JP3110102B2 - Product production planning equipment in batch plant - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a batch plant.
Relates to the product production plan device, particularly optimal product production plans automatically product production plan in a batch plant to create
Related to the device .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent increase in product types and shortened production delivery times, the trend of small-lot, high-mix production in petroleum plants and chemical plants has increased, especially in batch plants. I have. Note that a batch plant is a plant that manufactures products according to a batch method.When the work of a certain process is completed, the contents of the tank of the current process are transferred to the tank of the next process, and the next process work is performed. Is to produce.

[0003] Fig. 10 shows an example of a batch plant in the chemical industry, which includes a raw material preparation step, a polymerization step for chemically reacting raw materials, a recovery step for recovering unreacted raw materials, and a product (liquid) obtained by polymerization. ) In a tank, a drying step of drying the product into a solid, and a packaging step of packing the solid. In each step, dozens of tanks Tij are arranged. The operations of each process are performed according to a predetermined schedule, and finally, a quantity of products corresponding to the order is manufactured in time for the delivery date.

[0004] In such a batch plant, the results of production cost and production time vary greatly depending on the method of use and the order of use of each device (tank). For this reason,
It is necessary to formulate an optimal product production plan, most companies (1) leave the work to a specific expert, and (2) some companies use OR as a scheduling problem. (3) Considering algorithms for each manufacturing site and constructing a unique system using conventional procedural languages (Fortran, Kobol).

[0005]

However, in the first method, since the know-how is concentrated too much on the individual, the know-how is concealed, and there is a problem that a production plan cannot be established without an expert. . In the second method, an optimal solution of resource allocation within a rough time can be calculated. However, determining a more detailed order of each operation requires an enormous amount of calculation. In the third method, it is necessary to make each system independently, and it takes too much man-hour / cost, and there is a strong risk that the system needs to be reconfigured due to a change in a product / equipment or the like.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a product production planning apparatus in a batch plant which does not require the assistance of an expert, can perform a production plan up to the production sequence, and can further reduce the number of system construction steps. That is.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. 11 is a process division processing unit, 21 is a neck process determination processing unit, 22 is a neck process manufacturing order determination processing unit, 23
Is a process group manufacturing sequence determination processing unit, 24 is a manufacturing sequence adjustment processing unit, PRD is process data indicating the contents of the processes constituting the batch plant, WKD is the operation result data of each process up to now, and RTD is each process. Various constraint data in O
RD is order (product name, quantity, delivery date), and IRD is equipment / resource data at the manufacturing site.

[0008]

The whole process is divided into a plurality of process groups by the process dividing unit 11 with the buffer process as a boundary, and the operation ratio of all the processes is referred to by the neck process determining unit 21 by referring to the operation result data and the constraint data. In addition, a neck process having many constraints is determined. Next, the neck process manufacturing order determination processing unit 22 refers to the order, constraint data, equipment / resource data, and the like, and adjusts each of the neck processes so as to satisfy various constraints (including the delivery date of each order). Determine the production order in the device (tank). Thereafter, the process group manufacturing order determination processing unit 23
Thus, the manufacturing order in each process group is determined based on the manufacturing order of the neck process. If a problem occurs when manufacturing is performed in the determined manufacturing sequence, the manufacturing sequence adjustment processing unit 24 causes the process group in which the problem occurs to occur.
Adjust the production order of the pumps. As a result, it is not necessary to rely on an expert, and the production planning can be performed up to the production sequence, and further, the number of man-hours for constructing the system can be reduced.

[0009]

【Example】

(a) Overall Configuration FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a product production planning system in a batch plant according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a process division processing unit which divides all processes into a plurality of process groups with a buffer process (storage process) as a boundary based on data (process name etc.) PRD indicating the process contents of the batch plant. This is a device division processing unit that reduces the number of target tanks in a product production plan to result in a partial problem. 13 is an initial state setting unit,
It performs order batch division setting processing and in-process related setting processing. Reference numeral 14 denotes a production plan drafting unit that drafts a product production plan of a batch plant, and 15 denotes a drafting result correction processing unit that corrects an inconvenient part in the drafted production plan.

Production Planning Unit The production planning unit 14 includes a data storage unit 14a, a constraint storage unit 14b, and a product production plan determination unit 14c. The data storage unit 14a stores equipment / resource data I that specifies various devices (tanks) and the like that actually exist at the manufacturing site.
RD, past operation results data WKD of each process, product data MGD relating to products manufactured at the manufacturing site using equipment / resources, orders given to the manufacturing site (product name, quantity,
Delivery date) ORD, manufacturing site situation data MFD expressing the state of the planning process and the planning result are stored.

The various constraint RTs are stored in the constraint condition storage unit 14b.
D, for example, a constraint (MUST condition) that must be observed, such as a delivery date, or a constraint that should be satisfied (WANT)
Condition) is stored.

The product production plan determination unit 14c refers to the operation result data WKD and the constraint data RTD, and determines a process having a high operation rate and many constraints among all processes as a neck process. And the order, constraint data, equipment / resource data, etc., and determines the manufacturing order of the neck process in each device (tank) so as to satisfy various constraints.
2, a process group manufacturing order determination processing unit 23 for determining the manufacturing order in each of the process groups divided by the division processing unit 11 based on the manufacturing order of the neck process, and when manufacturing in the determined manufacturing order. If a problem occurs, a manufacturing sequence adjustment processing unit 24 for adjusting the manufacturing sequence of the process group having the problem, an overall process manufacturing sequence determination processing unit 25 for planning a buffer (storage) portion, A storage tank repetition processing unit 26 is provided.

