JP2005128818A - Production facility management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a general production facility management system performing monitoring, repair, inspection, improvement, disposal or the like of production facilities. <P>SOLUTION: This production facility management system 100 has: a production facility management information output means monitoring an operation state of an automatic welder 50 of a production base P, and outputting it as production facility management information MD; a transmission means transmitting it to a server SC of a general monitoring base X connected to a communication network NW; a recording means recording the production facility management information MD into a recording device M to produce a database in the server SC, and a transmission means automatically transmitting it to a computer PC of a service base Y; an execution means reading and displaying the production facility management information MD in the computer PC, and executing engineering service of the repair, the inspection, the improvement or the disposal of the automatic welder 50; and a transmission means transmitting contents of the executed repair, inspection or improvement to the server SC as a part of the production facility management information MD. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention efficiently monitors, repairs, inspects and improves the operational status of production equipment (manufacturing equipment, systems, etc.) in mass production factories and the like that produce "things" such as liquid crystal / semiconductor-related and automobile-related products. The present invention relates to a comprehensive production facility management system for realizing reuse of production facility components.

  Currently, in production / manufacturing factories that are production bases of various “products”, highly automated production equipment such as manufacturing equipment and systems are operating in a 24-hour system or a system based thereon. In general, support such as simple maintenance of production equipment at the production base is performed by equipment engineers belonging to users (production equipment owners, etc.).

  The occurrence of a partial failure or abnormal state of the production facility (a state that is not a failure but does not operate normally due to an external factor) may reduce the production efficiency of the entire production base, and prompt discovery and repair There is a strong demand for other appropriate measures and further improvements to prevent the occurrence of subsequent abnormalities and failures as much as possible.

  However, for the equipment engineers who have daily work, the trouble handling of abnormalities and failures of production facilities that occur suddenly or accidentally is a considerable burden, and a huge variety of production facilities can be used 24 hours a day with limited personnel. -It is almost impossible to monitor and maintain efficiently and accurately in a 365-day operation system.

  Thus, when production facilities such as automatic welding machines or NC machines at the production site break down, the user immediately contacts a maintenance company (mainly the sales service store or the device manufacturer) to dispatch a service engineer. Will be requested.

  In general, abnormalities and breakdowns of production facilities operating in manufacturing factories cannot be handled by a nearby service engineer. There are a variety of problems, ranging from failure of the mechanical operating part to simple failure that can be dealt with by anyone who knows the cause of the problem by tightening a single screw.

  A nearby service engineer can deal with a presumed failure in the existing manual, but in the case of an unexpected abnormality / failure cause, the cause cannot be determined, and the manufacturer's specialist engineer is called. Explain the failure state and ask for diagnosis, and if it still does not become clear, we are requesting repairs directly from specialized engineers, etc., and management such as monitoring, repair, inspection and improvement of the operating state of production facilities The support goes to the back, and it takes time and effort.

  In this regard, the security of buildings, factories, offices, or general homes is systematically monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year using a communication network such as a general telephone line or the Internet, so as to respond quickly to abnormal conditions. Security systems or security businesses that exist have existed in the past.

  However, the security system is different from management support such as maintenance / inspection of the production equipment installed in the production / manufacturing factory that is the production base, and is a completely different technical field. It cannot be diverted or applied as a comprehensive management system for production facilities.

  There was no idea of a management system or a management business that professionally and comprehensively supports production facilities at the production base.

  In the following [Patent Document 1], a specialist engineer remotely connects a personal computer connected through a telephone line via a monitor camera to a failure of a device having a mechanical operation unit installed in a factory or the like. The technology of a remote fault diagnosis monitor system configured to perform fault diagnosis in real time is disclosed.

JP 2000-122716 A

  However, the technology of the above [Patent Document 1] is based on the fact that a specialized engineer can detect a failure of a limited production facility called a device having a mechanical operation unit while looking at the failure point with a remote monitor camera through a telephone line when the failure occurs. It is merely a management system that diagnoses the cause of the failure and informs the service engineer on site of the repair method.

  Also, in the past mass consumption and mass production era, old facilities were discarded and destroyed, and new capital investments were made. From now on, existing production facilities and systems will be replaced from the viewpoint of resource and energy saving. It is inevitable to make the best use of the product as long as possible and to move toward production (manufacturing) efficiently and at low cost. From this point of view, when a certain production facility is discarded, it is desirable to reuse a member (part) that can be reused in the production facility.

