JP2017220201A - Production plan preparation system, method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To create a production plan not deteriorating work efficiency of an operator.SOLUTION: A production plan preparation system is configured to: create a production plan in which steps composing a production process are arranged from an upstream to a downstream of the production process; select steps to be consecutive in terms of time using a common resource from among the plural steps; and rearrange the selected steps so as to be consecutive.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a production plan creation system for managing a production plan at a manufacturing site.

  Conventionally, at a manufacturing site, a production plan of a product to be manufactured in a predetermined period such as a monthly unit or a daily unit is created, and manufacturing is performed according to the production plan. There are various production plan creation methods, for example, a backward method and a forward method (see Patent Document 1). The backward method is a method of allocating work so that the order can meet the delivery date, going back from the delivery date of the order. On the other hand, the forward method is a method of assigning orders in order from the manufacturing start time.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-053440

  However, when a production plan is created by a conventional method, if the work time of the preceding process is longer than that of the subsequent process, the subsequent process may be scheduled discontinuously in time. For this reason, when a worker is required for the work of the subsequent process, the worker has to perform the work of the subsequent process intermittently. That is, in the conventional production plan creation method, the work efficiency of the worker has been reduced.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a production plan creation system, method, and program for creating a production plan that does not reduce the work efficiency of workers.

  In order to achieve the above object, a production plan creation system of the present invention has the following configuration.

Creating means for creating a production plan in which processes are arranged from upstream to downstream for each product manufacturing process;
A selection means for selecting a plurality of processes using the same resource as a plurality of processes that are temporally continuous from processes included in a production plan of a plurality of products;
Reconstructing means for reconstructing the production plan so that the plurality of steps selected by the selecting means are continued.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to create a production plan with high worker efficiency.

The figure which shows the example of the hardware constitutions of the whole planning system which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the hardware constitutions of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the logical structure of the planning system which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the whole flow from ordering to delivery which concerns on embodiment, and the flow of a process in information processing apparatus. The figure which shows the example of the data handled with the planning system which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the data handled with the planning system which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the flow of a process in the selection part 307 which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the flow of a process in the re-creation part 308 which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the flow of a process in the re-creation part 308 which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows the example of transition of the plan process by the process of the re-creation part 308 which concerns on embodiment. An example of a processing flow of the re-creation unit 701 according to the embodiment. The figure which shows the example of transition of the plan process by the process of the most preparation part. The figure which shows the example of the flow of the example of the flow of a process in 3rd embodiment, the example of a UI screen, and a plan process. The figure which shows the example of the process continuous setting screen which concerns on embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the flow of the production plan in 5th embodiment. The figure which shows the example of transition of the plan process in 5th embodiment.

[First embodiment]
In the first embodiment, a production plan with high work efficiency is created by continuing discontinuous planning processes. In addition, a plan can be paraphrased as a schedule, and a planned process indicates a scheduled process. For example, in this embodiment, “printing step” and “processing step” indicate a printing step and a processing step, respectively, but “planning step” does not indicate a planning step. Therefore, the planned process is sometimes called a planned process, and scheduling the process is sometimes called a process plan. Hereinafter, a first embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which production is targeted for printed materials, that is, printed products, and processes related to printing and post-processing are scheduled. Of course, the present embodiment can be applied to a production plan for producing any other product.

<Hardware configuration of the entire planning system>
FIG. 1 shows the hardware configuration of the entire planning system (or production plan creation system) for implementing the production plan creation method in the present embodiment.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes an environment of an orderer who places an order for printing (orderer environment).
Reference numeral 102 denotes an orderer terminal that exists in the orderer environment and in which the orderer places an order for printing. The orderer terminal can be realized, for example, by a computer in which an ordering program is installed.
Reference numeral 103 denotes a printing company that receives a print order from an orderer and produces printed matter according to the content of the order.
An order receiving server 104 receives an order from an orderer. The order receiving server can also be realized by a computer in which a program for order processing is installed.
Reference numeral 105 denotes an information processing apparatus that creates a production plan. Specifically, it is a plan server for creating a plan. The plan server can also be realized by a computer in which a program for creating a plan is installed.
Reference numeral 106 denotes a printing apparatus that prints print data associated with an order on a print target.
Reference numeral 107 denotes a processing apparatus that processes a printed matter associated with an order.
Reference numeral 108 denotes an inspection apparatus that inspects whether or not a printed matter as ordered is manufactured.
Reference numeral 109 denotes a delivery device that delivers the inspected printed matter to the orderer.
Reference numeral 110 denotes the Internet to which an orderer terminal and an order receiving server are connected.
Here, the printing device 106, the processing device 107, the inspection device 108, and the delivery device 109 are steps in the production of printed matter. Each device in the printing company is connected to each other via a local area network or the like.

<Hardware configuration of information processing device>
Next, the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 105 will be described with reference to FIG. The orderer terminal 102 and the order receiving server 104 have the same configuration as the information processing apparatus 105.
In FIG. 2, 201 is a central control unit that reads, interprets, and executes a computer program stored on a storage device 206 (to be described later) and controls a later-described RAM 203 and display 204 connected to the bus via a bus 209 (to be described later). It is an arithmetic processing unit (CPU: Central Processing Unit).
A read only memory (ROM) 202 performs input / output control at a low level with hardware connected to the bus.
Reference numeral 203 denotes a random access memory (RAM) that temporarily stores information when the CPU 201 calculates.
Reference numeral 204 denotes a display for displaying a calculation result by the CPU.
Reference numeral 205 denotes a keyboard that receives input from the user. However, in the case where the terminal is a smart device, the keyboard 205 does not have to be attached since it includes a touch panel.
Reference numeral 206 denotes a storage device that stores programs and data used for calculation. For example, there are hard disk drives and drives that read from and write to removable recording media.
Reference numeral 207 denotes a network I / F (I / F: interface) connected to a network such as a local network, an intranet, or the Internet.
Reference numeral 208 denotes a pointing device such as a mouse or a trackball that accepts coordinates designated by the user on the screen.
A bus 209 is a signal line to which the CPU 201 to the pointing device 208 are connected.
With the above configuration, the CPU 201 executes the program loaded on the RAM 203 to realize information processing, and outputs, for example, a production plan to be described later.

<Logical configuration of the planning system>
FIG. 3 shows a logical configuration of the planning system in the present embodiment. The already described configuration is denoted by the same reference numeral, and the description thereof is omitted. The configuration in FIG. 3 is a functional configuration realized by executing a program by a computer, and does not necessarily have to be as shown in FIG. For example, there may be structural variations such as integrating a plurality of functional blocks, or having a part of a certain functional block in FIG. 3 as another functional block.
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes an ordering unit that places a print order. The ordering unit 301 creates, for example, order information and transmits it to the order receiving server 104. The order information of the print order can include, for example, print data to be printed, information specifying a layout, post-processing (or post-processing), and the like.
An order receiving unit 302 receives a print order. The order receiving unit 302 receives order information, for example.
Reference numeral 303 denotes an order information holding unit that holds order information.
An input unit 304 inputs an instruction from the worker to the information processing apparatus 105. The input unit 304 is a user interface that combines a display 204 and a pointing device 208, for example.
Reference numeral 305 denotes a display unit that displays processing results in the information processing apparatus.
Reference numeral 306 denotes a creation unit that creates a production plan.
Reference numeral 307 denotes a selection unit that selects a planned process to be continued.
A re-creation unit 308 re-creates the production plan based on the selection result by the selection unit 307. The re-creation is to rearrange the planning process of the production plan created as described later according to a certain standard. Therefore, the re-creation is called rearrangement or reconfiguration, It can also be called a reconstruction part.
Reference numeral 309 denotes a manufacturing information holding unit that holds manufacturing information. The manufacturing information includes information necessary for manufacturing, such as a manufacturing process table, a process table, and a resource table.
Reference numeral 310 denotes a plan rule holding unit that holds plan rules (allocation rules for creating a production plan, such as a forward method and a backward method).
Reference numeral 311 denotes a plan holding unit that holds a production plan.
Reference numeral 312 denotes a selection information holding unit that holds the selected planned process.
Reference numeral 313 denotes a continuous plan holding unit that holds planned steps to be continued.
A buffer memory 314 temporarily holds data being calculated.
A printing unit 315 issues a print instruction to the printing apparatus.
Reference numeral 316 denotes a processing unit that issues a processing instruction to the processing apparatus 107.
Reference numeral 317 denotes an inspection unit that issues a printed product inspection instruction to the inspection device 108.
A delivery unit 318 issues a delivery instruction for printed matter to the delivery apparatus 109.

