner and maintain high productivity in each process. However, if a lot of manpower is used or an expensive device is used, the production cost increases. Therefore, it is required to manage work using an inexpensive device without manpower as much as possible.

Patent Document 1 describes a production management device (operating state confirmation device) using a signal tower provided for each production process. The signal tower is generally provided in a production facility used in each production process, and displays the operation status of the production facility by a difference in light color, presence / absence of blinking light, and the like. For example, a series of an employee sets a workpiece in a production facility, presses a processing start button, the production facility performs processing by automatic operation, and then an employee removes the workpiece from the production facility and sets the next workpiece. When the operation is repeated, the signal tower is temporarily stopped due to the green light (or blue light) when the production equipment is operating normally automatically and the work being set or replaced by an employee. Sometimes yellow light is displayed, and when it is stopped due to an abnormality in production equipment, red light is displayed. The signal tower is turned off when the production facility is stopped. In addition, when the production facility stops due to a failure, the red light is always turned on.

In the production management apparatus of Patent Document 1, light that is turned on or blinking in a signal tower provided in each production facility in a series of production processes is detected by a detector such as a video camera or an optical sensor, and the obtained detection signal is 1 The data is taken into one server, and the operation state of each production facility is analyzed from these detection signals. For example, the production management device calculates the operation rate of each production facility based on the detection signal and displays it on the screen of the portable information terminal held by the administrator. As a result, the administrator can identify the one with a low operation rate among multiple production facilities, and respond to production facilities with a low operation rate by checking for defects, replacing consumable parts, adjusting the processing speed, etc. Can take. This production management device can be constructed simply by adding a detector and a server using the existing signal tower generally provided in each manufacturing device as it is, so that it can be easily attached to the existing device. In addition, the cost can be reduced.

JP 2002-132324 A

In the actual manufacturing site, there is a problem that the operating rate in a specific process is lowered although the production equipment itself is not defective. Such a problem often arises because an employee involved in the production process is immature or the physical condition of the employee is poor. By grasping the skill level and physical condition of individual employees and giving careful guidance and assistance to such employees, the workability of the employees can be improved, thereby improving the overall productivity. However, in the apparatus of Patent Document 1, even if an administrator grasps that a defect has occurred in productivity by the apparatus, it depends solely on whether the employee is immature, whether it depends on a defect in the production facility. I ca n’t figure out. In the case where production is completed by a plurality of processes, conventionally, the assessment of the production result has only been made by judging the quality and quantity of the finished product after completing all the processes. In addition, finding an excellent (skilled) employee who has a high working speed or a high ability to deal with troubles not only contributes to the optimization of the staffing but also improves the employee's treatment. It can also improve the morale of other employees who saw it as a success story. However, with conventional devices, it is not possible to find excellent employees.

In recent years, with the relocation of many production bases outside Japan, it has become difficult to secure the necessary number of skilled workers locally, so the above problems are notable at production sites outside Japan. It has become. Outside Japan, social common sense, educational infrastructure, culture, and values in that country are often different from those in Japan, and objective, accurate, and easy-to-understand information is required for instructional education. In Japan, workers hired in large numbers during the period of high growth are retiring, so in the future as well as outside of Japan, problems with using immature workers and accepting foreign workers Problems may arise.

Up to this point, the case of a so-called line production system in which a product flows through a plurality of processes has been described. However, in recent years, one or a plurality of employees have completed all production processes from parts to completion of a product. A method called “cell production method” or “one-person stand production method” performed at one place is also used. Also in this case, in order to increase the production quantity, it is necessary to simultaneously perform the same operation in a plurality of cells. If it does so, the level of productivity will arise for every cell resulting from the skill level of the employee engaged. Therefore, it becomes necessary to manage a plurality of cells simultaneously.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to help managers solve problems that hinder productivity improvement by analyzing the state of work involved by employees in order to increase the efficiency of the production process. It is to provide a production management device that can lead to optimization of personnel assignment and improvement of treatment by finding excellent (skilled) employees.