  The production facility management system of the present invention has been made in view of the inefficiency and uneconomical points of the conventional management system described above, and is a comprehensive management system for monitoring, repairing, inspecting and improving production facilities, as well as production. It provides a comprehensive management system that includes a recycling service for reusable materials at the time of disposal of equipment.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention
(1) Production facility management information output means for monitoring the operational status of production facilities that produce goods, and outputting the contents as production facility management information along with the date and time when periodic and abnormal / failure conditions occur When,
A transmission means for transmitting the output production facility management information to a server computer of a general monitoring base connected to a communication network;
In the server computer, recording means for recording the production facility management information transmitted to a recording device to form a database;
In the server computer, transmission means for automatically sending the production facility management information to a computer at a service base connected via the communication network at the time of periodic or abnormal / failure occurrence or when receiving a request;
In the computer at the service base, the production facility management information transmitted from the server computer is read out and displayed on the screen of the display device, thereby providing at least one engineering service for repair, inspection, improvement, and disposal of the production facility. Engineering service delivery means to enable implementation;
Means for transmitting the contents of repair / improvement / inspection performed on the production facility by the engineering service execution means to the server computer via the communication network as a part of the production facility management information; A production facility management system is provided.
(2) The production facility management information of each production facility is recorded as a database in a recording device of a server computer connected to a communication network for a plurality of production facilities at a plurality of production bases. A production facility management system according to (1) is provided.
(3) When all or part of a production facility is discarded, it can be reused by reading the production facility management information stored in the database of the server computer from the computer at the service base connected to the communication network and displaying it on the display device. A production facility management system according to the above (1) or (2) is provided, comprising a recycling means for selecting a member and providing it as a reuse member.

Since the production facility management system according to the present invention is configured as described above,
(1) By constantly monitoring the operating status of production facilities using computers at service bases connected via a communication network, abnormalities and failures can be quickly discovered and recovered quickly, so high quality products (products ) Can be produced efficiently.
(2) A comprehensive management service including the judgment and implementation of repair, maintenance, inspection, improvement or disposal of production equipment can be provided.
(3) It is possible to propose and implement improvement means to the user by minimizing the stoppage of the production facility due to the failure, analyzing the failure content, and recording the failure content and repair history.
(4) Since maintenance work such as inspection, repair, and improvement can be performed in a timely manner, the production facility can be maintained in the best condition.
(5) Even when the production facility is discarded / reduced, a reusable member can be selected and reused or provided to the recycling market by the user, eliminating waste and adapting to resource saving.
(6) Comprehensive management of a plurality of production facilities at a plurality of production bases can be collectively managed by a server computer at a general monitoring base and a computer at a service base using a communication network.

  An embodiment of a production facility management system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking an automatic welding machine as an example of production facility.

  FIG. 1 is a system diagram for explaining a first configuration example of a production facility management system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a system diagram for explaining a second configuration example of the production facility management system according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an automatic welding machine as a production facility according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a plan view for explaining the structure of the automatic welding machine. FIG. 5 is an operation chart of the automatic welding machine, and FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a welding operation procedure of the automatic welding machine. FIG. 7 is a table of maintenance / inspection history and cumulative operation / stop time of the automatic welding machine. FIG. 8 is a history tabulation table of failure / abnormal content of the automatic welder. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an operation history of main parts in the automatic welding machine.

  First, in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, the automatic welding machine 50 which is one of the production facilities includes a jig part A, an index table B, a supply part C of a part (model name) G5M-301, and a part (model name) G5M. -301 supply part D, part (model name) supply part E of G5M-302, part G5T-301 and laser welded part F of part G5M-301, part G5M-301 and part G5M-302 laser A device comprising a welded portion G, a height detecting portion H, a finished product takeout portion I, a defective product storage portion J, a non-defective product discharge portion K, and a frame body portion L, and an apparatus for assembling the three parts by laser welding. It is. The supply parts C, D, and E of each part are automatic supply apparatuses that give fine vibrations to a large number of parts and continuously feed them one by one with their front and back and front and back directions aligned. 3, reference numeral 1 is an operation panel, reference numeral 2 is a manual operation panel, reference numeral 3 is a chuck for gripping the part G5M-301, reference numeral 4 is a chuck for gripping the part G5M-302, and reference numeral 5 is a chuck for gripping the part G5T-301. It is.

