JP2009116528A - Production instruction device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the technology for smoothly instructing a production line, and for dealing with the change of the types of a plurality of products requested for the order of production. <P>SOLUTION: A first storage means 8 stores the types of products for at least two times instructed in the order of following production in accordance with the order of production, and a second storage means 6 stores the types of products instructed in the order of production following the order of production of the types of products stored in the first storage means 8 in accordance with the order of production. A control means 14 of a programmable controller 4 instructs the production of the types of products stored in the first storage means 8 to a production line 18 in the early order of production (1), and stores the types of products stored in the second storage means 6 in the first storage means 8 in accordance with the order production (2), and rewrites the storage content of the second storage means 6 in accordance with the data input from an input means 12 (3). The control means 14 is able to perform the processes (1) and (3) in parallel. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for instructing production to a production line that produces a mixture of a plurality of types of products. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for sequentially instructing product types to be produced for the above-described production line using a programmable controller.

Multiple types of products may be mixed and produced using a common production line. In general, product types to be produced on the production line are indicated in a planned order so that the assembly load on the production line is leveled according to the number of types of products and the production amount of each product type. .
Product types produced by the production line are sequentially instructed by the production instruction device. For example, if a plurality of types of engines are manufactured on a single production line, the first is engine A, the second is engine B, the third is engine B, and so on. Production instructions are sequentially given at predetermined intervals.

For example, in patent document 1, the production | generation of a product kind is sequentially instruct | indicated to a production line using a programmable controller. The production instruction is executed according to the production ratio requested from the production line. For example, when the load on the production line is excessive, request data for requesting to issue a production instruction by correcting the production ratio to be low is input from the production line. Then, the programmable controller outputs a production instruction according to a ratio lower than a preset standard production ratio. For example, if an instruction for a product type with a high assembly load in the production order stored in the programmable controller is scheduled next, the next product type is instructed without issuing an instruction to produce the product.
JP-A 61-265251

In the technique of Patent Document 1, product types and production order for mixed production on a production line are planned in advance and stored in a production instruction device. However, in practice, products cannot always be produced as originally planned. For example, it may be necessary to change the type, quantity, order, etc. of the product that instructs the production line depending on the increase / decrease in the order quantity for a specific product type or the status of parts inventory necessary for production. The production plan is corrected each time, and as a result, it becomes necessary to correct all or part of the production sequence planned in advance. That is, it becomes necessary to rewrite the product type data stored in the production instruction device in accordance with the production order.
In the technique of Patent Literature 1, while the programmable controller executes a process for rewriting stored data, other processes cannot be executed on the stored data. That is, while the rewriting process is being executed, it is not possible to execute a process for referencing those data. If the time required for the rewriting process is long, a production instruction cannot be output to the production line during that time. In particular, when there are many product types to be mixed and the production ratios between product types differ greatly, the amount of data stored in accordance with the production order is large, and the time required for the rewriting process becomes long. This contributes to stagnation of the production line, which may reduce the production efficiency.
The present invention provides a technique capable of smoothly instructing a production line and responding to a change required for a production order of a plurality of product types.

The apparatus according to the present invention is a production instruction apparatus that sequentially instructs a product type to be produced next on a production line that produces a mixture of a plurality of types of products using a programmable controller. This apparatus has a first storage means for storing at least two product types instructed in a future production order in accordance with the production order, and a production after the production order of the product types stored in at least the first storage means. Second storage means for storing product types instructed in order according to production order; and data input means for inputting data for instructing change of product types stored in second storage means in accordance with production order. . In this apparatus, the programmable controller executes the following processes (1), (2), and (3).
(1) Processing for instructing production of product types stored in the first storage means in order of early production order (2) Product types stored in the second storage means are stored in the first storage means according to the production order (3) Processing to rewrite the stored contents of the second storage means in accordance with the data input from the data input means Further, in this apparatus, the programmable controller performs the above processing (1) and the above processing (3) in parallel. And can be executed.

  The present inventor provides the first storage means and the second storage means as means for storing the product type data stored in accordance with the production order, thereby referring to the data for instructing the production (the above-mentioned It has been found that the process (1)) and the process of rewriting data for changing the production order (process (3) above) can be executed in parallel. For this reason, in the above-described production instruction apparatus, the product types instructed to the production line are stored in the first storage means and the second storage means in accordance with the production order.