<Overall flow from ordering to delivery>
FIG. 4A shows the overall flow from ordering to delivery.
The orderer accesses the order receiving server 104 from the ordering terminal 102, specifies a desired product from among the printed products displayed on the ordering terminal 102 in response to a response from the order receiving server 104, and places an order with the printing company ( Step S101).
The order receiving server 104 receives an order from the orderer (step S102).
The worker of the printing company uses the information processing apparatus 105 to create a plan for manufacturing a product corresponding to the order (step S103).
A worker of the printing company creates a print job using, for example, the information processing apparatus 105 according to the created plan, and transmits the print job to the printing apparatus 106. The printing apparatus 106 prints print data associated with the received print job (step S104).
The worker of the printing company creates a processing job using, for example, the information processing device 105 according to the created plan, and transmits the processing job to the processing device 107. The processing device 107 processes the printed material according to the received processing job (step S105).
The worker of the printing company inspects the printed matter processed using the inspection device 108 (step S106).
The worker of the printing company requests the delivery company using the delivery device 109 and delivers the inspected printed matter to the orderer (step S107).

<Processing flow in information processing apparatus>
FIG. 4B shows a flow of processing executed by the information processing apparatus 105. Although the execution subject is described as each functional module in FIG. 3, it is the CPU 201 from the viewpoint of hardware. FIG. 4B corresponds to details of processing executed by the information processing apparatus 105 in S103 of FIG. 4A, for example.
In step S201, the creation unit 306 creates a production plan. The production plan includes, for example, information about processes until production, resources used by each process, a period of each process, and the like, and is created as a planned process table as shown in FIG. 5B (f), for example.
In step S202, the selection unit 307 selects a planned process (continuous planned process) to be continued. Details of step S202 will be described later with reference to FIG.
In step S203, the recreating unit 308 recreates the plan based on the continuous planning process. Details of step S203 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B.

<Example of planned process>
FIG. 4C shows an example of the planned process created by the creation unit 306 using a Gantt chart. In FIG.4 (c), a horizontal axis represents a time axis and represents the future, so that it goes to the right. The vertical axis represents the type of resource, and the horizontal arrangement of each resource is called a lane. In this example, two lanes of a printing apparatus and a processing apparatus are illustrated. FIG. 4C graphically shows an example of a planned process for explanation, but the planned process handled by the information processing apparatus 105 is, for example, information that associates a process with a resource to be used and a required period for each process. Can show. However, in order to present the planned process to the worker, the information can be graphically displayed or printed as a chart as shown in FIG. Reference numerals 401 to 406 each represent a planned process. Further, the processing step 401 and the printing step 402, the processing step 403 and the printing step 404, and the processing step 405 and the printing step 406 are planning steps associated with the order items A1, A2, and A3, respectively. Further, the processing steps 401, 403, and 405 are steps that require a worker. The process that requires an operator is, for example, a bookbinding process that uses a bookbinding apparatus such as a saddle stitch bookbinding machine or a saddle stitch bookbinding machine. In the bookbinding process, the worker needs to put the printed material into the bookbinding apparatus, which is a kind of the processing apparatus 107, so that the worker is necessary. In addition, the processing process includes a cutting process using a cutting apparatus such as a one-side cutting machine or a three-way cutting machine as the processing apparatus 107, for example. In the cutting process, it is necessary for the worker to set the printed material in the cutting apparatus, press the cutting execution button, and move the cut printed material to the outside of the apparatus. Other examples include inspection and delivery processes involving workers. Although these processes do not process the product, they are classified here as processing processes because they require the intervention of workers.

  On the other hand, a process that does not require a worker means that a manufacturing apparatus is connected to a control server (not shown) via a network, and a manufacturing action is started by an instruction from the control server even if the worker is not near the manufacturing apparatus. This refers to the process of using such manufacturing equipment. For example, there is a printing process that uses a digital printing device connected to a print server (not shown). In addition, there is a processing step in which the printing apparatus and the saddle stitch bookbinding machine are connected in-line, and the printed matter discharged from the printing apparatus is input to the saddle stitch bookbinding machine without an operator's hand. When processing after printing is performed using an inline processing apparatus (also referred to as an inline post-processing apparatus or inline finisher) connected inline in this way, the printing process and the processing process are performed in a series of processes. Become. Although this embodiment can be applied to a printing process and a machining process using an inline processing apparatus, in this embodiment, a so-called near-line processing apparatus that requires intervention by an operator is required instead of an inline processing apparatus. Process scheduling will be described for the processing steps used. The near-line processing apparatus is a processing apparatus that can receive a print job from, for example, the information processing apparatus 105 while a printed material is carried by an operator.

  Printing processes 402, 404, and 406 are printing processes using a printing apparatus. When a process is allocated to a resource in order item units in the forward method, first, the printing process 402 is allocated to the printing apparatus, and then the processing process 401 is allocated to the processing apparatus. Since the processing process can be executed only after the printing process is completed, the start time of the processing process 401 is after the end time of the printing process 402. Such a restriction on the context between processes is called a preceding restriction.

  Next, the printing process 404 is allocated to the printing apparatus, and the processing process 403 is allocated to the processing apparatus after the printing process 404. Similarly, a printing process 406 and a processing process 405 are assigned. At this time, paying attention to the lane of the processing apparatus 107, there is a space between the end time of the processing step 401 and the start time of the processing step 403, and the end time of the processing step 403 and the start time of the processing step 405. If the work is performed according to the plan, the worker in the machining process will wait for a next printed matter after a little work, and after waiting for the next printed matter, the work will be repeated after a while. In such a plan, the idle time is intermittent, so that work efficiency is poor even if the worker performs other work during the idle time. By eliminating the intermittent idle time and making it continuous, the worker can perform other work during the continuous idle time. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a production plan with high work efficiency for workers is created by re-creating the plan so that the discontinuous planning process is continued in S203 of FIG. 4B.

<Example of data handled by this planning system>
Prior to the description of each processing unit, an example of data handled by the present planning system will be described with reference to (h) of FIG. 5A to (h) of FIG. 5A. In the following description, FIG. 5 is described without distinguishing between FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B.
In FIG. 5A, reference numeral 501 denotes a product table. One row of the table is called a record. In the product table 501, one record corresponds to a product, and the field includes a product ID, a product name, a manufacturing process ID, and a price. The product ID is an ID for identifying each product. The product name is the name of the product. The manufacturing process ID is an ID for identifying a manufacturing process for manufacturing the product. The price is the price of the product. The product ID is included in the order information, for example, and the product ID can be specified from the order information.

  In FIG. 5B, reference numeral 502 denotes a manufacturing process table. One record corresponds to the manufacturing process, and the field includes a manufacturing process ID, a manufacturing process name, and a process ID. The manufacturing process ID is an ID for identifying each manufacturing process. The manufacturing process name is the name of the manufacturing process. The process ID is a process ID of a process that is the final process of the manufacturing process.

  In FIG. 5C, reference numeral 503 denotes a process table. One record corresponds to a process, and the field includes a process ID, process name, resource ID, previous process ID, unit work time, and manned. The process ID is an ID for identifying each process. The process name is the name of the process. The resource ID is a resource ID that identifies a resource used in the process. The previous process ID is a process ID representing a process before the process. For a process without a previous process, the previous process ID is blank. Thereby, a necessary process can be traced from the final process. The unit work time is a work time required when one work is performed in the process, and the unit is, for example, second. Manned is a flag that indicates whether or not the process requires a worker, where 1 is necessary and 0 is unnecessary.

  In FIG. 5D, reference numeral 504 denotes a resource table. One record corresponds to a resource, and a field includes a resource ID and a resource name. The resource ID is an ID for identifying each resource. The resource name is the name of the resource. The resource is, for example, a hardware or software resource necessary for performing a processing step, such as the printing device 106 or the processing device 107. The resource managed here is, for example, a resource that is exclusively used by one job, and a resource that can be used simultaneously by a plurality of jobs or a resource that can be used substantially simultaneously may not be a management target.

  In FIG. 5E, 505 is an order table. One record corresponds to one order, and the field includes an order item ID, a product ID, an order quantity, a production deadline, a priority, and the number of pages. The order item ID is an ID for identifying each order item. The product ID is a product ID of a product ordered by the order item. The order quantity is the quantity of the ordered product. The production deadline is a deadline for completing the production of the ordered product. The priority is a priority for manufacturing a product. For example, the priority is set in a range of 1 to 100, with 100 being a high priority and 1 being a low priority. The number of pages is the number of pages constituting the product.

  In FIG. 5F, reference numeral 506 denotes a planned process table. One record indicates a scheduled process. The field includes a planned process ID, an order ID, a process ID, a start time, and an end time. The planned process ID is an ID for identifying each planned process. The order ID is an order ID of an order associated with the planned process. The process ID is a process ID of a process associated with the planned process. The start time is the time when the work of the process associated with the planned process is started. The end time is the time at which the work of the process associated with the planned process ends.