  Then, as shown in the schematic diagram of the welding work procedure corresponding to the operation chart shown in FIG. 5 and the operation chart number in FIG. 6, (1) supply of part G5M-301, (2) supply of part G5M-301, (3) Supply of part G5M-302, (4) Laser welding of part G5T-301 and part G5M-301 (the welding location is indicated by a black dot), (5) Part G5M-301 and part G5M-302 Laser welding (indicated by black dots), (6) height inspection of the finished product at the height detector H, (7) taking out the finished product at the finished product takeout part I, (8 A series of operations of (i) non-defective product discharge in the non-defective product discharge unit K and (9) defective product discharge in the defective product storage unit J is continuously performed.

  In the automatic welding machine 50, abnormalities occur in automatic supply due to clogging of parts, supply of non-standard defective parts, etc., the laser irradiation position is distorted, the yield is deteriorated, readjustment is required, There is a case where a failure (failure) occurs due to wear of each member to stop and it is necessary to replace the member, or an individual improvement measure according to the operating environment of each device may be required. The main purpose of this production facility management system is to monitor the operational status of such production facilities and to provide efficient and comprehensive support for quick, appropriate repairs, maintenance, inspections and improvements using a communication network. is there.

In FIG. 1, a production facility management system 100 according to the present invention monitors the operating state of a production facility such as the automatic welding machine 50 that produces a product at a production site P, and operates the automatic welding machine 50. Production equipment management information output means K1 that outputs the contents as production equipment management information MD together with the date and time immediately when occurrence of an abnormal / failure state periodically, such as every minute, every hour or every day,
Transmission means K2 for transmitting the output production facility management information MD to the server computer SC of the general monitoring base X connected to the communication network NW;
In the server computer SC, recording means K3 for recording the transmitted production facility management information MD in a recording device M such as an HDD and creating a database;
In the server computer SC, transmission for automatically transmitting the production facility management information MD to the computer PC at the service base Y or Y ′ connected via the communication network NW periodically or when an abnormality / failure occurs or when a request is received. Means K4;
The production facility management information MD is stored in the computer PC of the service base Y remote from the production base P or the portable computer PC ′ owned by the service engineer in the production base P or in the vicinity of the production base P. Engineering service execution means K5 that enables at least one engineering service of repair, inspection, improvement, and disposal of the automatic welding machine 50 of the production facility by reading and displaying on the screen of the display device 14;
The contents of repair / improvement / inspection performed on the production facility 50 by the engineering service execution means K5 is transmitted to the server computer SC via the communication network NW as a part of the production facility management information MD. Transmission means K6.

  The production facility management information output means K1 is, for example, digital video information of the operating state of the automatic welding machine 50 taken by the monitor camera 11 or a PLC (programmable logic controller) 12 of the control unit of the automatic welding machine 50. This is realized by outputting control data via an interface. Further, the control data of the production facility management information is described, for example, in the history information such as the maintenance / inspection history and the operation / stop time accumulation table of FIG. 7 or the history / abnormality history summary table of FIG. Such data can be considered.

  Next, the transmission means K2 uses the existing technology, for example, the production facility management output from the automatic welding machine 50 using the Internet connected directly to the Internet as a communication network NW or connected via a LAN or an intranet. This is realized by transmitting the information MD to the Internet via a modem, a terminal adapter and a router (not shown).

  The recording means K3 can be easily realized by providing a server computer SC dedicated to the production facility management system using the existing Internet server technology.

  The transmission means K4 is realized by programming on the server computer SC side. For transmission, e-mail or other methods are applied.

  Further, the engineering service execution means K5 is finally performed by computer analysis of the production facility management information MD accumulated by the computer program, depending on the judgment and treatment of a service engineer or a professional engineer.

  The transmission means K6 is realized by electronic mail transmission / reception on the Internet, like the transmission means K4.

  According to the above system configuration, the computer PC of the service base Y or Y ′, the video of the operating state of the production facility displayed on the display device 14 of the PC ′, the history of maintenance / inspection as shown in FIG. The accumulated data can be listed, and furthermore, the analysis data such as the history of failure / abnormality history and the order of occurrence time as shown in Fig. 8 can be listed, so the specialized engineer can be at the service base Y or the service engineer A large number of production facilities (automatic welding machine 50, etc.) can be easily and collectively managed at the service base Y 'using each computer PC, PC'.

  Next, the production facility management system 101 shown in FIG. 2 provides production facility management information of individual production facilities for a plurality of production facilities (automatic welding machine 50, etc.) at a plurality of production bases P1, P2,. MD1, MD2,... Can be recorded as a database in the recording device M of the server computer SC connected to the communication network NW. The individual system configuration is the same as in FIG. However, the server computer SC centrally manages a plurality of production facilities at a plurality of production bases P1, P2,..., Which also functions for production bases P1, P2,. Is. The operator of the production facility management system 101 contracts with a plurality of users individually to manage production facilities at the respective production bases P1, P2,.