The production management device according to the present invention is a device for performing production management in a production system having a plurality of production facilities,
a) for each of the plurality of production facilities, an operation state detection unit that detects an operation state signal indicating an operation state of the production facility;
b) A required status data recording unit that records data of an operating status signal indicating that the operating status should be confirmed for each of the plurality of production facilities;
c) For each of the plurality of production facilities, it is necessary to specify a production facility that matches the operation state signal detected by the operation state detection unit and the operation state signal data recorded in the confirmation state data recording unit. Confirmed production equipment identification department,
d) A required production facility information output unit for outputting information relating to the production facility specified by the required production facility specifying unit.

The operation status signal includes a signal indicating the lighting state of the signal tower of the production facility. That is, the lighting or flashing light of the signal tower, or the electrical signal for controlling the lighting or flashing can be used as the operation state signal. Alternatively, an output signal from a sensor or measuring device or the like included in a production facility, a device control signal from a switch or a sequencer, a driving current or voltage of a pump, a motor, a heater, or the like may be used as the operating state signal.

When using a signal indicating the lighting state of the signal tower as the operating state signal, the production management device according to the present invention,
a) a lighting state detection unit for detecting a lighting state of the signal tower for each of the plurality of production facilities;
b) A required confirmation state data recording unit that records data of the lighting pattern of the signal tower within a certain time period, indicating that the operation state should be confirmed for each of the plurality of production facilities;
c) A lighting pattern is obtained for each of the plurality of production facilities based on the lighting state detected by the lighting state detection unit, and the lighting pattern and the lighting pattern data recorded in the confirmation state data recording unit required A production facility identification section that requires confirmation to identify production facilities that match
d) A required production facility information output unit for outputting information relating to the production facility specified by the required production facility specifying unit.

Here, the lighting state detection unit corresponds to the operation state detection unit. The confirmation state data recording unit needs to record the data of the lighting pattern of the signal tower within a certain time as the data of the operation state signal indicating that the operation state should be confirmed. The required production equipment specifying unit obtains a lighting pattern as an operating state signal based on the lighting state detected by the lighting state detecting unit, and in the detected operating state signal (lighting pattern) and the required checking state data recording unit The recorded operation state signal (lighting pattern) data is compared.

According to the production management apparatus according to the present invention, the production facility specifying unit that needs confirmation should confirm the operation state recorded in the confirmation state data recording unit, the operation state signal detected by the operation state detection unit. It is possible to specify a production facility whose operation state should be confirmed by comparing with the data of the operation state signal indicating.

In the confirmation status data recording section, what operating status signal is output from the production facility (in the signal tower example, what lighting pattern the signal tower is in), the operating status of the production facility is displayed. Data necessary for the production facility identification unit requiring confirmation to specify whether or not to confirm is recorded. Here, the information indicated by the operation state signal such as the lighting pattern of the signal tower directly indicates the operation state of the production facility and does not indicate the work ability of the employee. However, the operating state of the production facility indicated by the operating state signal also depends on the work ability of the employee. For example, when an employee attaches a material or semi-finished product (work) to a production facility and the facility automatically performs subsequent processing, the time required for the production facility to automatically process one workpiece is If the employee works without any problems, the signal tower will show a green light indicating automatic operation and a yellow indicating a pause for workpiece replacement. The light is alternately turned on alternately at almost constant time intervals. On the other hand, when an unskilled employee performs work, the signal tower has a longer yellow lighting time than the skilled person, and the timing of green and yellow lighting is inadequate for the time required for the work. Or change into rules. Therefore, it is necessary to check the lighting pattern data that the yellow lighting time exceeds the predetermined length or the green and yellow lighting timing changes irregularly as data indicating that the operating state should be confirmed. What is necessary is just to record in a recording part.

On the other hand, the production equipment is operating regardless of factors related to employees such as skill level and physical condition, such as temporary stop for replacement of consumables and tools, or stop at break time, etc. It may be temporarily stopped. These stoppages due to proper actions and events are in accordance with a predictable exchange cycle and break times defined in the work rules, and therefore can be distinguished from operating states due to factors related to employees. Therefore, in the production management device according to the present invention, the employee factor non-working state signal data recording unit (employment factor non-lighting pattern) that records the data of the working state signal such as the lighting pattern of the signal tower generated due to factors other than the factor relating to the employee The operation status signal (lighting pattern obtained based on the lighting status) detected by the operating status detection unit (lighting status detection unit) is out of the employee factor When the production equipment that matches the operating state signal (lighting pattern data) recorded in the operating state signal data recording unit (non-employee factor lighting pattern data recording unit) is in a predetermined operating state due to factors other than employees It may be specified. In this case, the required production equipment information output unit may output information indicating that the production equipment is in a predetermined operating state other than the factor relating to the employee, or focus on the factor relating to the employee. The information may not be output in order to apply.