  In FIG.5 (g), 507 is a continuous plan process table. One record indicates a scheduled process to be continued. The field includes a continuous planned process ID, a planned process ID, and a previous planned process ID. The continuous planning process ID is an ID for identifying each continuous planning process. The planned process ID is a planned process ID of a planned process belonging to the continuous planned process. The previous planned process ID is the planned process ID of the previous planned process on the time axis of the planned process of the planned process ID (tracing back the time axis). A process scheduled to be executed continuously is called a continuous planning process. It is also possible to schedule three or more processes to be executed continuously by a chain of continuous planning processes.

  In FIG. 5H, reference numeral 508 denotes a planned process table after re-creation in which the continuous planned process 507 is reflected in the planned process table 506. Since each field is the same as the planned process table 506, description thereof is omitted.

  Of the above-described tables, the product table 501, the manufacturing process table 502, the process table 503, and the resource table 504 are created in advance by an operator and held in the manufacturing information holding unit 309. The order table 505 is held by the order information holding unit 303 according to the order received by the order receiving unit 302 of the order receiving server 104. Each record of the order table 505 is generated from the contents of the order received by the order receiving unit 302. The planned process table 506 is created by the creating unit 306 in S201 of FIG. 4B, for example, and held in the plan holding unit 311. The continuous plan table 507 is created in S202 of FIG. 4B, for example, and held in the continuous plan holding unit 313. The planned process table 508 is created by the re-creation unit 308 in S203 of FIG. 4B, for example, and held in the plan holding unit 311. The planned process table 506 may be replaced by the re-created planned process table 508, or the re-created planned process table 508 may be additionally held. In the latter case, for example, it is desirable that each table is provided with a revision so that it can be distinguished. The planned process tables 506 and 508 are not only stored as information, but also may be visualized and displayed on the display 204 or printed by the printing apparatus 106 (or other image forming apparatus). Good. For visualization, for example, the table as it is may be in a format as shown in FIG. 5H or a Gantt chart as shown in FIG.

<Generation of planned process table>
Here, the production process in step S201 in FIG. 4B, for example, the process of creating the planned process table 506 will be briefly described. In step S201, for each product (or order or manufacturing process), a production plan is created by arranging steps from upstream to downstream. In this case, the restriction is that resources that cannot be shared are exclusively used in one process. For example, a plan process table 506 as shown in FIG. 5B (f) is created. In S201, the product ID is referred to for each order, the manufacturing process ID associated with the product ID is searched from the manufacturing process table 502, and the final process ID of the manufacturing process associated with the manufacturing process ID is determined. Then, the order ID and the process ID are registered in the planned process table 506 in association with the newly assigned planned process ID. Thereafter, the previous process of the process ID registered with reference to the process table 503 is specified, and the process is also registered in the planned process table 506 in the above-described procedure. This is repeated until the previous process becomes blank. In this way, all the processes according to the order are specified and registered in the planned process table 506 stored in the plan holding unit 311 in the order of execution (or in reverse order).

  Thereafter, referring to the production deadline of the order in the order table 505, the start time and end time of the process for completing the process related to the order are determined before the production deadline. For example, among the processes to be scheduled, pay attention to the head process of one manufacturing process (or order) and identify the process that uses the same resource registered in the planned process table 506 and has the latest end time. To do. The end time is set as the start time of the process of interest. A time after a certain time from the end time may be set as the start time. Using the start time as a reference, the end time is determined by adding the processing time required for completion of the process. The processing time can be obtained, for example, by multiplying the unit work time in the process table 503 by the number of units. The unit work time may be, for example, the required time per page for printing, the required time per copy for saddle stitching, or the required time per cutting for three-way cutting. The other steps are similarly determined in advance. Thus, if the start time and end time are determined for one process, they are written in the corresponding columns of the planned process table. The time is similarly determined for the subsequent steps. However, in subsequent processing steps, the start time is determined based on the end time of the step of outputting the product to be processed. After the schedule is determined up to the last process as described above, the end time of the final process may be before the order production deadline. The production deadline can be determined based on, for example, a delivery date.

  If the end time of the final process is later than the production deadline of the order, it is determined whether each process of the order scheduled to be executed immediately before can be shifted later. For example, if the time obtained by adding the time required for all processes of the newly added order to the end time of the last process immediately before that is before the production deadline, the order can be shifted later. Therefore, the order of these orders is changed and rescheduled. In this way, the planned process table 506 is generated. If it is not possible to meet the production deadline, the administrator or the like will be informed. Of course, the above is merely an example of the planned process table, and the generation method is not limited to this. For example, one manufacturing process may be sequentially scheduled from the end time of the last process to the previous process. The planned process table 506 before rescheduling is created by the procedure illustrated here.

<Processing Flow in Selection Unit 307>
Next, the flow of processing in the selection unit 307 will be described with reference to FIG. 6A in step S202 in FIG. This step is a process of extracting a process that is more efficient as a continuous planning process by performing a continuous process from the planned process table 506 created in S201 and stored in the plan holding unit 311.

In step S <b> 301, the selection unit 307 acquires the planned process table 506 from the plan holding unit 311.
In step S302, the selection unit 307 extracts a planned process for a manned process. The manned process is a process that is truly set with reference to the manned flag corresponding to the process ID. A list of the extracted planned processes is set as list1. A specific extraction method will be described later with reference to FIG. There may be a plurality of list1s generated. In that case, identification information may be added separately to enable identification. In the list 1, an ID of a planned process that is a manned process and a resource ID used in the process are stored in association with each other.
In step S303, the selection unit 307 performs processing for all the list 1s to be processed. The steps between S303 and S312 are executed with respect to one list 1 while paying attention to one list 1. Then, when the processing is completed for one target list 1, attention is paid to another unprocessed list 1 and the processing is executed in the same manner. This is repeated until the processing for all list1 is completed.

In step S304, the selection unit 307 sorts the list of interest 1 in descending order by the start time. The sorted list of interest 1 is defined as list2. Note that the descending order of time is the order from the newest to the oldest.
In step S <b> 305, the selection unit 307 performs processing in order from the top of list <b> 2 (that is, in descending order) for all planned processes of list <b> 2. Steps between steps S305 and S311 are executed for the target planned process, paying attention to one planned process in list2. Then, when the process is completed for one target planned process, the next planned process is focused in descending order, and the process is executed in the same manner. This is repeated until the processing for all the planning steps in list2 is completed.
In step S <b> 306, the selection unit 307 acquires the focused plan process of list <b> 2. Let the acquired planned plan process be A1.
In step S307, the selection unit 307 acquires a planned process that uses the same resource as the process A1 under the target planned process A1. Let the acquired planned process be A2. The planning process A2 is a manned process that uses the same resource and is performed immediately before the target planning process A1.

In step S308, the selection unit 307 determines whether or not the idle time between the leading preceding processes associated with the process A1 and the process A2 is equal to or less than a predetermined time. Linking here is, for example, a series of planning steps having a common order ID. Among the first planned processes, the time from the end time of the earlier planned process to the start time of the later planned process is the idle time. If they overlap, the free time is zero. That is, in S308, when the first process is executed after a vacant time equal to or longer than a predetermined time, a determination is made so as not to forcibly continue even a manned process. This is for example to prevent a significant delay in completion time.
Step S308 will be described below with reference to the example of FIGS. 5A and 5B. For example, in the planned process table 506, the process scheduled to be executed last is the planned process A007. This is a manned process and is the top record in list2. Referring to the process table 503, it is understood that the planned process A007 is the process O001 and the resource R006 is used. Therefore, the planning process using the resource R006 scheduled before that is the planning process A004. All of these planned processes are the process O001, and referring to the process table 503, it can be seen that the previous process is the process O002, the previous process is the process O003, and the process O003 is the first process. The order ID of the planned process A007 is the order OI003, and the order ID of the planned process A004 is the order OI002. Therefore, the leading preceding processes associated with the planned processes A007 and A004 are A009 and A006, respectively. Referring to each start time and end time, the planned process A006 ends at 10:06:40, and the planned process A009 starts at the same time. Therefore, the free time determined in step S308 is zero.
As a result of such determination, if the free time is equal to or shorter than the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S309, and if longer than the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S311.

In step S309, the selection unit 307 determines whether the continuous time is equal to or shorter than a predetermined time when the process A1 and the process A2 are continued. As a result of the determination, if the time is equal to or shorter than the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S310. If the time is longer than the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S311. Specifically, the work times of the continuous planned process including the process A1 are summed from the continuous planned processes registered in the continuous planned process table 507, and the total value and the work time of the process A2 are summed. When the process A1 is not registered in the continuous planning process table, the total work time of the process A1 and the process A2 may be used. Then, it is determined whether the total value is equal to or less than a predetermined time, and the process branches as described above. Note that the predetermined time is set in advance. Step S309 is a step provided so as not to occupy one resource for a predetermined time or more.
In step S <b> 310, the selection unit 307 adds A <b> 1 and A <b> 2 to the continuous planning process table 507. Specifically, a new record is added to the continuous planned process table 507, and the planned process ID of A1 is registered in the planned process ID field of the record, and the planned process ID of A2 is registered in the previous planned process ID field.
In step S311, the selection unit 307 proceeds to step S312 if processing has been completed for all planned processes of list2, and returns to step S305 if not completed.
In step S312, the selection unit 307 ends the processing in the selection unit 307 if the processing has been completed for all the lists 1, and returns to step S303 if not.

