JP2007286884A - Operation support method for conveyance equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an operation support method for conveyance equipment for providing a production restarting means under a predictable condition and minimizing influence on production. <P>SOLUTION: In the conveyance equipment sequentially conveying workpieces to a plurality of supply storage devices and manufacturing devices by means of a conveying device, a state of the stopped conveyance equipment is specified in restoration after stop of the conveyance equipment, and simulation is carried out based on a plurality of prepared scenarios while using the specified state as an initial state. Then, restoration work is carried out according to a scenario giving the most preferable result as influence on the production among the results of simulation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation support method for transfer equipment, and more particularly to an operation support method for transfer equipment suitable for application to a transfer apparatus in a clean room such as a liquid crystal factory.

In the production of a liquid crystal panel, a number of manufacturing processes are performed by different manufacturing apparatuses, and different types of manufacturing processes share the manufacturing apparatus.
The glass substrate for several days to several tens of days from the completion of the glass substrate loading to the dispensing is put into a cassette for each lot, and several hundred cassette lots are processed and transported in a clean room. The storage cycle is repeated.

On the other hand, since the manufacturing apparatus repeats a process such as film formation, resist coating, exposure, development, etching, and resist stripping a plurality of times, the same manufacturing apparatus is incorporated into the production process a plurality of times.
If either the manufacturing device or the transport device stops, supply shortage occurs in the subsequent process after the process that the apparatus is in charge of, and even if processing is completed in the previous process of the apparatus, it cannot be sent to the next process, The retention occurs, and the influence spreads over both the pre-process and the post-process with the passage of time.

Since it is impossible to make a simple prediction about the impact of equipment shutdown, and the degree of impact changes with time, recovery after equipment shutdown determines the priority of the production plan after the recovery based on the experience of the equipment manager, and continues to steady operation. During this period, unsteady operations are performed.
This method depends heavily on the experience and skill of the facility manager, and the same situation does not occur repeatedly, so the rule of thumb may be lacking in a rational basis.

On the other hand, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a control method using computer simulation.
However, the former simulates logistics prediction from order information of a logistics center and optimizes automatic warehouse, picking, and transportation, and is different from operation support that reduces the impact on production.
The latter is for setting the priority order of conveyance based on the simulation result, and does not perform simulation in a non-stationary state according to a plurality of scenarios.
JP-A-8-2648 JP 2001-38582 A

  In view of the problems of the above-described conventional transport equipment, the present invention virtually executes a situation caused by unsteady transport by simulation, and allows the equipment manager to make a reasonable decision from a plurality of execution plans. To provide a means for resuming production under predictable conditions, and to provide an operation support method for transport equipment that minimizes the impact on production .

  In order to achieve the above object, the operation support method for a transfer facility according to the present invention is a transfer facility in which a transfer device sequentially transfers a workpiece to a plurality of supply storage devices and a manufacturing device. At the time of recovery, the status of the stopped transport equipment is specified, and the simulation is performed based on a plurality of scenarios prepared in advance with the specified status as an initial state. The recovery operation is performed according to the scenario that has obtained the most preferable result.

  According to the operation support method for a transport facility of the present invention, in the transport facility that sequentially transports a workpiece to a plurality of supply storage devices and a manufacturing device by the transport device, when performing recovery after the transport facility is stopped, The status of the stopped transportation equipment is specified, and the simulation is performed based on a plurality of scenarios prepared in advance with the specified status as an initial state, and the most favorable result on the production is obtained from the simulation results. Since the recovery work is performed according to the scenario, it is possible to virtually execute the situation caused by unsteady transport by simulation and provide an option for the facility manager to make a reasonable decision from multiple execution plans. As a result, it is possible to provide a means for resuming production under a predictable situation and to minimize the influence on production.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a transport facility driving support method of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 7 show an embodiment of the operation support method for a transport facility according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic layout of a liquid crystal panel production factory.
Around the cassette supply and storage device 4 (CS1 to CS8), which also serves as an automatic warehouse for carrying the cassette in the cassette process and supplying the manufacturing device 6 (EQ1 to EQ48), the manufacturing device 6 (EQ1 to EQ48) And the cassette is transferred to the manufacturing apparatus 6 side via the port 5.
The cassette supply / storage device 4 stores a cassette by arranging a storage shelf (not shown) at a position where it does not interfere with the port 5.
As an example, cassettes are stored using the height up to the ceiling, for example, by assigning the first level position of a plurality of shelves to port 5 and assigning the second level or higher to the storage shelf.
In the cassette supply and storage device 4, one or a plurality of stacker cranes 7 travel in the direction of the arrow, and convey the cassettes to the shelf, the port, the entrance, and the exit.
The inter-process transfer apparatus 1 transfers the cassette to / from the cassette supply / storage apparatus 4 via the output port 2 and the input port 3.

FIG. 2 shows the operating state of each device of the transport facility.
CS1 to CS6 indicate the operation status of the cassette supply and storage device 4, and OHV indicates the operation status of the inter-process transfer device 1. Further, EQ1 to EQ11 indicate the operating status of the manufacturing apparatus 6.
The transition of the device from the operating state to the non-operating state includes not only a sudden failure or accident but also a stop for planned maintenance and repair of the equipment.
In addition, once every several months, all devices are stopped and maintenance is performed all at once.
The planned stoppage time of the equipment stoppage is determined in advance. However, in the case of a sudden failure or accident, the prediction of the time from the stoppage to the recovery differs depending on each case, and it may be difficult to predict the recovery time.

