JP2995482B2 - Production management device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for production management in a factory, and in particular, integrates all steps of a production process including a design process, a purchase process, and a production process. And a method and apparatus for managing data.

[Conventional technology]

In the process from product design to production, when production information such as design or production content is changed or changed in one step, it is necessary to change the contents of other steps in accordance with the change. As a production management method corresponding to such a request, a method proposed in, for example, US Pat. No. 4,807,108 is conventionally known.

According to the patent, a user (for example, a designer) involved in production can be directly involved in all processes such as design, parts development and assembly of parts. As a result, the design and manufacturing departments (users) can advance or return the process from any manufacturing process to any other manufacturing process within the range described above, thereby easily making design changes and the like. It has the flexibility.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, the flexibility of production information such as design contents is indispensable from the initial stage of designing and planning with many trials in managing production information. The flexibility of the change is required for all the steps up to this point. In addition, the production process usually involves purchasing and manufacturing departments in addition to design. Moreover, in a normal production process, various products are manufactured at the same time, and various components are purchased in parallel. In such a case, the one-to-one relationship between the product and the part is lost.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, according to the technology of the above-mentioned U.S. Patent, the flexibility of production management for the entire production process including purchasing is not sufficient, and there is room for optimizing the production process.

In other words, in order to optimize the production process, the production information once determined can be freely changed without rejecting the process of another user, but the change does not break the flow of the entire production process. The question is how much you can meet the demands you make.

An object of the present invention is to provide a production management method and apparatus capable of improving the efficiency of a production system by increasing the flexibility of changing production information throughout the entire production process.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, a production management method according to the present invention is directed to a production management method including a product design process, a material purchase process, and a product production process. Describe information in a unified format,
The method is characterized in that the production information of the other process is mutually accessible from each of the processes, and the content of each production information can be changed within a predetermined allowable range according to a request from the other process.

If the change accompanying the change request exceeds the allowable range, it is desirable to present a message to that effect to the requesting process.

In order to achieve the above object, a production management device according to the present invention includes a product design process, a purchase process of materials such as parts, a production process including a production process, and a production process including the production process. A database that stores production information
An information management mechanism for changing the production information and the related information in the database in response to a change request such as production information generation / update / removal from each of the processes; And a wiring for transmitting information, wherein the production information has a unified description format common to each of the processes, and each production information has a list of related production information affected by a change in the information. And the content of the information, the permissible change criteria, and the information management mechanism includes:
When the change request of the production information is issued from the process, the database is accessed, and it is determined whether or not the production information and the related production information pertaining to the request can be changed based on the permissible criterion. The content of the production information relating to the change request is changed, including the related production information.

Note that, when the result of the determination is that all the changes in the production information and the related production information pertaining to the change request are permitted, the information management mechanism performs the change and applies the changed production information to the changed production information. Add the department name of the process for which the change request was issued, and if the judgment result does not permit at least part of the change of the production information and the related production information related to the change request, allow the change It is desirable that an alternative to the change of the production information and the related production information relating to the request be created and output and displayed within the range.

[Action]

With this configuration, according to the method of the present invention, the object of the present invention is achieved by the following operations.

In other words, even for processes related to other departments from the design, purchasing, and manufacturing departments, mutually requesting changes such as production information generation / update / removal, etc., and making changes if the specified tolerance is satisfied. Can be done automatically. As a result, the flexibility of information change relating to production management such as planning and determination of each department is improved.

According to the production management device of the present invention, the above method can be realized. Moreover, since the related production information is changed such as generation and update through one information management mechanism, an efficient production management system is realized without conflicting production management in each department. You.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on examples.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a production management device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The production management system according to the present embodiment includes a design department terminal 1, a purchasing department terminal 2, and a manufacturing department terminal 3 corresponding to each department of design, purchasing, and manufacturing; a system management terminal 4 for managing the system; Each of the production process means 101 to 109 corresponding to each, a database 200 in which information necessary for production management is stored, and an information management mechanism 300 for managing information update and the like in the database 200, These are connected to common lines 11 and 12 so that information can be exchanged between them.

Each user of the designer, the buyer and the manufacturer can activate all the production process means 101 to 109 via the terminals 1, 2, and 3, respectively, thereby performing change processing such as generation, update, and deletion of production information. I can do it. In other words, the designer decides on parts and assembly for achieving the required mechanism and performance of the product based on past design examples and simulations, lists up the necessary parts based on this, and assembles and processes the parts. To determine. In addition, buyers make supply plans for parts requested by many designers,
Further, the user perceives the usage status of the component and purchases the component at an optimal timing and route. In addition, the manufacturer makes a production plan so as to use the production equipment effectively, determines a processed product according to the plan, allocates work to each production equipment, and creates an equipment program according to the processed product. The production information generated or updated in this way is stored in a single database 200 via a single information management mechanism 300.