<Processing flow for extracting planned processes for manned processes>
With reference to FIG. 6B, the flow of the process (S302) of extracting the planned process of the manned process in the selection unit 307 will be described.
In step S321, the selection unit 307 generates a hash table list1 having the resource ID as a key and the planned process ID as a value.
In step S322, the selection unit 307 performs processing for all planned processes in the planned process table 506. Steps between steps S322 and S328 are repeatedly executed while paying attention to each record of the planned process table 506.
In step S323, the selection unit 307 acquires the planned process A1 focused from the planned process table 506.
In step S324, the selection unit 307 acquires a record of the process O1 associated with the process ID of A1 from the process table 503. This is called a process of interest.
In step S325, the selection unit 307 refers to the manned field of the process of interest O1 and determines whether or not the value is 1. If the value is 1, the process proceeds to step S326. If the value is 0, the process proceeds to step S328.
In step S326, the selection unit 307 acquires R1 that is the resource ID of the process of interest O1 from the process table 503.
In step S327, the selection unit 307 adds to the list1 a record that is a planned process ID having a key R1 and a value A1.
In step S328, the selection unit 307 proceeds to step S303 if processing has been completed for all the planned processes, and returns to step S322 by paying attention to the next planned process record if not completed.
In this embodiment, the resource ID is used as a key, but the resource ID may not be used as a key if only specific resources are to be continued.
In addition, for example, when it is desired to preferentially manufacture a product with a high order priority, the order priority may be set as a key.
Furthermore, the requirements that should be considered by the manufacturing site may be set as a key.
By the above procedure, list1 which is a table in which the resource ID and the planned process ID are associated with each other for the manned process among the planned processes registered in the planned process table 506 is created.

<Flow of processing in re-creation unit 308>
The flow of processing (S203 in FIG. 4B) in the re-creation unit 308 will be described using FIG. 7A (a). In the following description, FIG. 7A is not distinguished from FIG.
In step S <b> 401, the recreating unit 308 acquires the continuous plan process table 507 from the continuous plan holding unit 313.
In step S <b> 402, the re-creation unit 308 performs processing for all continuous planned processes in the acquired continuous planned process table 507. The steps between S402 and S406 are executed with respect to the record of interest, focusing on one record of the continuous planning process table 507. Then, when the process is completed for one record of interest, the process is executed in the same manner, focusing on other unprocessed records. This is repeated until the processing for all the records in the continuous planning process table 507 is completed.

In step S <b> 403, the re-creation unit 308 acquires a planned process record associated with the planned process ID of the record of interest from the planned process table 506. Let the acquired planned process be B1.
In step S404, the re-creation unit 308 identifies the planned process (B2) associated with the previous planned process ID of the record of interest in the planned process table 506, and the end time of the planned process B2 is the same as the start time of the planned process B1. Set to time. The setting may be, for example, rewriting the end time of the corresponding planned process B2.
In step S405, the re-creation unit 308 sets a time obtained by subtracting the work time of the planned process B2 from the start time of the planned process B1 as the start time of the planned process B2. Thereby, in the continuous planning process table 507, the planning process B2 that is the planning process before the planning process B1 is scheduled to be performed without a time interval immediately before the planning process B1. Through steps S403 to S405, the planning steps are allocated with time overlap between resources.
In step S406, the re-creating unit 308 proceeds to step S407 when the process has been completed for all the continuous planning steps. If not completed, pay attention to the next record and return to step S402.

In step S <b> 407, the re-creation unit 308 acquires the order table from the order information holding unit 303.
In step S408, the re-creation unit 308 performs processing for all order items. Step S409 between 408 and S410 focuses on one record in the order table 505 and is executed for the record of interest. Then, when the process is completed for one record of interest, the process is executed in the same manner, focusing on other unprocessed records. This is repeated until the processing for all the records in the order table 505 is completed.
In step S409, the re-creation unit 308 moves the planning process backward for each resource so as to keep the preceding constraint. Specifically, the start time of the subsequent process is updated so that the start time of the subsequent process for processing the product of the previous process is after the end time of the previous process. A detailed description of this step will be described later with reference to FIGS. 7B to 7D.
In step S410, the re-creation unit 308 determines whether processing has been completed for all order items. If completed, the process proceeds to step S411. If not completed, the process returns to step S408.

In step S411, the re-creation unit 308 performs processing for all planned processes. Step S412 between steps S411 and S413 focuses on one record in the planned process table 506 and is executed for the record of interest. Then, when the process is completed for one record of interest, the process is executed in the same manner, focusing on other unprocessed records. This is repeated until the processing for all the records in the planned process table 506 is completed.
In step S412, if the order of the original planned process for each resource is not maintained, the re-creation unit 308 moves the subsequent planned process backward. Specifically, for all the planned processes in the planned process table 506, the planned processes are extracted in the order of the start time for each resource, and it is determined whether the order is also established in the re-created (updated) planned process table. In addition, it is also determined whether the start time of the subsequent planned process for each resource is later than the end time of the previous planned process. If the order of planned processes for each resource is not maintained, or if it is determined that the start time of the subsequent planned process is later than the end time of the previous planned process, the original planned process order is maintained. As described above, the start time of the subsequent planned process is updated so that the planned processes using one resource do not overlap in time. If the start time is updated, the end time is also updated.
In step S413, the re-creation unit 308 terminates the process in the re-creation unit 308 if the processing has been completed for all the planned processes, and if not, the re-creation unit 308 focuses on the next record and proceeds to step S414. Return.
Through the above procedure, the process of using one resource is rescheduled to be performed continuously. This rescheduling also maintains the order processing order without breaking the preceding constraints.

<Processing Flow in Step S409>
The flow of processing in step S409 will be described using FIGS. 7B to 7D.
In step S421, the re-creation unit 308 extracts all processes associated with the manufacturing process. Details of this step will be described later with reference to FIG.
In step S422, the re-creation unit 308 determines a preceding constraint and moves the planning process backward. Details of this step will be described later with reference to FIG.

<Processing Flow in Step S421>
The process flow in step S421 will be described with reference to FIG.
In step S431, the re-creation unit 308 acquires the order item from the order table 505. Let the acquired order item be OI1.
In step S432, the re-creation unit 308 searches the product table 501 and acquires the product associated with the order item OI1 by the product ID from the product table 501. Let the acquired product be S1.
In step S433, the re-creation unit 308 generates a stack St for storing the steps included in the manufacturing process.
In step S434, the re-creation unit 308 searches the manufacturing process table 502, and acquires from the manufacturing process table 502 the process ID associated with the product S1 by the manufacturing process ID. The acquired process ID is O1. Step O1 is a final step in the manufacturing process associated with the product S1.
In step S435, the re-creation unit 308 temporarily holds the process ID of the process O1 as the previous process ID focused.

In step S436, the re-creation unit 308 repeats the steps between steps S436 and S440 for the focused previous process ID. These steps are executed for the record having the focused previous process ID as the process ID of the process table 503. When the process for the focused previous process ID is completed, the process is executed in the same manner while paying attention to a further previous process ID for the previous process ID.
In step S437, the re-creation unit 308 obtains a record having the focused previous process ID as the process ID from the process table 503. Let the acquired process record be O2.
In step S438, the recreating unit 308 registers the record of the process O2 in St. St is a stack, and the registered process records are stacked in the order of registration.
In step S439, the re-creation unit 308 determines whether the previous process ID of the process O2 is empty. If it is empty, the process O2 at that time is the earliest process, so the process of step S421 is terminated. If it is not empty, the process returns to S436 via step S440.
In step S440, the re-creation unit 308 returns to step S436 as the previous process in which the previous process ID of the process O2 is focused next. If the process has been completed for all the steps, the process of step S421 ends. However, normally, it is determined YES in S439, and the process of step S421 is ended.
With the above procedure, records of a series of steps included in the manufacturing process related to the order of interest can be registered in the stack St in order from the back.