The product type stored in the first storage means is a product type scheduled to be instructed in a future production order. For example, if the first product type is already instructed on the production line, the first storage means stores at least the product types instructed in the second and third production orders. .
The first storage means is used to refer to the product type instructed to the production line when the programmable controller executes the process (1). For example, after the instruction of the first product type is executed, the programmable controller refers to the first storage means, and in the order of early production order (in the above case, the product designated in the second production order). In order from the type), the product type stored in the first storage means is instructed to the production line.
The programmable controller can sequentially instruct the product types to be produced according to the production order by repeatedly executing the process (1).

On the other hand, the product type stored in the second storage unit is a product type specified in the production order after the production order of the product type stored in the first storage unit. For example, in the case described above, the second storage means stores product types instructed in the fourth and subsequent production orders.
The order of the product types stored in the second storage means may have to be changed depending on the increase / decrease in the order quantity for a specific product type, the inventory status of parts, and the like. In such a case, the change of the product type stored in the second storage unit is executed by the programmable controller in accordance with the data input from the data input unit (the above-described process (3)). The data input from the data input means is, for example, data input to the production instruction device by the operator. When the above-described data is input, the programmable controller executes a process for rewriting the storage contents of the second storage unit according to the data. For example, if an instruction to change the product type corresponding to the tenth to twentieth production orders to a different type is input to the production instruction device, the programmable controller is stored in the second storage means. The product type data corresponding to the production orders from the 20th to the 20th are rewritten according to the input data.

  As the programmable controller repeats the above-described process (1), the number of product types not yet instructed among the product types stored in the first storage means decreases. In order to give instructions to the production line without delay, it is necessary to move the product type stored in the second storage means to the first storage means. From this, the programmable controller further executes a process of storing the product type stored in the second storage unit in the first storage unit in accordance with the production order (the process (2) described above). By this processing, for example, the fourth and subsequent product types stored in the second storage unit are stored in the first storage unit. The fourth and subsequent product types are sequentially instructed to the production line according to the associated production order by the above-described process (1).

For the product types already instructed among the product types stored in the first storage unit, the product type instructed for production may be deleted from the first storage unit each time an instruction is given to the production line. Alternatively, when the data is transferred from the second storage unit to the first storage unit, the product type that has already been instructed for production may be deleted from the first storage unit.
Further, among the product types stored in the second storage unit, data that has already been transferred to the first storage unit is transferred each time data is transferred from the second storage unit to the first storage unit. The product type that has been stored in the first storage means may be deleted from the second storage means. Alternatively, when the data in the second storage unit is rewritten, the product type that has already been stored in the first storage unit may be deleted from the second storage unit.

  As described above, the first storage unit and the second storage unit store data of product types having different production orders independently of each other. Therefore, processes such as reference and rewriting can be individually executed for the first storage means and the second storage means. That is, even while the programmable controller is executing the process of rewriting the data stored in the second storage unit, the process of referring to the first storage unit and instructing the product type that instructs the next production is performed. Can be executed.

  In the production instruction apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the process (2) is executed when the number of times the programmable controller has instructed in the process (1) is equal to or greater than a threshold value.

  The product type stored in the first storage means is the product type instructed to the production line most recently in the future production order. For this reason, if it takes a long time to move the data of the product type from the second storage means to the first storage means by the process (2), the writing process to the first storage means is next. This is not preferable because it may not be completed before the product type is instructed. Therefore, in the present invention, when the number of instructions to the production line is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the above process (2) is executed. For example, the number of data of the product type that can finish the process (2) within the production instruction interval time can be set as the threshold value. In this case, if data of the same number of product types as the threshold is moved from the second storage means to the first storage means, the product type data can be efficiently moved with a small number of movement processes. Alternatively, the threshold value may be arbitrarily set by the operator within a range not exceeding the number of data of the product type that can finish the process (2) within the production instruction interval.