The database 200 stores production information necessary for production management, including the following nine types of information corresponding to the respective production process means 101 to 109. The description format of each piece of information is determined so that each production process means 101 to 109 can share it.

Specification determination information It consists of various data necessary for determining specifications such as product dimensions, performance (eg, rotation speed, circuit operation speed, etc.), functions (eg, speed variable width, memory size, etc.). The specific columns include past product data, data of main components, simulation programs for predicting product performance, and the like.

Parts development information This consists of various data necessary to develop the product of the determined specifications at the parts level and determine the components of the product. Specific examples include detailed data of components, an example of component combination, a component combination method, a program for determining the possibility of mutual combination of components, and the like.

Manufacturing Procedure Information Information on manufacturing procedures such as the method or order of manufacturing or processing of products / parts, the order of assembly, the manufacturing simulation program, etc. is included.

Parts purchase plan information Information necessary for parts purchase planning, such as performance, functions, prices, and delivery dates of parts, and similar parts search programs.

Inventory prediction information Includes information on inventory prediction, such as parts purchase history, actual use in the manufacturing process, and inventory prediction programs.

Purchase Arrangement Information Information on purchase arrangement of parts such as the optimal purchase unit (lot size), purchase route, and supplier selection program is included.

Manufacturing item determination information Information related to manufacturing item determination such as required delivery date, warehouse usage status, manufacturing equipment used, and a manufacturing cost evaluation program is included.

Equipment operation plan information Information on the equipment operation plan such as the capacity, operation status, alternative equipment, and manufacturing simulation program of the manufacturing equipment is included.

Equipment programming information Parts processing information such as dimensions and accuracy, assembly information such as wiring and connection, and information related to equipment programming such as an equipment simulation program such as a program test are included.

The production process includes a design process including a specification determining unit 101, a component development unit 102, and a manufacturing procedure planning unit 103, a purchasing process including a component purchase planning unit 104, an inventory prediction unit 105, and a purchase arranging unit 106, and a manufacturing item determination process. And a manufacturing process including an equipment operation planning means 108 and an equipment programming means 109. The function of each of the production steps 101 to 109 will be described below.

The design process means 101 to 103 are processes belonging to the design department. The specification determining means 101 includes a database based on the required specification of the product input by the designer via the terminal 1.
Search 200 for past design examples, perform simulations, etc. to select the components required to satisfy the required functions and performance of the product, and to determine the combination, connection method, and production time. This is stored in the database 200 as specification determination information. The parts expanding means 102 inputs a list of constituent parts, searches the database 200 to check the purchase plan and inventory of the corresponding parts, specifies usable parts, and thereby expands the parts including the used parts list and the use time. The information is determined and output to the database 200.
The manufacturing procedure planning means 103 inputs information such as parts to be used, a combination method and a connection method, searches the database 200 for available manufacturing facilities such as robots, and processes a part, a manufacturing method, and a part. The assembling procedure and the timing of processing, manufacturing, and assembling are determined, and these are stored in the database 200 as manufacturing procedure plan information.

Purchasing process means 104 to 106 are processes belonging to the purchasing department. The parts purchase planning means 104 inputs a list of parts to be used, information on the use time of each part and the estimated amount of stock from the database 200, and for each part based on a predetermined stock standard so as to always have an appropriate stock. The purchase quantity and the purchase time are determined, and information on the parts purchase such as the planned purchase quantity and the purchase time is stored in the database 200. The stock forecasting means 105 inputs the planned parts purchase amount, the purchase time and the planned parts use amount from the parts purchase planning means 105 and the database 200, predicts the stock for each part based on these information, and calculates the stock of the prediction result. The predicted amount is stored in the database 200. The purchase arranging means 106 inputs the estimated amount of stock, the amount of stock, and the planned amount of parts purchase from the parts purchase planning means 104, the stock forecasting means 105, and the database 200, and calculates the planned amount of parts purchase based on the stock amount and the estimated amount of stock. Correct and store the result in database 200.