<Processing flow in step S422>
The process flow in step S422 will be described with reference to FIG.
In step S451, the re-creation unit 308 duplicates the contents of the planned process table 506. The copied planned process table is defined as OT.
In step S452, the recreating unit 308 performs processing for all the steps of St. That is, the steps between steps S452 and S470 are executed for all the records while sequentially paying attention to each process record in St associated with the order of interest.
In step S453, the recreating unit 308 determines whether there are two or more processes in St. If there are two or more, the process proceeds to step S454, and if it is less than two, the process of step S422 ends.
In step S454, the recreating unit 308 takes out the process from St. Let the taken-out process be process O3. St is a stack of processes, and is extracted from the top record. The top record of the stack St is a record of a process that is executed earliest among the processes included in the stack St among a series of processes constituting the manufacturing process.
In step S455, the recreating unit 308 acquires the end time of the process O3. Let the acquired end time be T1E. Note that since the record stored in the stack St is a record of the process table 503 in this example, the start time and the end time are not included. Therefore, a planned process having an order ID related to St and a process ID of the process O3 may be searched from the planned process table, and the start time and end time of the corresponding planned process may be referred to. The same applies to other processes. If the planned process record is stored in the stack, the start time and end time can be referred to from the record taken out from the stack.
In step S456, the re-creation unit 308 takes out the process from St. Let the taken-out process be process O4. However, unlike step S454, only the top record loaded in the current stack St is referred to as step O4, and the contents of the stack need not be changed.
In step S457, the recreating unit 308 acquires the start time of the process O4. Let the acquired start time be T2S.
In step S458, the re-creation unit 308 determines whether T1E is later than T2S. If the time is late, the process proceeds to step S459; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S470.
In step S459, the recreating unit 308 sets the value of T1E-T2S (the difference time between T1E and T2S) as Tdiff.
In step S460, the recreating unit 308 acquires the resource ID of the process O4 from the process table. Let the acquired resource ID be R1.

In step S461, the re-creation unit 308 performs processing for all planned processes. That is, the steps between steps S461 and S469 are executed while paying attention to each record in the planned process table.
In step S462, the re-creation unit 308 acquires the resource ID (R5) of the process (O5) associated with the planned process from the process table 503.
In step S463, the recreation unit 308 determines whether the resources R5 and R1 are the same. If they are the same, the process proceeds to step S464, and if they are different, the process proceeds to step S469. That is, a process using the same resource as the resource R1 of the process O4 is searched from the copied planned process table.
When the resources R1 and R5 of the process O4 match, in step S464, the re-creation unit 308 acquires the end time of the process O4 from the copied planned process table OT. Let the acquired end time be T4E.
In step S465, the recreating unit 308 acquires the start time of the process O5 from the duplicated planned process table OT. Let the acquired start time be T5S. Here, the process O5 is a process corresponding to the planning process focused on in step S461.
In step S466, the re-creation unit 308 determines whether the end time T4E of the process O4 is earlier, the same time, or later than the start time T5S of the process O5. If it is early or the same time, the process proceeds to step S467, and if it is late, the process proceeds to step S469.
In step S467, the recreating unit 308 adds Tdiff to the start time of the process O5 in the planned process table OT.
In step S468, the recreating unit 308 adds Tdiff to the end time of the process O5 in the planned process table OT.
In step S469, the re-creation unit 308 determines whether the processing has been completed for all the planned processes. If completed, the process proceeds to step S470, and if not completed, the process returns to step S461 while paying attention to the next planned process.
In step S470, the re-creation unit 308 determines whether the processing has been completed for all the steps of St. If it has been completed, the process of step S422 is terminated. If it has not been completed, the process returns to step S452.
Note that Tdiff may be added to the start time and end time of the process O4 in the planned process table OT immediately after S469 and before the branch from S458 flows. In this way, not only the subsequent process sharing the resource with the process O4 but also the process O4 can be subjected to the preceding constraint.

<Transition of planned process by processing of re-creation unit 308>
The transition of the planned process by the process of the re-creation unit 308 will be described with reference to the Gantt charts of FIGS.
The reading of the Gantt chart has already been described with reference to FIG.
However, the types of resources are different from those shown in FIG. 4C, and represent a printing apparatus, a saddle stitch binding machine, and a three-way cutting machine in order from the top.
The symbol in the rectangle represents the planned process ID. In FIG. 8A to FIG. 8F, the planned processes having the same planned process ID represent the same planned process.

FIG. 8A is a Gantt chart showing the planned process created by the creation unit 306 under the conditions shown in the tables of FIGS. 5A to 5E.
Reference numerals 601 to 603 are order items OI001, 604 to 606 are order items OI002, and 607 to 609 are planning steps for manufacturing the order item OI003.

FIG. 8B shows a state in which the continuous planning process C001 is processed from step S403 to step S405, and the planning process A005 is moved immediately before the planning process A008.
FIG. 8C shows a state in which the continuous planning process C002 is processed from step S403 to step S405, and the planning process A002 is moved immediately before the planning process A005.
FIG. 8D shows a state in which the continuous planning process C003 is processed from step S403 to step S405, and the planning process A004 is moved immediately before the planning process A007.
FIG. 8E shows a state in which the continuous planning process C004 is processed from step S403 to step S405, and the planning process A001 is moved immediately before the planning process A004.
FIG. 8F shows a state in which the planned processes A001, A004, and A007 are moved to the planned process A002 and later so as to observe the preceding restrictions of the processes from step S408 to step S410.

  In this example, a case is considered in which the planning process A010 using the saddle stitch bookbinding machine is allocated immediately after the planning process A007 using the three-way cutting machine in the planning process created by the creation unit 306, although it does not exist. That is, in the planning process A010, the machining process is performed on the output product of the planning process A007. In this case, the end time of A007 may be set to a time later than the start time of A010 by the process of step S409. In that case, since two planning processes are allocated to one resource, for example, printed matter, it is not possible to work. Therefore, the overlap of the planned process is prevented by step S412 so that the work cannot be performed as such. In the above example, for example, the start time of the planning process A010 is shifted to the same time as or after the end time of the planning process A007. By doing so, resources are occupied by each process, and the output product of the planned process A007 can be processed in the planned process A010.

<Use of planned process table>
The planned process table, that is, the schedule created by the above-described procedure is visualized and output as it is, for example, in the form of a Gantt chart or the like. For example, the schedule is printed by an image forming apparatus, displayed on a display, or transmitted to a portable terminal or the like for use by an operator. Further, for example, based on the planned process table, a print job executed by the printing device 106 and a processing job executed by the various processing devices 107 are generated by the information processing device 105 and distributed to each device. In that case, a process executed by the printing apparatus 106 and the processing apparatus 107 may generate one job corresponding to each process. For example, in the case of a printing process, a print job is generated by referring to an order table such as the number of print data according to the schedule of the printing process, and transmitted to the printing apparatus 106. The printing apparatus 106 starts executing the print job as it is input, and discharges the printed matter. Similarly, for the machining process, a schedule is referred to, and a machining job is generated by referring to the number of copies in the order table. Then, the processing job is transmitted to the corresponding processing device. The transmitted processing job is executed in the following procedure, for example. The worker refers to the planned process table related to the processing job, carries and sets the printed material (sheet bundle, etc.) to be processed to the processing device 107 that executes the next processing job, and processes the instruction to start the processing job. To device 107. In response to the instruction, the processing apparatus 107 executes the processing job instructed to start. This may be performed for each processing job. As a result, processing according to the job is performed.

  In this example, the machining process is performed by a near-line machining apparatus. In addition, it can also be performed with an off-line processing apparatus. In this case, the processing job is input through, for example, a storage medium, or is indicated by information printed on paper or the like instead of electronic data. In the latter case, the worker sets the machining device according to the machining job and executes the machining job.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, rescheduling is performed so that, among scheduled processes, a process that is performed more efficiently, for example, a process that requires work by an operator is performed continuously. Can do. Also by this rescheduling, the preceding constraints between the processes are observed, and the processes are executed in the order they should be.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, an example of an allocation method that allows overlapping work times between resources when discontinuous planned processes are continued has been shown. This is an effective allocation method in a manufacturing site where workers are assigned for each resource and work can be performed in parallel. However, it is difficult to work in parallel at a manufacturing site where each worker manufactures products sequentially from the upstream process.

  In view of this, the second embodiment shows an example of an allocation method that does not allow duplicate work times between resources when discontinuous planned processes are continued. The difference from the first embodiment is the processing in the re-creation unit. The re-creation unit in the second embodiment will be described below as a re-creation unit 701 (not shown). The position of the re-creation unit 701 in the information processing apparatus 105 is the same as that of the re-creation unit 308.