In the production instruction apparatus of the present invention, the first storage means and the second storage means may be configured by separate storage media.
As described above, according to the present invention, processing such as reference and rewriting can be executed independently of each other for the first storage means and the second storage means. By configuring the first storage means and the second storage means with separate storage media, the programmable controller can reliably access each storage means individually. Even when the instructions for the production line and the change of the production order are executed at the same time, the processes can be executed smoothly and reliably.

  According to the present invention, there is no inconvenience that the product type instructing the production cannot be referred to during the change of the production order. Even when it takes a long time to change the production order of the product types stored in the second storage means, it is possible to give instructions to the production line without delay. By using the present invention, it is possible to keep giving instructions smoothly to the production line and to cope with changes in the production order as needed.

First, the main features of the embodiments described below are listed.
(Characteristic 1) It is provided with a third storage means for storing the product type already instructed to the production line in accordance with the production order, and the programmable controller is late in the third storage means for the product type instructed for production. A process of storing in association with the production order is executed.
(Characteristic 2) When a predetermined time has elapsed from the previous instruction, the first storage means is referred to, and the production of product types is instructed to the production line in the order of early production order.
(Characteristic 3) The instruction to the production line is executed when data requesting the instruction is transmitted from the production line to the production instruction device.
(Characteristic 4) The data for instructing the change of the product type stored in the second storage means is transmitted from a computer or the like connected to the production instruction device and input to the production instruction device.
(Feature 5) The second storage means is a storage medium that can be inserted into and removed from the production instruction apparatus, and the production instruction apparatus includes a slot into which the second storage means is inserted.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a production instruction apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment. The production line 18 is a production line for producing a mixture of a plurality of types of engines. The production instruction device 2 includes the programmable controller 4 and sequentially instructs the engine type to be produced next to the production line 18. The production instruction device 2 instructs the production line 18 on the engine type to be produced next at predetermined time intervals. The production line 18 is provided with a production instruction receiving terminal 16, and the production instruction output from the production instruction device 2 is received by the production instruction receiving terminal 16.

The programmable controller 4 includes a first storage unit 8, a second storage unit 6, a control unit 14, and a production instruction management program 10. The first storage means 8 and the second storage means 6 are composed of separate rewritable semiconductor memories such as flash memories, and are connected to the control means 14 respectively.
The 1st memory | storage means 8 has memorize | stored from the 1st to 10th of the product kind instruct | indicated in a future production order according to a production order. The information stored in the first storage means is illustrated in the left column of FIG. The first storage means 8 stores ten engine types from the engine A instructing production first to the engine A instructing production tenth in the order of production.
On the other hand, the second storage means 6 stores the engine type instructed in the production order after the production order corresponding to the engine type stored in the first storage means 8 in accordance with the production order. The information stored in the second storage means is illustrated in the right column of FIG. The second storage means 6 stores a plurality of types of engines from the engine B instructing the 11th production to the engine C instructing the 100th production in the order of production. That is, in this embodiment, a plurality of engine types instructed to the production line 18 are stored separately in the first storage means 8 and the second storage means 6 according to the production order from No. 1 to No. 100. Yes.
The first storage unit 8 and the second storage unit 6 store data input from the control unit 14. The first storage unit 8 and the second storage unit 6 input stored data to the control unit 14 in accordance with a command value input from the control unit 14.

The control means 14 is constituted by a microprocessor or the like. The control unit 14 is connected to the first storage unit 8, the second storage unit 6, the input unit 12, and the production instruction receiving terminal 16. The control means 14 reads and executes the production instruction management program 10. The production instruction management program 10 may be stored in the same flash memory as the first storage unit 8 or the second storage unit 6, or a storage medium separate from the first storage unit 8 and the second storage unit 6. May be stored.
The control means 14 reads out and executes the production instruction management program 10 to instruct the engine type to be produced on the production line 18 based on the data stored in the first storage means 8. Further, the control unit 14 moves the engine type data stored in the second storage unit 6 to the first storage unit 8. That is, the control unit 14 manages the data stored in the first storage unit 8 and the second storage unit 6 and instructs the engine type to be produced to the production line. Further, the control means 14 rewrites the engine type data stored in the second storage means 6 in accordance with the data input from the input means 12 constituted by a keyboard or the like.