The manufacturing process means 107 to 109 are processes belonging to a manufacturing department. The manufacturing item determining means 107 inputs the used parts list for various products from the database 200 and the like, and collects information on the usage time and the manufacturing time, plans the processing and assembly schedule so as to converge on the manufacturing equipment capacity, and manufactures a production line or a factory. Information on manufacturing items such as the entire part processing and assembly plan is stored in the database 200. The equipment operation planning means 108 inputs the parts processing and assembly plan from the database 200, allocates the parts processing and assembly work to the manufacturing equipment, determines the parts processing and assembly plan for each manufacturing equipment, and
Store in 200. The equipment programming means 109 inputs a part processing method, a manufacturing method, an assembling procedure, and a used parts list from the database 200, programs the processing method, and stores a machine control program of the manufacturing equipment based on the program in the database 200.

The production information stored in the database 200 is created as a table of the expression format and contents shown in FIG. 2 for each information unit. 3 and 4 show specific examples. Information identification symbol 201 for each production information
Is appended. The information identification symbol is unique to each information unit, such as a serial number. Each production information includes information 203, owner 203, creation / update date
204, related information list 205, production information generation / update / removal procedures 206 to 208, tolerance criterion 209, and template 2
10 are stored as one lump.

The related information list 205 is a list of production information that needs to be generated, updated, or removed when the production information is generated, updated, or removed. The information management mechanism 300 generates /
The relevant information of the production information for which the update was requested is searched.

In the columns of the generation / update / removal procedures 206 to 208, a program which is a procedure for newly generating production information and updating or removing production information already existing in the database 200 is stored. The information management mechanism 300 performs these steps 206
The method of generating / updating / removing production information is inferred according to the contents of ~ 208.

The permissible criterion 209 stores the permissible range of change of each production information. This acceptance criterion is determined by the owner of the production information. Further, this allowance criterion is used when the information management mechanism 300 determines the possibility of updating the production information or infers the impact of the non-updatable related information.

In the template 210, information identification symbols of other production information in a standard form common to the production information are described. If the standard-type production information described in the template 210 is indexable, redundant description of common information can be avoided, and creation of the production information table can be simplified. For example, by storing a typical example of information generation / update / removal procedures and contents in standard-type production information, those contents can be omitted from other production information tables.

Note that the content of the related information list 205 is updated based on the result of executing the programs of the generation / update / removal procedures 206 to 208.

The system management terminal 4 manages the above-described production management system, and can directly access the database as necessary without using the information management mechanism 300.
In this regard, the other terminals 1 to 3 can access the database 200 only through the information management mechanism 300.

In the system shown in FIG. 1, the common lines 11 and 12 may be integrated into one. Further, each of the terminals 1 to 4 may be dedicated or general-purpose according to the use.

Next, the functional configuration of the information management mechanism 300 according to the characteristic portion of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. The information management mechanism 300 is activated each time a production information generation / update request is input from each of the terminals 1 to 3 (step 301). Then, the related information described in the production information related to the request is searched (step 302), and it is determined whether or not the related information allows the production information to be changed (step 303). The related information search in step 302 is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG.

The determination as to whether or not the related information can be updated in step 303 is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG.
That is, when the update is performed according to the content of the update request or the like, the determination is made based on whether or not the content after the update satisfies the allowable criterion. When it is determined that all the related information can be updated, the process proceeds to step 304, where the production information and the related information relating to the request are generated and updated according to the content of the generation and update request. FIG. 8 shows the detailed generation / update procedure.
On the other hand, when a part or all of the related information does not allow the update or the like, the processing of steps 311 to 314 is executed to infer a method of generating and updating the partial production information, and to infer an influence due to the inability to update. I do. The detailed procedure of this inference is shown in FIG. Then, with respect to the inference result, the generation / update requester (user) receives the consent, and the generation / update of the production information and the related information is executed as far as the generation / update is possible. When the requested production information is generated / updated in this way, the requester (user) is described in the information owner column 203 in step 305. In addition, the owner of the information correctly provides and maintains the information necessary for the entire manufacturing process, and is protected from the information being destroyed by other users.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the production information of the production processes 101 to 109 belonging to the design, purchasing, and manufacturing departments is stored in the database 200 in a unified and unified format, and stored in a user in another department. (Terminal), the production information can be freely generated and updated within a certain permissible standard through the information management mechanism 300, so that all the production steps 101 to 109 of the production management apparatus can be performed. Users have maximum flexibility without competing. As a result, the capacity of the production management system can be maximized. For example, a user such as a designer, a purchaser, or a manufacturer can delay the design and production planning and the implementation decision without deteriorating each other. In addition, as soon as each user inputs each other's outline plan, it is possible to use other production information for his own outline plan to examine the plan or to proceed with the detailed plan, thereby achieving efficient production management. realizable. Such dynamic production management flexibility is particularly effective when applied to a production management system for various types of products manufactured using various types of common parts.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment in which the production management method of the present invention is applied to a production management system for LSI manufacture. This embodiment is an example of managing a manufacturing process from a design process such as LSI functional design and logic design to a purchasing process including arranging parts such as masks and a manufacturing process such as test vector generation. As shown,
General terminals 5, 6, system management terminal 7, database 200A and its backup 200B, information management mechanism 300
And production steps 110 to 126.