<Flow of processing in re-creation unit 701>
The flow of processing in the re-creation unit 701 will be described using FIG. 9A. The same processing steps as those of the re-creation unit 308 of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG.
In step S <b> 501, the re-creation unit 701 performs processing for all continuous planned processes in the acquired continuous planned process table 507. That is, S502 between steps S501 and S503 is repeatedly executed while paying attention to the sequential planning process.
In step S502, the re-creation unit 701 extracts planned processes at both ends of a group of continuous planned processes. Both ends may be the beginning and end of a series of planned processes. The beginning is also called the left end and the end is also called the right end. A series of planned processes can be tracked by the previous planned process ID of each record in the continuous planned process table 507, and the end is the end. For example, in the continuous planned process table 507 in FIG. 5B (g), the planned processes A008, A005, and A002 registered in C001 and C002 can be traced by the previous planned process ID, and form one unit. Since the processing order is A002, A005, and A008, the left end can be A002 and the right end can be A008.
In step S503, the recreating unit 701 proceeds to step S504 if the processing has been completed for all the continuous planning steps, and returns to step S501 if it has not been completed.
In step S504, the re-creation unit 701 performs processing for all the continuous planning process groups. In other words, the steps between steps S504 and S507 are repeatedly executed while paying attention to the group of continuous planning processes.
In step S505, the re-creation unit 701 sets the start time of the planned process at the left end of the group as the end time at the right end of the previous process in the manufacturing process.
In step S506, the re-creation unit 701 moves the start times of all the planned processes included in the batch in accordance with the start times of the planned processes at the left end of the moved batch. For example, if there is a vacant time between the planned processes included in a group, the vacant time is reduced and the end time of one planned process is set to the next plan while maintaining the order of the planned processes in the group. Set to the start time of the process. If S402 to S406 in FIG. 7A (a) are executed immediately after S401, the idle time is reduced, so that only the movement of the start time of the planned process at the left end of the group is included in the group. What is necessary is just to move the start time of all the planning processes.
In step S507, the recreating unit 701 proceeds to step S407 if the processing has been completed for all the groups of continuous plans, and returns to step S504 paying attention to the next group if not completed.

  Thereafter, similarly to FIG. 7A (a), the processing after S407 is executed to adjust the processing order of the planned steps according to the preceding constraints.

<Transition of planned process by processing of re-creation unit 701>
The transition of the planned process by the process of the re-creation unit 701 will be described using the Gantt chart of FIGS. 9B (a) to 9 (e). Since the conditions of the various tables when creating the plan are the same as those in FIG.
FIG. 9B (a) is a Gantt chart showing the planned steps created by the creation unit under the conditions shown in the tables of FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (e).
FIG. 9B (b) shows a state in which the batch including the continuous planning processes C001 and C002 is processed in step S505, and the start time of the planning process A002 is set to the end time of A009. At this time, since the planned process A008 is still scheduled at the same time as the planned process A002, it overlaps with A002.
FIG. 9B (c) shows a state in which a group including continuous planning processes C001 and C002 is processed in step S506, and the planning process A005 is moved immediately after the planning process A002, and the planning process A008 is moved immediately after A005.
FIG. 9B (d) shows a state in which the batch including the continuous planning processes C003 and C004 is processed in step S505, and the start time of the planning process A001 is set to the end time of A008.
FIG. 9B (e) shows a state in which a group including continuous planning processes C003 and C004 is processed in step S506, and the planning process A004 is moved immediately after the planning process A001, and the planning process A007 is moved immediately after A004.

  In S <b> 506, the start time of the planning process is moved so as to reduce the free time. Thus, the idle time may be omitted, or the start time of the planning process may be moved so that the idle time is equal to or less than a predetermined time. In short, it is only necessary for the worker to be scheduled within a continuously processable range.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when discontinuous planned processes are continued, it is possible to schedule processes so as not to allow overlapping of work times between resources. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently schedule processes even in a manufacturing site where workers manufacture products in order from the upstream process.

[Third embodiment]
In the first embodiment, a plan creation method allowing time overlap between resources is shown, and in the second embodiment, a plan creation method not allowing time overlap between resources is shown.
At the manufacturing site, if a plan creation method can be selected from among the three methods in which the plan creation method in which the planning process is not continued is added to the two types of plan creation methods, it is possible to flexibly cope with various order situations. Therefore, in the third embodiment, an example is shown in which a plan is created by causing a worker to specify these plan creation methods. Note that the plan creation method that does not allow the planned processes to continue is, for example, a method of using the planned process before rescheduling as it is, such as the planned process 506 in FIG. 5B.

In the third embodiment, a mode input unit 711 is provided in addition to the configuration of the information processing apparatus 105, and a mode can be selected. Also, the re-creation unit 308 is a re-creation unit 802 (not shown) because the contents of the process change. A processing flow in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10A shows a procedure executed by the information processing apparatus 105 in place of FIG. 4B in S103 of FIG. 4A.
In step S <b> 601, the mode input unit 711 acquires from the buffer memory 314 a mode related to how the planned processes are continued. Specifically, a UI (process continuation setting screen or simply setting screen) relating to how to continue the planned process as shown in FIG. 10B is displayed, and setting input (setting mode) from the worker is accepted. . Details of FIG. 10B will be described later. In step S602, the re-creation unit 701 distributes processing according to the input mode value. If the mode value is 1, the process proceeds to step S603, and if it is 2, the process proceeds to step S604. If the mode value is 3, the processing in this embodiment is terminated.
When the mode value is 1, in step S603, the recreation unit 802 executes processing in the recreation unit 203 of the first embodiment. That is, S202 and S203 in FIG. 4B are executed. At this time, S401 to S416 in FIG. 7A are executed as S203.
When the mode value is 2, in step S604, the recreation unit 802 executes processing in the recreation unit 701 of the second embodiment. That is, S202 and S203 in FIG. 4B are executed. At this time, S401, S501 to S507, and S407 to S413 in FIG. 9A are executed as S203.

<Process continuous setting screen>
FIG. 10B shows an example of a process continuation setting screen. In FIG. 10B, reference numeral 901 denotes a process continuation setting screen for accepting settings relating to how the planned processes are continued.
Reference numeral 902 denotes a radio button for performing a setting for allowing work time zones to overlap between resources when the planned process is continued.
Reference numeral 903 denotes a radio button for performing a setting that does not allow the work time zones to overlap between resources when the planned process is continued.
Reference numeral 904 denotes a radio button for performing a setting not to perform the process of making the planning process continuous for the plan created by the creation unit 306.
Reference numeral 905 denotes an OK button for accepting the setting selected on the process continuous setting screen 901. When the OK button 905 is pressed, a value corresponding to the selected setting is written into the buffer memory 314. Specifically, 1 is written when the radio button 902 is selected, 2 is written when the radio button 903 is selected, and 3 is written when the radio button 904 is selected.
Reference numeral 906 denotes a cancel button for invalidating the setting selected on the process continuous setting screen 901.

<Planning examples in each mode>
FIGS. 10C to 10E show an example of a plan created in each mode in a Gantt chart. FIGS. 10C, 10D, and 10E are examples of plans created when modes 1, 2, and 3 are selected, respectively. In FIG. 10C, reference numerals 1001 and 1002, 1003 and 1004, and 1005 and 1006 are planning steps corresponding to orders A01, A02, and A03, respectively. Reference numerals 1001, 1003, and 1005 denote processing steps that use the processing apparatus, and reference numerals 1002, 1004, and 1006 denote printing steps that use the printing apparatus. In FIGS. 10C and 10D, the plan created by the creation unit 306 is the same plan as in FIG. However, in FIG. 10C, because the plan is based on the mode 1, the time zone of the printing process 1006, the machining process 1001, and the machining process 1003 is re-planned to allow overlap. On the other hand, in FIG. 10D, since the plan is based on the mode 2, the time zone of the continuous planning process does not overlap with any planning process.

  As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to select whether or not to reschedule. If rescheduling is selected, the method can be selected. In this example, it is possible to select either rescheduling that allows duplication of processes among resources or rescheduling that does not allow. For example, in mode 3, the production time of each ordered product (printed material in this example) is early. In mode 2, since only one resource is used at a time, it is possible to work with a small number of workers. In mode 1, the work efficiency is highest by the worker. In this way, it is possible to select a scheduling method according to characteristics, particularly advantages.