Next, processing when the control unit 14 instructs the production line 18 to produce will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. At the time of starting the following processing, the control means 14 reads and executes the production instruction management program 10, and the first storage means 8 and the second storage means 6 store the first to 100th productions. It is assumed that the engine type is stored in advance according to the order.
In step S2, the production order i instructed to the production line 18 is set to an initial value. In this embodiment, it is assumed that i = 1 (that is, the first production order) is an initial value.
When the production order is set, the engine type stored in association with the production order is then read from the first storage unit 8 (step S4). For example, if i = 1, the data of the first engine A is read from the first storage means 8 (see FIG. 4A).
Next, the production line 18 is instructed to produce the engine type read from the first storage means 8 in step S4 (step S6). In the case described above, the production line 18 is instructed to produce the first engine A to be produced. Data indicating the engine A is received by the production instruction receiving terminal 16 of the production line 18.
When the instruction to the production line 18 is executed, the instructed engine type data is deleted from the first storage means 8 (step S8). In the above case, the data of the first engine A is erased.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the number n of production instructions output to the production line 18 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number x (step S10). The number of times x is set within a range of numbers that can be moved from the second storage means 6 to the first storage means 8 between the execution of the previous production instruction and the execution of the next production instruction. Threshold. Hereinafter, a case where x = 5 is set will be described. For example, if i = 1, the number n of production instructions output to the production line 18 is 1, and it is determined that it is not 5 times or more (NO in step S10). In this case, the process from step S12 to step S16 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S18.

On the other hand, for example, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the production of the fifth engine type has already been instructed (YES in step S10), the control means 14 performs the process of step S12. Execute.
In step S <b> 12, data of x engine types that are associated with the earlier production order are read from the second storage unit 6 and deleted from the second storage unit 6. As shown in FIG. 4B, when engine types corresponding to the eleventh and subsequent production orders are stored in the second storage means 6, the eleventh to fifteenth production orders are supported. The five engine types are read from the second storage means 6 and deleted.
Next, in step S14, the engine type read from the second storage means 6 in step S12 is stored in association with the slow production order of the first storage means 8. After the processing of step S12 and step S14, as shown in the left column of FIG. 4C, the first storage means 8 stores engine types corresponding to the sixth to fifteenth production orders. ing. On the other hand, as shown in the right column of FIG. 4C, the second storage means 6 stores engine types corresponding to the 16th to 100th production orders.
When the engine type data is transferred from the second storage means 6 to the first storage means 8 as described above, the number n of production instructions output to the production line is an initial value (in this embodiment, n = 0) (step S16). n is incremented every time the process of step S6 is executed, and when it becomes 5 or more again (YES in step S10), the processes from step S12 to step S16 are executed. That is, every time the processing from step S12 to step S16 is executed, five pieces of engine type data corresponding to the earliest production order in the second storage means 6 correspond to the latest production order in the first storage means 8. The data of the engine type to be transferred is transferred from the second storage means 6 to the first storage means 8.

  The processes from step S12 to step S16 described above are executed after the previous production instruction is executed until the next production instruction is executed. Therefore, since data is being transferred from the second storage unit 6 to the first storage unit 8, there is no problem that an instruction cannot be output to the production line 18. The production instruction device 2 can smoothly instruct the production line 18 of the type of product to be produced next.

Next, in step S18, it is determined whether or not an elapsed time after instructing the production of the i-th engine type has passed for a predetermined time. The predetermined time here is an interval time from the execution of the previous production instruction to the execution of the next production instruction. The production instruction interval time is set according to the products produced on the production line. For example, if the engine type to be produced every two minutes is instructed to the production line 18, the predetermined time is set to two minutes.
The control means 14 does not execute the next process until the above-described predetermined time has elapsed (NO in step S18), and executes the process of step S20 when the predetermined time has elapsed (YES in step S18). .
In step S20, the next production order is incremented from i to i + 1. For example, if i = 1, the production order to be instructed next is incremented to i = 2 by the processing of this step, and the second engine C shown in the right column of FIG. The processing from S4 to step S18 is repeated.