When a signal indicating the lighting state of the signal tower is used as the operation state signal, the lighting state detection unit uses a detector such as a video camera or an optical sensor to detect light that is lit or blinking in the signal tower, as in Patent Document 1. What is detected can be used. Or what detects the voltage and electric current of the electric signal which controls lighting and blinking of a signal tower may be used.

Information to be output from the production facility information output unit required for confirmation may be displayed on the display, or may be notified to the administrator by voice or other sound or light.

The production management apparatus according to the present invention further includes an employee information recording unit that records employee information that is information for identifying an employee who is employed in each of the plurality of production facilities, and the required production facility information output unit However, after acquiring the employee information regarding the production facility specified by the required production facility specifying unit from the employee information recording unit, it may be output together with the information regarding the production facility. As a result, it is possible to obtain information on production facilities that require confirmation and employee information together, which contributes to unified management. The employee information includes the employee name and employee number. In addition to information necessary for specifying these employees, information such as years of service, age, work history, and other careers of the employee may be added.

The production management device according to the present invention is further based on data of the operating state detected by the operating state detecting unit (in the case where a signal indicating the lighting state of the signal tower is used, it is not necessary to be a lighting pattern here). (Regardless of whether or not the production facility needs to be confirmed), an operation state information signal output unit that outputs an operation state information signal that displays or records the operation state of the production facility may be provided. Thereby, employee information and operating state information can be acquired together, which contributes to centralized management.

With the production management device according to the present invention, the administrator can grasp the production equipment that an inexperienced employee may be engaged in, and the guidance for the employee can be strengthened to increase the productivity. . In addition, since guidance based on objective indicators by the production management device, not the manager's subjectivity, can be provided, it is easier for employees to be convinced of the guidance, and it can be used for assessing treatment such as salaries and bonuses. This improves employee morale. In addition, employees who are engaged in production facilities that are rarely identified as requiring confirmation by the production facility identification section to be confirmed are judged to be highly capable employees and are to be organizationally responsible roles and managers. Therefore, it is possible to perform appropriate and effective organizational reform.

The schematic block diagram which shows the principal part of one Example of the production management apparatus which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows the example of the signal tower provided in the production facility used as the management object in the production management apparatus of a present Example. The schematic block diagram which shows the application example which concerns on the production management apparatus of a present Example. The figure which shows the example of the information containing specific employee information displayed on the screen of a display apparatus in the production management apparatus of the application example shown in FIG. The schematic block diagram which shows another application example which concerns on the production management apparatus of a present Example.

First, as an embodiment of the production management apparatus according to the present invention, a case where a signal indicating a lighting state of a signal tower is used as an operation state signal will be described. As a premise of the explanation, detailed information on the operating state of the production equipment that can be obtained based on the signal of the signal tower provided in the production equipment, and confirmation required state data set based on the information explain. Here, the case where the lighting state of the signal tower indicates the operating state of the production facility will be described as an example.
・ Green light: Normal automatic operation is in progress. ・ Yellow light: Temporary stop for workpiece replacement after the end of automatic operation, etc. ・ Red light: Abnormal stop ・ No light: Equipment is inactive

(1) Processing time of each product at each production facility In each production facility, when a number of products are processed one by one in sequence, the signal tower will light up in yellow and green alternately. Indicates. That is, processing for one product is performed every cycle, with yellow and green lighting once each cycle. That is, in each production facility, the time required for processing in the production facility is obtained by obtaining the time of one cycle.
Among the lighting of the above cycle, green lighting is due to automatic operation, so it will be a certain time without depending on the employee, while yellow lighting is a manual replacement of the work performed at that time Is often left to. Therefore, for example, an upper limit value of one cycle time required when an employee having a standard skill level works can be determined in advance, and a time range exceeding the upper limit value can be used as the confirmation state data.