[Fourth embodiment]
In the first embodiment, when the planned process is continued, the total work time of the continuous planned process is processed to be equal to or less than a predetermined time, and the predetermined time is set in advance (see FIG. 6 S309). Depending on the manufacturing site, the total work time of the continuous planning process may be long or may be short. That is, it can be said that it can be preferably set for each manufacturing site. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, an example is shown in which a setting relating to the total work time of the continuous planning process is received by the operation of the worker.
FIG. 11A is an example of a UI (process continuation setting screen) that accepts settings related to the total work time of the continuous planning process. The setting of the continuous work time on this setting screen may be performed by the information processing apparatus 105 in a procedure independent of the procedure shown in FIG. Moreover, as a part of FIG. 4, for example, it may be performed immediately before S103.
In FIG. 11A, reference numeral 1101 denotes a process continuation setting screen.
Reference numeral 1102 denotes a text box that receives an input of the maximum work time (process continuous maximum time) when the planned process is continued.
Reference numeral 1103 denotes an OK button for accepting the setting of the process continuation maximum time input on the process continuation setting screen 1101. When the OK button 1103 is pressed, the maximum process continuous time is written in the buffer memory 314. In step S309, instead of the predetermined time, the process continuous maximum time written in the buffer memory 314 is referred to, and the determination process is performed based on this.
Reference numeral 1104 denotes a cancel button for canceling the setting on the process continuous setting screen 1101.
FIG. 11B is an example of a warning screen that warns a worker when planned steps of the same resource continue for a predetermined time or longer.
If the planning process of the same resource continues for a long time when the planning process is continued, there may be a case where only the work using the same resource is performed all day. Therefore, when the planned process of the same resource continues for a predetermined time or more, this is warned, and this is prevented by setting the maximum time (the maximum continuous time) for which the planned process is continued.
In FIG. 11B, reference numeral 1201 denotes a warning screen.
1202 is a text box that accepts an input of the maximum continuous time by the worker.
Reference numeral 1203 denotes an OK button for accepting settings on the warning screen. When the OK button is pressed, the maximum continuous time is written in the buffer memory 314.
A cancel button 1204 cancels the setting on the warning screen 1201.
The screen 1201 measures the continuous working time for each device (resource) during printing and processing (post-processing) in S104 of FIG. 4A, and exceeds a predetermined time or a separately set time. Will be displayed. In the case of setting separately, the time can also be set using, for example, the UI of FIG.
According to the present embodiment, it is possible to set an upper limit time of continuous work using one apparatus, particularly a processing apparatus for post-processing. Moreover, it can be configured to warn when a certain time is exceeded.

[Fifth embodiment]
In the third embodiment, the worker designates a plan creation method that allows time overlap between resources, a plan creation method that does not allow time overlap between resources, and a plan creation method that does not allow the planning process to continue. An example of selecting was shown. At the manufacturing site, there are cases where a plan including who is working as a worker is created. By creating a plan that includes workers, it is possible to make a plan that does not hinder the practice, and it is possible to confirm whether there are excess or deficiency of workers. In the case of a plan including a worker, the worker cannot work on another process or another order while working on one order in one process like a resource. Therefore, in a plan including workers, it is not possible to create a plan that simply allows temporal overlap between resources. In a plan that includes workers, it is necessary to consider not only resources but also workers, as well as time overlap. In the fifth embodiment, an example of plan creation when “duplicate in time as much as possible” is specified for a planning process that includes workers is shown. An operator is also called an operator.

<Flow of processing in re-creation unit 803>
In the fifth embodiment, a mode input unit 711 (not shown) is provided in addition to the configuration of the information processing apparatus 105 as in the third embodiment, and a mode can be selected. The mode input unit 711 may be a part of a user interface realized by the input unit 304, for example, or may be an independent input unit. Also, the re-creation unit 308 is a re-creation unit 803 (not shown) because the contents of the process change. The positioning of the re-creation unit 803 in the information processing apparatus 105 is the same as that of the re-creation unit 308. The flow of processing in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B. FIG. 12A (c) is a procedure executed by the information processing apparatus 105 in place of FIG. 4 (b) in S103 of FIG. 4 (a), for example. FIG. 12A (a) shows an example of a process table in the present embodiment. Instead of the code indicating whether the process is a manned process in the process table 503 shown in FIG. 5A (c), an operator ID in charge of the process is included. An operator ID is not included in a process that does not require an operator. In addition, an operator table including an operator ID is used in this embodiment in order to specify an operator (see FIG. 12A (c)).

In step S <b> 601, the mode input unit 711 acquires from the buffer memory 314 a mode related to how the planned processes are continued. In the present embodiment, a UI (process continuation setting screen or simply setting screen) relating to how to continue the planned process as shown in FIG. 12B (a) is displayed and setting input (setting mode) from the worker is accepted. . The UI in FIG. 12B (a) is obtained by adding a radio button “duplicate as much as possible” as an option to the UI in FIG. When the radio button 907 is selected and the OK button is pressed, a value of 4 is input as a mode to the mode input unit 711 via the buffer memory 314. Details of FIG. 12B (a) will be described later. In step S602, the re-creation unit 803 distributes the process according to the input mode value. If the mode value is 1, the process proceeds to step S603, and if it is 2, the process proceeds to step S604. If the mode value is 4, the process proceeds to step S605. If the mode value is 3, the processing in this embodiment is terminated.
The processing when the mode values are 1 and 2 and 3 has been described in the third embodiment.
In the present embodiment, a case where the mode value is 4 will be described. The mode value 4 is a mode in which planned processes are overlapped in time within the range allowed by the resource schedule.
In step S605, the re-creation unit 803 repeats the process for a set of planned processes in the context. The repeated processes are step S605 to step S607. For example, in the relationship between the “printing” planning process and “saddle stitch bookbinding”, the set of planning processes in the context includes the “print” planning process before and the “saddle stitching” planning process after. Further, for example, in the relationship between the “saddle binding” planning process and the “three-sided cutting” planning process, the “saddle binding” planning process precedes the “three-side cutting” planning process. To repeat the process for the planned process in the context, for example, the re-creation process (from step S606), focusing on a set of planned processes where the front is a “printing” planned process and the subsequent is a “saddle stitching” planned process S604) is executed, and next, the re-creation processing is executed by paying attention to a set of planning steps in which the front is the “saddle stitching” planning step and the subsequent is the “three-sided cutting” planning step. The above is repeated until there is no subsequent process, for example, to a set of planned processes where the preceding is the “inspection” planning process and the subsequent is the “delivery” planning process.
In step S606, the re-creation unit 803 determines whether either the resource of the planned process before or after the attention or the operator (worker) is the same. If they are the same, the process proceeds to S604. If not, the process proceeds to S603. Resource or operator information can be acquired from the process ID of the planned process from the process table of FIG. 12A (a). For example, in the “printing” process, the resource ID is “R001”, that is, the first printing press, and the operator ID is absent. In the “saddle stitching” process, the resource ID is “R004”, that is, the saddle stitch bookbinding machine, and the operator ID is “OP01”, that is, Tanaka. The name of the operator can be acquired based on the operator ID from the operator table in FIG. 12A (b). If the pre-planning process is “printing” and the post-planning process is “saddle stitching”, it can be determined that the resource and the operator are not the same. When it is determined that the resource and the operator are not the same for the preceding and following planned processes, the process proceeds to step S603. In step S603, the recreating unit 803 executes the processing in the recreating unit 203 of the first embodiment for the preceding and following planned processes. That is, S202 and S203 in FIG. 4B are executed. At this time, S401 to S416 in FIG. 7A are executed as S203.
Next, in step S605, the next planning process group, for example, the planning process group in which the previous planning process is “saddle stitching” and the subsequent planning process is “three-sided cutting” is determined in step S606. In the “saddle binding” process, the resource ID is “R004”, that is, the saddle stitching machine, and the operator ID is “OP01”, that is, Tanaka. In the “three-way cutting” process, the resource ID is “R006”, that is, the three-way cutting machine, and the operator ID is “OP01”, that is, Tanaka. Therefore, when the pre-planning process is “saddle stitching” and the post-planning process is “three-way cutting”, it is determined that either the resource or the operator is the same because the operators of both processes are the same. If it is determined that either the resource or the operator is the same for the preceding and following planned processes, the process proceeds to step S604. In step S604, the recreating unit 803 executes processing in the recreating unit 701 of the second embodiment. That is, S202 and S203 in FIG. 4B are executed. At this time, S401, S501 to S507, and S407 to S413 in FIG. 9A are executed as S203.
The above determination and re-creation are repeated for the planning process that is to be summarized. For example, the “inspection” planning process is repeated before and the “delivery” planning process is repeated after. Note that the operator is a human resource, and if it is considered as one of the resources, in step S606, it is determined whether at least one resource used in the preceding and following processes is the same or whether all resources are different. What is necessary is just to judge. In this case, if at least one resource is the same, the process branches to step S604.

<Process continuous setting screen>
FIG. 12B (a) shows an example of a process continuation setting screen. In FIG. 12B (a), steps 901 to 906 have been described in the third embodiment. Reference numeral 907 denotes a radio button for performing a setting for performing a process to be repeated by overlapping the resources as much as possible with respect to the plan created by the creation unit 306 while considering a specific worker. When 907 is selected and an OK button 905 is pressed, a value corresponding to the selected setting is written to the buffer memory 314. Specifically, 4 is written when the radio button 907 is selected.