Next, processing executed by the control unit 14 on the data stored in the second storage unit 6 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Assume that the control means 14 reads and executes the production instruction management program 10 at the time of starting the following processing, similarly to the processing shown in FIG.
In step S <b> 22, it is determined whether data for instructing the change of the engine type stored in the second storage unit 6 is input from the input unit 12. When the data for instructing the change is input from the input unit 12 (YES in step S22), the process proceeds to step S24, and when the data for instructing the change is not input from the input unit 12 (NO in step S22). Moves to step S30.

In step S24, it is determined whether or not a process of moving data to the first storage unit 8 is being performed. Here, the movement process refers to the above-described process from step S12 to step S16 in FIG. 2 (or from step S32 to step 36 in FIG. 3 described later). If it is determined that the movement process has not been executed (NO in step S24), the process proceeds to step S28.
On the other hand, if the movement process is being executed (YES in step S24), the process waits until the movement process is completed (step S26). When the movement process is completed (YES in step S26), the process proceeds to step S28, and the data stored in the second storage unit 6 is rewritten in accordance with the change instruction input from the input unit 12. For example, when the contents shown in the right column of FIG. 4A are stored in the second storage means 6, an instruction to change the engine type for instructing the twelfth production from the engine B to the engine D is input means. 12 is input, the data stored in the second storage means 6 is rewritten from the content shown in FIG. 4A to the content shown in FIG. 4B by the process of step S28 described above. It is done.

  If no change instruction is input in step S22, it is determined in step S30 whether the number n of production instructions output to the production line 18 is equal to or greater than a predetermined number x. In this step, the same processing as step S10 in FIG. 2 is executed. Furthermore, in step S32 to step S36, the same process as the process from step S12 to step S16 of FIG. 2 is executed. Thus, every time the processing from step S32 to step S36 is executed, the five engine types are listed in order from the engine type corresponding to the earlier production order among the data stored in the second storage means 6. The engine type corresponding to the slow production order is transferred to the one storage means 8.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the first storage unit 8 and the second storage unit 6 are configured as separate storage media has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the first storage unit 8 and the second storage unit 6 may be storage areas having different registries in one storage medium.

  According to the production instruction device 2 of the present embodiment, there is a problem that production cannot be instructed to the production line 18 while the production order of the engine type stored in the production instruction device 2 is changed. There is no. Even when it takes a long time to change the production order of the product types stored in the second storage means 6, it is possible to smoothly instruct the production line 18. While continuing to instruct the production line 18 smoothly, it is possible to respond to changes in the production order as needed.

  The technical elements described in this specification or the drawings exhibit technical usefulness alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the technology illustrated in the present specification or the drawings achieves a plurality of objects at the same time, and has technical utility by achieving one of the objects.

It is a figure showing schematic structure of a production instruction | indication apparatus. It is a flowchart showing the process in which a control means instruct | indicates the kind of product to produce to a production line. It is a flowchart showing the process in which a control means updates the data memorize | stored in the 2nd memory | storage means. It is the figure which illustrated the information which the 1st storage means and the 2nd storage means memorize.

Explanation of symbols

2: Production instruction device 4: Programmable controller 6: Second storage means 8: First storage means 10: Production instruction management program 12: Input means 14: Control means 16: Production instruction receiving terminal 18: Production line

Claims (3)

Using a programmable controller, it is a device that sequentially indicates the product type to be produced next for a production line that produces a mixture of multiple types of products,
First storage means for storing at least two product types instructed in a future production order according to the production order;
Second storage means for storing at least a product type instructed in a production order after the production order of the product type stored in the first storage means in accordance with the production order;
Data input means for inputting data instructing change of the product type stored in the second storage means in accordance with the production order;
The programmable controller is
(1) a process for instructing the production of the product types stored in the first storage means in the order of early production order;
(2) A process of storing the product type stored in the second storage unit in the first storage unit according to the production order;
(3) A process of rewriting the storage content of the second storage means according to the data input from the data input means,
The production instruction apparatus, wherein the programmable controller is capable of executing the process (1) and the process (3) in parallel.   The production instruction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the programmable controller executes the process of (2) when the number of times instructed in (1) is equal to or greater than a threshold value.   The production instruction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first storage unit and the second storage unit are configured as separate storage media.

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