FIG. 3 shows a process flow displaying which manufacturing apparatus is assigned to each production process.
In general factory operations, it is rare to assign a single process to a single manufacturing device, so that multiple manufacturing devices of the same model can be introduced and produced by multiple manufacturing devices, and the amount of processing per unit time Even if the production rate increases or the manufacturing apparatus fails, the risk of production stoppage that continues production with other manufacturing apparatuses is avoided.
In FIG. 3, the parentheses below the manufacturing apparatus indicate the cassette supply / storage apparatus to which the manufacturing apparatus is connected.
Moreover, this process flow differs in the process and manufacturing apparatus allocated for every kind to produce.

FIG. 4 shows a recovery scenario after the equipment of the transport facility is stopped.
There are different scenarios for each point of interest.
As an example, there is a method in which products are processed in descending order of priority, or a method in which aggressive intervention is not performed.
As elements described in the scenario, if there is a device that can replace the failed device, search for an alternative route, specify the route development to be transferred to the alternative device, priority of work for each transported item, and device recovery Specify the estimated time until the failure, the average failure interval of the equipment, etc.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the control system.
In response to an instruction from the production management system, transfer control instructs OHV control, which is an inter-process transfer apparatus, to transfer between processes, and for in-process transfer, it instructs transfer from the cassette supply storage device CS1 to the control device of CS8.
The monitoring system monitors and records the situation in the transport device. The scheduling simulator is connected to a monitoring system, and the operation status and inventory status of the device at the start of simulation are input as initial conditions, and the production status and the status of conveyance from the restoration of the device to the steady production are simulated.
Note that the scheduling simulator is a well-known one, and it is not a monitoring system, but it is also deviated from the gist of the present invention that it is connected to a transfer control computer, an OHV control of inter-process transfer, or an individual control computer of CS control of the cassette supply / storage device 4. It is possible as long as it is not.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the influence of the stoppage of the transport equipment.
It is assumed that the manufacturing apparatus connected to the cassette supply / storage apparatus CS4 stops at the time point (8) and recovers at the time point (9).
As a result, the number of cassettes to be supplied to the stopped manufacturing apparatus increases with time in CS4.
On the other hand, in the cassette supply and storage devices CS5 and CS6 located in the downstream process of the stopped manufacturing apparatus, the supply of the cassette to the manufacturing apparatus in the next process decreases, and if the stopped state continues further, supply shortage occurs.
The manufacturing apparatus takes several tens of minutes to several hours of processing time per cassette, and before the downstream cassette supply / storage apparatus is affected, the number of manufacturing apparatuses connected to the cassette supply / storage apparatus and the manufacturing apparatus Influences after a delay time that has a strong correlation with the product of machining time.
Further, in this example, the influence on the downstream side is shown, but stagnation occurs on the upstream side.

FIG. 7 shows a simulation method.
When the apparatus is stopped and the influence is not expected to be insignificant, the scheduling until recovery is simulated.
Collect the operating status of the transfer device and the manufacturing device, the presence or absence of cassettes already in progress, and the inventory status of cassettes stored in the cassette storage shelves, and identify which step in the process flow of each cassette is located .

Based on the prepared scenarios, the status of the process flow specified for each cassette and the equipment status, based on the prepared scenarios, the status of recovery, the production status and the transport status for several hours to several days after recovery until normal operation Simulate.
In this case, the simulation estimates the shelf saturation, stacker crane operation rate, inter-process transfer operation rate and capacity saturation, delay time until dispensing, and the like, and displays the result on a report or form.

The facility manager selects the simulation scenario that gives the result that can be estimated optimally by taking into account the factory operating conditions and production plan.
The scheduling simulator displays the selected scenario, outputs a form, or reports to a necessary computer by communication between computers.

The facility manager sets the priority of transport in the transport control or production management according to the scenario that can be estimated to be optimum, and performs recovery.
This restoration stage is a stage in which the facility manager performs manual intervention, and the automatic execution of processing by the scheduling simulator does not depart from the spirit of the present invention.
Providing equipment managers with options that allow them to make reasonable judgments as simulation results from a situation where the equipment has stopped, providing means for resuming production under predictable conditions.

  As mentioned above, although the driving | operation assistance method of the conveyance facility of this invention was demonstrated based on the Example, this invention is not limited to the structure described in the said Example, It combines suitably the structure described in the Example. For example, the configuration can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the invention.

  The transfer facility operation support method of the present invention is characterized by virtually executing a situation caused by unsteady transfer by simulation and providing an option for the facility manager to make a reasonable decision from a plurality of execution plans. Therefore, for example, it can be suitably used for the use of a transport facility in which production under a predictable situation is resumed and the influence on production is reduced to a minimum.

It is a schematic layout figure of the liquid crystal panel production factory which enforces the driving | operation assistance method of the conveyance equipment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operating state of each apparatus of a conveyance installation. It is the process flow which displayed which manufacturing apparatus is allocated for every process to produce. It is a figure which shows the scenario of recovery after the apparatus of a conveyance facility stops. It is a figure which shows the structure of a control system. It is a figure which shows an example of the influence which the apparatus of the conveyance facility stopped. It is a flowchart which shows one Example of the driving assistance method of the conveyance facility of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Interprocess conveyance apparatus 2 Unloading port 3 Receiving port 4 Cassette supply storage apparatus 5 Port 6 Manufacturing apparatus 7 Stacker crane

Claims (1)

  In transport equipment that transports workpieces to a plurality of supply storage devices and manufacturing equipment in order using a transport device, specify the status of the stopped transport facility when performing recovery after the transport facility stops. The simulation is performed based on a plurality of scenarios prepared in advance, and the restoration work is performed according to the scenario that has the most favorable effect on production from the simulation results. Equipment operation support method.

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