(2) Manual work time In (1), the lighting pattern consisting of yellow and green lighting is used as the confirmation status data, but only the yellow lighting time may be used as the confirmation status data. The yellow lighting time is a time during which the employee is manually processing other than the automatic driving time.

(3) Downtime If the signal tower is lit red because the production facility has stopped abnormally, or if it is lit yellow but has stopped beyond the standard time required for workpiece replacement, It means that the equipment is stopped even though it should not be stopped. The time during which such a stop is made is referred to as “downtime” in this specification. The downtime TD is the sum of all red lighting times tr and the yellow lighting ty times minus the standard stop time ty _ave required for work change or setup change, that is, TD = tr + (ty-ty _ave ) It is represented by
Of the downtime, the red lighting time tr does not depend on the skill level of the employee in many cases, but if it is longer than other employees, the production facility is abnormal due to the inexperience of the employee. There is a possibility that it takes time to stop or recover from an abnormal stop. In addition, time (ty-ty _ave ) is highly likely to depend on the skill level. Therefore, the time (ty-ty _ave ) exceeding a predetermined value can be used as the confirmation state data. In addition, by calculating the ratio of the total downtime, the number of occurrences, and the total operation time, and comparing them between facilities, it is possible to appropriately formulate priority and budget for maintenance and repair.

(4) Detection and counting of defective products As mentioned above, if the green lighting time is shorter than the time required for automatic operation, the automatic operation stops halfway and the workpiece becomes defective. There is a high possibility. Therefore, it is possible to detect the occurrence of a defective product based on the green lighting time detected by the lighting state detection unit. In addition, by counting the number of times defective products have been detected and checking the number of workpieces that have actually been removed from the line as defective products, there is no event that the defective products are mixed into the product by mistake. This can be verified. In addition, if a defective product removed from the line can be detected by a sensor, even if a predetermined time elapses after the possibility of the occurrence of a defective product is detected based on the green lighting time, the sensor If no detection is made, the employee may not be aware of the occurrence of a defective product or may have made a mistake in the processing procedure. In this case, first, by specifying the case where the green lighting is not longer than the predetermined time as the required confirmation state data, it is identified that the production facility that should be confirmed by the above-mentioned sensor in the required production facility identification unit. In addition, a warning display or the like may be displayed when the sensor does not detect the predetermined time after the specific time.

Defective products may occur regardless of the skill level of employees, such as malfunctions or troubles in production facilities, or malfunctions in materials. If the frequency of defective products in a production facility engaged by one employee is higher than that produced by another employee, it may be due to problems with these production facilities or materials. There is a possibility that work by employees is inappropriate. Until now, only equipment failures and troubles have been recorded, and it has been difficult to detect problems caused by human factors. Therefore, when the occurrence frequency is greater than or equal to a predetermined value is set as the required confirmation status data, the administrator confirms the cause when the required production equipment information is output from the required production equipment information output unit, It is possible to specify whether or not it is a human cause.

(5) Counting the production quantity The number of cycles in which yellow and green are alternately lit is subtracted from the number of occurrences of defective products based on the green lighting time. It counts as the production quantity passed (confirmation status data indicating). Although this production quantity itself has a meaning in production management, it can be used to obtain information described below.

(6) Management of the number of materials used in product production For each production facility, the sum of the production quantity counted at the production equipment and the number of defective products and the production quantity counted at the production equipment that performed the previous process Contrast. The two should match, but if they do not match, there is a possibility that the procedure of defective product processing is wrong or the defective product is lost. Therefore, the case where they do not match can be set as the confirmation required state. The confirmation required data is determined based on the number of cycles in which yellow and green are alternately turned on, which is used for counting the production quantity, and the time of green lighting for detecting the occurrence of defective products. In terms of business management, the receipt of materials and the delivery of products need to be accurately managed and recorded. However, if the above two quantities are the same in all production facilities, appropriate management including in-process inventory is always available. It is possible to grasp that it is in a state.