The general terminals 5 and 6 have the same configuration, and include a user interface 51, a manufacturing process planner 52, a manufacturing process simulator 53, and a manufacturing state access path 54. The functions of the user interface 51 include input / output control and control such as activation of a program. The functions of the manufacturing process planner 52 include planning a manufacturing procedure, starting a manufacturing process, and the like. The functions of the manufacturing process simulator 53 include scheduling of the manufacturing process and cost evaluation. The manufacturing state access path 54 has a function of generating a net of related information and activating update inference. The general terminals 5 and 6 are connected to the common line 13 via the manufacturing state access path 54, and are connected to the information management mechanism 300 via the common line 13. The information management mechanism 300 is connected to the database 200A.

On the other hand, the production processes 110 to 126 have the following functions, which are connected to the database 200A via the common line 14. Each of the production steps 110 to 126 is connected to the manufacturing process planner 52 by wiring (not shown).

The function design unit 110 determines the input / output and the operation logic of the LSI circuit based on the design conditions given from the terminal 5. The logic design means 111 creates a logic gate diagram based on the given operation logic information. The timing design means 112 simulates a delay (clock) in the LSI circuit and checks it against design conditions. The cell arrangement means 113 determines the arrangement of cells (gate blocks) based on the provided gate selection information.
On the other hand, the input / output design means 114 determines the design of the input / output buffer circuit. The wiring design means 115 determines a wiring design between cells or the like based on the cell arrangement determination information and the design information of the input / output buffer circuit. At this time, power supply wiring information (including GND and the like) in the circuit is provided from the power supply design means 116. The process selection 117 determines an LSI manufacturing process such as a design rule based on the cell arrangement determination information and the like. The delay evaluation means 118 simulates an analog delay of the LSI circuit.
The mask developing means 119 designs a necessary mask group based on the mask data output from the wiring design means 115.
Then, the standard mask arranging means 120 prepares a standard mask (a mask of a standard cell such as a gate array). Further, a mask is produced by the mask producing means 121, and a mask other than the standard mask is arranged by the special mask arranging means 122. On the other hand, the design verification means 123 executes a simulation of the entire LSI circuit based on the wiring design information. Then, based on the simulation result, the test vector generating means 124 generates test vector data. On the other hand, the package arranging means 125 arranges a package based on the wiring design information. The manufacturing kit means 126 includes components (masks,
Test vector data, packages, etc.).

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the production information of the production process belonging to each department of design, purchasing and manufacturing is unified into a database and stored in a unified format, and is used by another department user (terminal). However, since the production information can be freely generated and updated within a certain allowable standard through the information management mechanism, all the production processes of the production management device can be performed without any users competing. Available with limited flexibility. As a result, the capacity of the production management system can be maximized. For example, a user such as a designer, a purchaser, or a manufacturer can delay the design and production planning and the implementation decision without deteriorating each other. Moreover, as soon as each user enters each other's general plan,
It is possible to immediately consider a plan using other production information for a self-schematic plan or to proceed with a detailed plan, thereby realizing efficient production management. Such dynamic production management flexibility can exert a great effect particularly when applied to a production management system for various types of products manufactured using various types of common parts.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a production management device according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is an embodiment diagram of a description format of production information, and FIG. 3 and FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the information management mechanism;
6 to 9 are detailed flowcharts of main parts of the flowchart of FIG. 5, and FIG. 10 is an LS to which the present invention is applied.
1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a production management system for manufacturing I. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Design department terminal, 2 ... Purchasing department terminal, 3 ... Manufacturing department terminal, 4 ... System management terminal, 101 ... Specification determination means, 102 ... Parts development means 103 ... Manufacturing planning means, 104 ... ... parts purchasing means, 105 ... inventory forecasting means, 106 ... purchasing arrangement means, 107 ... production item determination means, 108 ... equipment operation planning means, 109 ... equipment programming means.