<Example plan in mode 4>
FIG. 12B (c) shows an example of a plan that is recreated when mode 4 is selected from three planning steps including printing, bookbinding, three-way cutting, inspection, and delivery in a Gantt chart. In this Gantt chart, the operator's plan is displayed in addition to the resource. Specifically, the rectangles on the right side of “Tanaka” and “Suzuki” are the plans of the respective operators. For example, step 1104 is a planning step for bookbinding, and is arranged on the right side of the saddle stitch bookbinding machine that is a resource and the right side of Tanaka that is an operator. From the above, it can be seen that in the bookbinding step 1104, the saddle stitch bookbinding machine and the worker Tanaka are dedicated to the work.
FIG. 12B (b) shows an example of a plan that is recreated when mode 3 is selected for the same planning process as in FIG. In FIG. 12B (b), step 1101 (A21), step 1102 (A22), step 1103 (A23), step 1104 (A24), and step 1105 (A25) are planned steps corresponding to the order A11. In FIG. 12B (b), step 1106 (A26), step 1107 (A27), step 1108 (A28), step 1109 (A29), and step 1110 (A30) are planned steps corresponding to the order A12. In FIG. 12B (b), step 1111 (A31), step 1112 (A32), step 1113 (A33), step 1114 (A34), and step 1115 (A35) are planned steps corresponding to the order A13.
Steps 1101, 1106, and 1111 are delivery steps using the delivery device, and worker Suzuki is engaged in the operation of operating the delivery device. Steps 1102, 1107, and 1112 are inspection steps using the inspection device, and the worker Suzuki is engaged in the operation of operating the inspection device. Steps 1103, 1108, and 1113 are three-way cutting steps using a three-way cutting machine, and worker Tanaka is engaged in the operation of operating the three-way cutting machine. Steps 1104, 1109, and 1114 are saddle stitch bookbinding steps using the saddle stitch bookbinding machine, and the worker Tanaka is engaged in the operation of operating the saddle stitch bookbinding machine. Steps 1105, 1110, and 1115 are printing steps using the printing machine No. 1, and no workers are engaged.
FIG. 12B (b) is a plan in which mode 3, that is, the process is not continued.
FIG. 12B (c) is a plan that allows duplication between processes using the same resource in consideration of mode 4 or a continuous process and considering workers.
FIG. 12B (d) is a plan in which mode 2 is created, that is, a continuous process is created and duplication is not permitted between resources.
12B (c) and 12B (d), the plan created by the creation unit 306 is the same plan as in FIG. 12B (b).

In FIG. 12B (b), since it is a plan by mode 3, it is not made into a continuous process. For this reason, the worker has a plan for poor work efficiency because he / she goes back and forth such as bookbinding and cutting.
In FIG. 12B (c), since the plan is based on the mode 4, in any planning process, there is no duplication of resources and no duplication of operators between temporally overlapping processes. However, duplication of processes using different resources and operated by different operators is allowed.
In other words, the resources used for the continuous bookbinding process A24, A29, A34 and the continuous three-way cutting process A23, A28, A33 are different between the saddle stitching machine and the three-way cutting machine, Worker Tanaka. Therefore, the two continuous processes (binding and three-way cutting) do not overlap. On the other hand, the continuous three-way cutting processes A23, A28 and A33 and the continuous inspection processes A22, A27 and A32 are the three-way cutting machine and the inspection device, and the operators are the worker Tanaka and the worker Suzuki. In other words, both resources and operators are different. Therefore, the above two continuous processes (three-way cutting and inspection) are overlapped.
In FIG. 12B (d), since the plan is based on the mode 2, the time zone of the continuous planning process does not overlap any planning process. Therefore, the entire work time (the time from the start of A25 to the end of A31) becomes longer than that in FIG. 12B (c).
As described above, in this embodiment, selection of mode 4 is allowed in addition to modes 1, 2, and 3 of the third embodiment. When mode 4 is selected, it is possible to create a schedule in which either the resource or the operator does not overlap the same process, and the processes that are different from each other are allowed to overlap. By selecting mode 4, it is possible to complete the production in a shorter time than the plan that does not completely overlap like mode 2 while ensuring the efficient workability of workers equivalent to mode 2 With advantages.

[Other embodiments]
In the above-described embodiment, the re-creating units 308, 701, and 803 are set so that there is no free time between the planned processes B1 and B2 to be continued. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, work is delayed. As a buffer for absorbing the delay at the time, a predetermined free time may be set between B1 and B2. That is, the continuation in the present invention includes not only setting the free time between the planned processes to 0, but also setting the free time of a predetermined time between the planned processes.

  In the above-described embodiment, the information processing apparatus 105 creates a production plan, selects it as a plurality of processes to be temporally continuous, and reconfigures the production plan so that the selected plurality of processes are continuous. However, the production plan is created by another apparatus, and the information processing apparatus 105 acquires the created production plan and selects it as a plurality of processes to be temporally continuous, and the plurality of selected processes are continued. The production plan may be reconfigured.

  The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

301. Ordering section, 302. Order receiving section, 303. Order information holding section, 304. Input section, 305. Display section, 306. Creation section, 307. Selection section, 308. Recreation section, 309. Manufacturing information holding section, 310. Plan rule holding unit, 311. Plan holding unit, 312. Selection information holding unit, 313. Continuous plan holding unit, 314. Buffer memory, 315. Printed matter, 316. Processing unit, 317. Inspection unit, 318. Delivery unit

Claims (20)

Creating means for creating a production plan in which processes are arranged from upstream to downstream for each product manufacturing process;
A selection means for selecting a plurality of processes using the same resource as a plurality of processes that are temporally continuous from processes included in a production plan of a plurality of products;
A production plan creation system comprising: reconfiguration means for reconfiguring the production plan so that the plurality of steps selected by the selection means are continuous. 2. The production plan creation system according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects a process using the same resource required by an operator. 3. The production plan creation according to claim 1, wherein the reconfiguration unit reconfigures the production plan so that a plurality of steps selected by the selection unit are continuous without idle time. system. The production plan according to claim 1, wherein the reconfiguration unit reconfigures the production plan so that idle times of a plurality of processes selected by the selection unit are equal to or less than a predetermined time. Creation system. The said reconfiguration means reconfigure | reconstructs the said production plan so that the some process selected by the said selection means may continue with a predetermined idle time, The said production plan is characterized by the above-mentioned. The production plan creation system described in The reconfiguring means does not reconfigure the plurality of processes when the plurality of processes are reconfigured so that the time required for the continuous processes exceeds a predetermined time. The production plan creation system according to any one of 1 to 5. The production plan creation system according to claim 1, further comprising means for outputting the production plan as a visualized output product. 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a unit that generates a job for executing the step based on the production plan and distributes the job to an apparatus that executes the step. 9. Production planning system. 9. The production plan creation system according to claim 1, wherein the product is a printed product, and the process includes a printing process, a binding process, and a cutting process. The reconfiguration unit allows a process using different resources to overlap in time and reconfigures the production plan so that a plurality of processes selected by the selection unit are continued. The production plan creation system according to any one of 1 to 9. 2. The reconfiguration unit reconfigures the production plan so that steps using different resources do not overlap in time and a plurality of steps selected by the selection unit continue. The production plan creation system as described in any one of thru | or 9. The reconfiguring means reconfigures the production plan so that processes using the same resource or the same worker do not overlap in time and a plurality of processes selected by the selecting means are continued. The production plan creation system according to any one of claims 1 to 9. A user interface that allows a user to select a mode for reconfiguring the production plan;
With the user interface,
The production plan created by the creating means is configured to allow a process using different resources to overlap in time, and to reconfigure the production plan so that a plurality of processes selected by the selecting means are continued. Mode and
The production plan created by the creating means is configured to reconfigure the production plan so that processes using different resources do not overlap in time and a plurality of processes selected by the selecting means are continued. Mode,
10. The production plan creation system according to claim 1, wherein any one of a third mode in which the production plan created by the creation unit is not reconfigured can be selected. With the user interface,
The production plan created by the creation means is reconfigured so that processes using different resources or different workers do not overlap in time, and a plurality of processes selected by the selection means are continued. 14. The production plan creation system according to claim 13, wherein the fourth mode is further selectable. The production plan creation system according to claim 6, further comprising a user interface for setting the predetermined time. A program for causing a computer to function as the production plan creation system according to any one of claims 1 to 15. Create a production plan that arranges processes from upstream to downstream for each product manufacturing process.
Select multiple processes that use the same resource as multiple processes that are temporally continuous from the processes included in the production plan for multiple products,
A production plan creation method, wherein the production plan is reconfigured so that the selected steps are continuous. An acquisition means for acquiring a production plan in which processes are arranged from upstream to downstream for each product manufacturing process;
A selection means for selecting a plurality of processes using the same resource as a plurality of processes that are temporally continuous from processes included in a production plan of a plurality of products;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a reconfiguration unit configured to reconfigure the production plan so that the plurality of steps selected by the selection unit are continued. The information processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the reconfiguration unit reconfigures the production plan so that a plurality of steps selected by the selection unit are continuous without idle time. The information processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the reconfiguration unit reconfigures the production plan so that idle times of a plurality of processes selected by the selection unit are equal to or less than a predetermined time.

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