(7) Prediction of production quantity Based on the data obtained in (1) to (5) above, the average production time required for each production facility taking into account the occurrence of defective products can be obtained for each employee. The production quantity in the entire production line can be predicted from the average production time of each employee according to the combination of employees actually engaged. Compared with the conventional method, which is simply determined based on the required production time on the setting, accurate prediction can be made by taking into account differences in the manual work time by the employees, equipment failures and troubles.

(8) Measuring and predicting the life of tools and consumable parts To the information shown by the signal tower, a description of the replacement of tools and consumable parts and / or troubles of tools and consumable parts is added, and a signal indicating the information lights From the interval, the life of tools and consumable parts can be measured. Based on this measurement result, it is possible to predict when the tool or the consumable part needs to be replaced, and it is possible to perform replacement in advance in a planned manner. If the exchange is performed at a low production load, for example, during breaks, at night, or on holidays, the influence on the production operation rate can be reduced.

(9) Detection of bottleneck process Compared with the average production time of each production facility, if there is a production facility that requires a longer time than others, it can be seen that the production facility is a bottleneck. When such a bottleneck occurs, the work does not smoothly flow to the subsequent production facilities, and the overall production efficiency is lowered. Therefore, it is possible to take measures such as arranging highly skilled employees in the production facility.

(10) Buffer (inter-process inventory) management The work waiting time from the previous process in each production facility can be analyzed from the difference in average production time between the production facility and the production facility in the previous process. Here, if there is a sufficient stock of workpieces between processes, even if an unskilled employee is replaced at the production facility in the previous process, the waiting time can be eliminated without immediately being out of stock. In addition, by detecting the process that has to wait for the completion of the previous process, which is a bottleneck due to a shortage of workpieces, it is possible to increase production facilities or increase the number of employees in the previous process. It is possible to respond by increasing supply capacity or extending overtime only for the previous process.

(11) Record of work results Production equipment where employees who may have problems with proficiency may be involved in the production equipment identification section to be confirmed after adding the attached photography equipment such as video cameras for photographing production equipment In this case, the operating state of the production facility may be recorded as a video using the imaging device. The manager can use this video as a material for determining whether there is a problem in the skill level of the employee or other problems. Recording of the process by video has been possible until now, but by identifying the production facility to be confirmed and recording only the video of the production facility, the time required for the administrator to confirm the video is shortened. Problems can be detected and confirmed more quickly.

The following (a) to (e) analysis on the working status of employees can be performed from the information on the operational status of the production equipment described so far. The administrator shall identify that the employee may be less skilled by checking the production equipment identified as requiring confirmation against the information of the employee responsible for the production equipment. Can do. Here, if the configuration including the employee information recording unit described above is used, this specification can also be performed automatically. By conducting the following analysis on the employee identified in this way, there is a problem with the employee's skill level, or due to factors other than the skill level, such as equipment malfunction or poor physical condition of the employee. You can check if

(a) Judgment based on the current work status of the employee Based on the lighting / extinction of the signal tower, the employee is actually working on site or has not left the site temporarily due to poor physical condition, etc. Can be confirmed. Also, if the processing time or manual work time is long compared to the average value including other employees, there is a problem with skill level, and if it is long compared to the average value of the employee itself, physical condition There may be a defect. Further, the downtime reflects the frequency of occurrence of an abnormal condition and the time required for recovery from the abnormal condition, and therefore can be used for judgment of skill level.

(b) Judgment from work history within a certain past period Based on the lighting / extinguishing of the signal tower, the time of work start / end / break break is determined and recorded. If there is a discrepancy compared to these past records, it is possible to know that there is a possibility that the employee is in poor physical condition.

(c) Consideration of information from other than the production management device according to the present invention In addition to the information of (a) and (b), working hours and time card records specified in the work regulations, etc. By adding information, the accuracy of skill level determination can be increased.

(d) Record of labor results within a certain period in the past The results of comparing each employee's processing time, production quantity, and time required for return from abnormal conditions and changeover with the average value of the downtime. Record as. By confirming this record by the administrator, it can be used as a material for judging the skill level.

(e) Confirmation of the time required for abnormalities and work replacement work Measure the stop time during abnormalities and work replacement work, and compare it with the set standard time and average time. Check the correctness of skills and procedures.