  Next, in addition to the above configuration, the production facility management systems 100 and 101 shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 include computers PC and PC ′ connected to the communication network NW when all or part of the production facility is discarded. The production equipment management information MD shown in the main part operation history of FIG. 9 stored in the database of the recording device M of the server computer SC is read and analyzed, and a reusable member (part) is selected and provided as a reusable member. The recycle means K7 is provided. For example, in the operation history of each part of FIG. 9 displayed on the display device 14, it can be seen that among the parts of the automatic welding machine 50, the chuck of the part G5M-302 is used as little as 550 times and is similar to a new article. When disposing of the automatic welding machine 50 at the production facility clinic base Z that performs overhaul, repair, recycling, disposal, etc. in FIG. 1 or FIG. It is for use. As a result, there is no waste and it is suitable for resource saving.

  In summary, the production facility management system according to the present invention constantly monitors production facilities to detect abnormalities / failures, repair them, and improve them (by regularly analyzing the contents and frequency of failures) Production technology support service that proposes and implements improvements), comprehensive support for recycling at the time of inspection and disposal.

  As a precaution, the above description has been given of the automatic welding machine 50 as an example of production equipment. Of course, other production equipment (including various devices, equipment, and systems) is also included in this book. Within the range of the invention.

It is a system diagram for explaining a first configuration example of a production facility management system according to the present invention. It is a system diagram for demonstrating the 2nd structural example of the production equipment management system which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the automatic welding machine as production equipment which concerns on this invention. It is a top view for demonstrating the structure of an automatic welding machine. It is an operation | movement chart figure of the said automatic welder. It is a schematic diagram which shows the welding operation procedure of the said automatic welder. It is the table | surface of the maintenance / inspection history and operation / stop time accumulation of an automatic welding machine. It is a history totalization table of a failure and abnormality content of an automatic welder. It is a figure which shows the driving | running history of the main components in an automatic welding machine.

Explanation of symbols

1 Operation panel
2 Manual operation panel
3 Chuck to grip part G5M-301
4 Chuck to grip part G5M-302
5 Chuck to grip part G5T-301
11 Monitor camera
12 PLC (Programmable Logic Controller)
14 Display device
50 Automatic welding machine 100, 101 Production equipment management system
A Jig part
B Index table
C Supply part for parts G5M-301
D Part supply part G5M-301
E Supply part for parts G5M-302
F Laser welded part G5T-301 and part G5M-301
G Laser welded part G5M-301 and part G5M-302
H Height detector
I Finished product removal department
J defective product storage
K non-defective product discharge section
L Frame body
K1 production facility management information output means K2, K4, K6 transmission means
K3 recording means
K5 Engineering Service Implementation Means
X General monitoring bases P, P1, P2 ... Production bases Y, Y 'Service bases
Z Production facility clinic base
PC computer
PC 'portable computer
SC server computer
M recording device
MD production equipment management information
NW communication network

Claims (3)

Production facility management information output means for monitoring the operation status at the production base for production facilities that produce goods, and outputting the contents as production facility management information along with the date and time when an abnormality or failure occurs periodically;
A transmission means for transmitting the output production facility management information to a server computer of a general monitoring base connected to a communication network;
In the server computer, recording means for recording the production facility management information transmitted to a recording device to form a database;
In the server computer, transmission means for automatically sending the production facility management information to a computer at a service base connected via the communication network at the time of periodic or abnormal / failure occurrence or when receiving a request;
In the computer at the service base, the production facility management information transmitted from the server computer is read out and displayed on the screen of the display device, thereby providing at least one engineering service for repair, inspection, improvement, and disposal of the production facility. Engineering service delivery means to enable implementation;
Means for transmitting the contents of repair / improvement / inspection performed on the production facility by the engineering service execution means to the server computer via the communication network as a part of the production facility management information; A production facility management system comprising: 2. The production facility management information of each production facility is recorded as a database in a recording device of a server computer connected to a communication network for a plurality of production facilities at a plurality of production bases. The production facility management system described. When reusing all or part of a production facility, select a reusable member by reading the production facility management information stored in the database of the server computer from the computer at the service base connected to the communication network and displaying it on the display device The production facility management system according to claim 1, further comprising a recycling unit that can be provided as a reuse member.

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