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Akio Hanzawa 603, Kandamachi, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Pref. Inside the Tsuchiura Plant, Hitachi, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-63-237165 (JP, A) JP-A-62-120959 ( JP, A) JP-A-1-296374 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B23Q 41/08 G06F 17/60

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A production process means including a product design process means, a material purchase process means such as parts, and a product manufacture process means, and production information generated by each of the process means is stored. A plurality of operation terminals provided in correspondence with the respective step means, and capable of inputting a change request such as generation, update, or removal of production information to all of the step means; In response to a request to change the production information from
An information management mechanism for changing the relevant production information and related information in the database; and a wiring for transmitting information between each of the process means and the information management mechanism. It is a unified description format common to each process means, and each production information includes a list of related production information affected by the change of the information, the content of the information, and the permissible change criteria, The information management mechanism, when there is a change request of the production information via the corresponding process means from the operation terminal,
By accessing the database, it is determined whether or not the production information and the related production information pertaining to the request can be changed based on the permissible criterion. Production management device whose contents are to be changed. 2. A production process means comprising a product design process means, a material purchasing process means such as parts, and a product production process means, and production information generated by each of the process means is stored. An information management mechanism that changes the production information and related information in the database in response to a change request such as production information generation / update / removal from a terminal according to each of the process means; Process means and wiring for transmitting information between the information management mechanism, the design process means comprises specification determining means, component development means and manufacturing procedure planning means, the specification determining means, In order to satisfy the required functions and performance of the product by searching the database and examining past design examples or performing simulations, etc., based on the required specifications of the product input by the designer via the terminal The necessary component parts are selected, and the combination, the connection method, and the production time are determined and stored in the database as specification determination information. Search for the purchase plan and inventory of the corresponding parts, specify usable parts, determine the parts development information including the used parts list and the time of use and store them in the database, and The means inputs information such as used parts, a combination method and a connection method, searches the database for available manufacturing facilities such as robots, and processes and manufactures parts, assembling procedures of parts, and The timing of processing / manufacturing / assembly is determined and stored in the database as manufacturing procedure information. The parts purchase planning means inputs a list of parts to be used, information on the use time of each part and the estimated amount of stock from the database, and preliminarily obtains an appropriate stock so that the stock is always appropriate. Based on the determined inventory standard, determine the purchase amount and purchase time for each part, store the parts purchase plan information such as the planned purchase amount and the purchase time in the database, from the inventory prediction means and the database, The parts purchase plan quantity, purchase time and parts use plan quantity are inputted, the stock is predicted for each part based on these information, and the stock prediction information of the prediction result is stored in the database. From the database, input the forecasted amount of stock, the stock amount, and the planned amount of parts purchase, modify the planned amount of parts purchase based on the stock amount and the predicted amount of stock, and convert the result to purchase order information. The manufacturing process means includes a manufacturing item determining means, an equipment operation planning means, and an equipment programming means, and the manufacturing item determining means uses a list of parts used for various products from the database. , Input the total information of the use time and the production time, plan the processing and assembly schedule so as to converge to the production equipment capacity, and store the production item decision information such as the part processing and assembly plan of the whole production line or factory in the database. The equipment operation planning means inputs the parts processing and assembly plan from the database, allocates the parts processing and assembly work to the manufacturing equipment, determines the parts processing and assembly plan for each manufacturing equipment, and stores the equipment operation plan. The information is stored in the database as information, and the equipment programming means processes the part from the database. Method, manufacturing method, assembling procedure and the list of parts to be used are input, the processing method is programmed, and the machine control program of the manufacturing equipment based on this is stored in the database as equipment programming information, and the production information is It is a unified description format common to the respective process means, and each production information includes a list of related production information affected by the change of the information, and a change procedure such as production, update, and removal of own information. The specified program, the content of the information, and a permissible change criterion are included. The information management mechanism accesses the database when the process means requests the change of the production information. Determine whether the change of the production information and the related production information pertaining to the request based on the program and the permissible criteria,
When the result of the determination permits all changes in the production information and the related production information pertaining to the change request,
After executing the change, add the department name of the process means for which the change request was issued to the changed production information, and the determination result indicates that at least a part of the production information related to the change request and the related production information is changed. A production management device that, when the change is not permitted, creates and outputs and displays an alternative to the change in the production information and the related production information according to the request within a range in which the change is permitted.