In addition, by combining employee information obtained by the production management apparatus according to the present invention with the following information (f), more appropriate employee management can be performed.

(f) Prediction of future labor performance within a certain period Based on the data on each employee's past performance described in (b) to (d), future production quantity and required time can be predicted. In addition, the required overtime hours and overtime allowance can be predicted by comparing the ordered quantity with the quantity that can be produced by working within hours. Furthermore, based on past data, it is possible to increase the production capacity of the entire line and reduce the production cost by reviewing the personnel arrangement and the inter-process inventory.

As described above, since the skill level of an employee can be estimated based on an objective basis using the production management apparatus according to the present invention, the employee's salary and bonus can be accurately evaluated and the employee Can be done with high convincing. In addition, by performing objective evaluation in this way, it is expected that employees can take appropriate measures autonomously and perform self-management autonomously without waiting for the guidance and instructions of the manager. Furthermore, the arrangement of the employees can be made appropriate according to the work ability of the employees and the specialty areas. With these effects, it is possible to reduce the number of managers while maintaining high productivity, and to suppress the production cost of the factory. In the modern times where overseas expansion is common, efficient factory management with few managers is required for manufacturing sites in overseas expansion, and the production management device according to the present invention meets such demand. is there.

Next, an example of a specific configuration of the production management apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following, referring to FIG. 1, first, as a basic configuration of the present embodiment, a configuration necessary for identifying a production facility that needs to be confirmed based on a signal tower signal indicating information on an operation state of the production facility. The operation will be described. Next, a configuration for obtaining information on production facilities that require confirmation, employee information, and information on the operating status of production facilities will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a main part of the production management apparatus 10 of the present embodiment. The production management device 10 is added to the existing production system 20 (that is, the production management device 10 is not provided). The production system 20 has a plurality of production facilities 21, and each production facility 21 is provided with one signal tower 22. A transport unit 23 by a belt conveyor is provided between the production facilities 21, and when a product is subjected to work in a predetermined process in one production facility 21, the production facility 21 that performs the next process by the transport unit 23. The product will be shipped to

As shown in FIG. 2, each signal tower 22 is provided with three color lights, a green lamp 22G, a yellow lamp 22Y, and a red lamp 22R. Each signal tower 22 is turned on when the corresponding production facility 21 is in normal automatic operation, and the green light 22G is turned on, and is temporarily stopped after the automatic operation is completed and before the next automatic operation is started. The yellow lamp 22Y is turned on, and the red lamp 22R is turned on when the production facility 21 is stopped due to a malfunction. When the production facility 21 is at rest, all three color lights are turned off.

The production management apparatus 10 includes a lighting state detection unit 12, a confirmation state data recording unit 13 that requires confirmation, a production facility identification unit 14 that requires confirmation, a production facility information output unit 15 that requires confirmation, a display device 16, and an information recording unit 17. Have. Details of each part will be described below.

The lighting state detection unit 12 includes an optical sensor group 121 and an optical sensor signal analysis unit 122. One set of the optical sensor group 121 is provided in each of the plurality of signal towers 22. One set of photosensor group 121 includes three

photosensors

121G, 121Y, and 121R provided one by one so as to face the green lamp 22G, yellow lamp 22Y, and red lamp 22R of the signal tower 22 (FIG. 2). ). Each of the

optical sensors

121G, 121Y, and 121R senses light and transmits an electrical signal to the optical sensor signal analysis unit 122 when the facing color lights are lit. Based on the electrical signals from the

optical sensors

121G, 121Y, and 121R of each optical sensor group 121, the optical sensor signal analysis unit 122 for each of the plurality of production facilities 21 has a green light 22G, a yellow light of the signal tower 22 at that time. It analyzes which of the lamp 22Y and the red lamp 22R is lit, and transmits the analysis result to the production facility specifying unit 14 requiring confirmation as needed. The lighting state detection unit 12 and the production facility specification unit 14 to be confirmed may be connected by wire or may be connected wirelessly. Note that a video camera may be used as the lighting state detection unit 12 in addition to the optical sensor. When using a video camera, the signal tower 22 is photographed, and the lighting state is detected by image analysis. Moreover, you may use for the lighting state detection part 12 what detects the electrical signal for making each color lamp of the signal tower 22 light.

The required confirmation state data recording unit 13 records the necessary confirmation state data for each production facility 21. Examples of the abnormal state data range include those described in (1) to (6) above.

The required production facility specifying unit 14 obtains a lighting pattern from the data indicating the lighting state of the signal tower 22 in each production facility 21 transmitted as an electrical signal from the lighting state detecting unit 12, and stores the lighting pattern in the required state data recording unit 13. It is determined whether or not it is within the range of the recorded confirmation required state data. If there is lighting pattern data within the range of the confirmation required state data, the production facility corresponding to the data is specified.

The required production equipment information output unit 15 has an electric signal for displaying information indicating the production equipment specified by the required production equipment specifying unit 14 on the display device 16 and a portable information terminal in which the administrator has a radio signal. To M respectively. The information displayed on the display device 16 or the portable information terminal M may be only information information indicating the specified production facility, but is usually displayed together with other management information as described later. Furthermore, the production facility information output unit 15 requiring confirmation transmits a signal to the information recording unit 17 so as to record the specified production facility.

Of the units described so far, the optical sensor signal analysis unit 122 and the required production facility specifying unit 14 are realized by a central processing unit of a computer, and the required status data recording unit 13 and the information recording unit 17 are a hard disk. It is realized by a recording device such as

Up to this point, the configuration for identifying the production facilities requiring confirmation has been described. In addition to these configurations, information on employees engaged in each production facility and various management information on other production facilities are obtained. be able to. Hereinafter, the production management apparatus 10A capable of obtaining employee information and other management information will be described with reference to FIG.

In addition to the configuration described so far, the production management apparatus 10A may include an operating state analysis unit 34, an operating state information signal output unit 351, and an employee information recording unit 371 as shown in FIG. . The operation state analysis unit 34 includes the above-described confirmation required production facility specifying unit 14, and the operation state information signal output unit 351 includes the above-described confirmation necessary production facility information output unit 15. The employee information recording unit 371 is included in a part of the information recording unit 17 described above.

In the employee information recording unit 371, for each production facility 21, a name and a proficiency level index, which are information for identifying the employee in charge, are recorded. The proficiency level index is a numerical value input by the manager for each employee. In this embodiment, the proficiency level index is expressed in five levels from 1 to 5 starting from the lower proficiency level. In addition to the name and proficiency index, the employee number, years of service, age, etc. of the employee may be recorded in the employee information recording unit 371. The employee information recording unit 371 is required to record at least information necessary for identifying the employee (in the above example, either the employee's name or employee number), Years of service, age and proficiency index are not mandatory. Since the proficiency level index is a value that can be changed based on the result analyzed by the operating state analysis unit, the employee information recording unit 371 is part of the information recording unit 17 in this embodiment. If no change is made, the employee information recording unit 371 may be provided independently of the information recording unit 17.

The information recording unit 17 records an operating state log of the apparatus, an estimated production quantity, a life expectancy of tools and consumable parts, information on a bottleneck process and inter-process inventory, and the like. Further, the information recording unit 17 records a criterion for detecting the occurrence of defective products, a criterion for determining the production quantity or the life of tools, and the like. The operation state analysis unit 34 performs various types of analysis related to the operation state of the production facility in addition to the analysis performed by the required production facility specifying unit 14. In the signal output part 35, the signal which shows the information regarding the other employee information and production equipment other than that is output with the information regarding a production facility requiring confirmation. With these configurations, it is possible to provide the administrator with general information regarding employees such as skill level and general information regarding the operating state of the production facility, as well as information regarding the production facility to be confirmed.

FIG. 4 shows an example of information displayed on the screen 161 of the display device 16. In this example, a plurality of production facility names 41, which are the names of the respective production facilities 21, are displayed side by side in the vertical direction at the left end. For each production facility 21, status information 42, which will be described later, is displayed to the right of the name, and employee information 43 including the name and proficiency index of the employee engaged in the production facility 21 is displayed to the right of the status information 42. The Then, the characters “Need confirmation!” Are blinked to the right of the employee information 43 that requires confirmation of the skill level (required employee information 44 required).

FIG. 5 shows a configuration of a production management device 10B in which an employee factor non-employment lighting pattern data recording unit 53 is further added to the production management device 10A. In the non-employee lighting pattern data recording unit 53, a signal yellow is displayed for a predetermined time in a state in which a predetermined yellow light indicating a temporary stop for replacement of consumables or tools is continuously lit for a predetermined time or in a break time. Data indicating a light-off state is stored. In the production facility specifying unit 14 that needs confirmation, when the lighting pattern of the signal tower obtained from the lighting state detected by the lighting state detection unit 12 matches the data recorded in the non-employee lighting pattern data recording unit 53. This may be output from the signal output unit 35, or since the act of the employee is not a factor, the production facility information requiring confirmation may not be output.

Up to this point, the case where production management is performed using a signal indicating the lighting state of the signal tower as an operation state signal has been described as an example, but other than that, for example, the operation state from a sensor or a measurement device, etc., which the production facility has Even when an output signal indicating the measurement data is used as the operation state signal, production management can be performed by the same method. Alternatively, it is not a signal for the purpose of measuring the operating state itself, but the device control signal from the switch, sequencer, etc., or the driving current or voltage of the pump, motor, heater, etc. can be used as the operating state signal. Production management can be performed by this method.

10, 10A, 10B ... production management device 12 ... lighting state detection unit (operation state detection unit)
121 ... Optical sensor group 121G ... Optical sensor 122 ... Optical sensor signal analysis unit 13 ... Required confirmation state data recording unit 14 ... Required production equipment specifying unit 15 ... Required production equipment information output unit 16 ... Display device 161 ... Screen 17 ... Information recording unit 20 ... production system 21 ... production facility 22 ... signal tower 22G ... green light 22R ... red light 22Y ... yellow light 23 ... transport unit 34 ... operation state analysis unit 35 ... signal output unit 351 ... operation state information signal output unit 371 ... Employee information recording unit 41 ... Production equipment name 42 ... Status information 43 ... Employee information 44 ... Confirmation required employee information 53 ... Non-employment factor lighting pattern data recording unit

Claims

An apparatus for performing production management in a production system having a plurality of production facilities equipped with a signal tower indicating the operating state of the production facility,
a) for each of the plurality of production facilities, an operation state detection unit that detects an operation state signal indicating an operation state of the production facility;
b) A required status data recording unit that records data of an operating status signal indicating that the operating status should be confirmed for each of the plurality of production facilities;
c) For each of the plurality of production facilities, it is necessary to specify a production facility that matches the operation state signal detected by the operation state detection unit and the operation state signal data recorded in the confirmation state data recording unit. Confirmed production equipment identification department,
d) A production management apparatus comprising: a production facility information output unit required for outputting information relating to the production facility identified by the production facility identification unit required.
An apparatus for performing production management in a production system having a plurality of production facilities equipped with a signal tower indicating the operating state of the production facility,
The operating state detection unit is a lighting state detection unit that detects the lighting state of the signal tower,
The required confirmation state data recording unit records the lighting pattern of the signal tower within a certain time as data of the operation state signal indicating that the operation state should be confirmed,
The required production facility specifying unit obtains a lighting pattern as an operation state signal based on the lighting state detected by the lighting state detection unit, and the operation state signal and the operation recorded in the confirmation state data recording unit The production management device according to claim 1, wherein a production facility that matches the status signal data is specified.
An employee factor non-working state signal data recording unit that records data of working state signals generated by factors other than employee-related factors,
In the production facility identification unit to be confirmed, the production facility whose operation state signal detected by the operation state detection unit matches the data of the operation state signal recorded in the non-employee factor operation state signal data recording unit, The production management device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the production management device is specified as being in a predetermined operating state due to factors other than factors relating to personnel.
An employee information recording unit that records employee information that is information for identifying an employee who is employed in each of the plurality of production facilities;
The required production facility information output unit obtains employee information related to the production facility specified by the required production facility specification unit from the employee information recording unit, and then outputs the information together with the information related to the production facility. The production management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:
The operation state information signal output part which outputs the operation state information signal which displays or records the operation state of a production facility based on the operation state data detected by the operation state detection unit is provided. The production management device according to any one of 1 to 4.