The neck step manufacturing order determination processing section 22 simply checks in advance not only restrictions on the neck step but also restrictions on other steps in advance, and determines the manufacturing order. or,
When the order is divided into batches as a process unique to the batch plant, the process group manufacturing order determination processing unit 23 determines what kind of apparatus and how to manufacture the batches in the product manufacturing order of the neck process. The production order adjustment processing unit 24 performs a production order adjustment process by batch adjustment. The storage tank repetition processing unit 26 has a group of tanks having a function as a buffer due to waiting between processes as a process unique to the batch plant. Provided to the processing unit 25.

(B) Overall operation process division process FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the process division process in the case where the processes in the batch plant include a polymerization process, a recovery process, a storage process, a drying process, and the like. In a batch plant having multiple processes, there are multiple devices (tanks) for each process and there are many options as to which device to use. Therefore, for example, the number of tanks in the polymerization step PR1 is i, the number of tanks in the recovery step PR2 is j, the number of tanks (blend tanks) in the storage step PR3 is k, and the number of tanks in the drying step is m ...
Then, the total number of combinations in each process is i · j · k
・ M ・ ・ ・ The amount of calculation becomes enormous. for that reason,
In the present invention, in order to simplify the problem, a process group having a different processing unit is considered separately.

In a batch plant, the order is divided according to the capacity of the tank, which is the unit of processing (referred to as charger division or batch division), and these charges are temporarily stored in a tank and processed collectively. (Referred to as “charging”), and in the example of FIG. 3, the charging process is a drying process. As described above, in the case where work is performed in different units of processing with a buffer (reservoir) tank as a boundary, a group of processes having the same processing unit can be considered as a group.

Therefore, the process division processing unit 11 refers to the process data PRD to determine whether or not there is a process group having a different processing unit with respect to the buffer tank. Is divided into a plurality of process groups. FIG.
In the example, the process is divided into a pre-process and a post-process with the buffer tank (storage process PR3) as a boundary. As a result, the planning processing unit 14 can separately draft a production plan for the pre-process and the post-process as described later.

[0017] In order to formulate a production plan for the device division processing product, the smaller the number of target tanks, the better. Therefore, the following guidelines (1) to (3): (1) division based on the difference in manufacturing method, (2) division based on how to use the device, (3) exclusive based on the relationship between the product and the device (tank) Based on the fact that the group is divided, the apparatus division processing unit 12 divides the tanks to reduce the number of target tanks in the product production plan, resulting in a partial problem.

For example, tanks involved only in continuous production are excluded from the product production planning targets of a batch plant, and a separate production plan is prepared. Also, based on the relationship between the product and the equipment (tank), the exclusive tank groups are split from one another, each resulting in a separate subproblem. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, “product a”, “product i”, “product u”,... Use tank 1A and tank 1B in step 1 and tank 2A and tank 2C in step 2. use,·
..When tank NA is used in process N,
“Product”, “Product”, “Product” ...
Using tank 1C, using tank 2B in step 2,
... When tank NB is used in process N, as shown in FIG. 5, tanks used by "products a, i, u" and tanks used by "products, ro, wa" in all processes Are different.
In such a case, there is an exclusive relationship and "product a, i, u"
For tanks 1A, 1B, 2A, 2C,.
Only A is a target tank for product production planning of a batch plant, and “Products, ro, wa” are tanks 1C, 2B,
... Only NB is the target tank. Therefore, in the case where the order is only "product a, u, u", the tanks 1C, 2C
B,... NB are excluded from tanks targeted for product production planning of the batch plant.

Initial state setting processing Before the production plan drafting section 14 drafts a production plan, it is necessary to carry out a batch plant-specific charge division (batch division) processing, in-process status setting processing, and the like as advance preparation processing. is there. In order to fulfill a given order, a plurality of devices (tanks) can be used, and the processing capacity (capacity) of each tank is different. There are many. Therefore, the initial state setting unit 13 performs division according to the capacity of each tank and the priority of each product (order), calculates the optimal division, displays the result on the display screen, and corrects the result from the terminal. I can do it.

In the production planning process, in order to consider the remaining work in progress as well as the new work, it is necessary to grasp and set the work in progress for each equipment. The unit 13 grasps and sets the remaining work in progress.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of data for expressing the situation of the manufacturing site for one order. The orders are divided into batches based on the capacity of the tank and the like, and the process job, An exclusive job and a switching job are generated and stored in the data storage unit 14a. In FIG. 6, "article name job" corresponds to one order, and "article name division job" corresponds to a case where one order is divided into a plurality of operations and executed.
Normally, one order is executed by a series of operations, so that the number of product name division jobs is one, and M = 1. The “process job” corresponds to the work of each process, and the ratio of the number of process jobs to the number of product name division jobs is normally N: 1. Note that N depends on the capacity of the process tank. If the quantity of one product name division job is, for example, 100 t and the capacity of the process tank is 20 t, N = 5, and one product name division job Five process jobs are generated.

The “occupied job” is the one in which the actual work start time and the like are set for each process job by the production plan drafting process.
(Charge step, polymerization step, recovery step) is 1: 1, and steps 4 to 5 (storage step, drying step) are 1: N. When the production order is determined by each occupation job, one “switching job” is generated for each occupation job, corresponding to switching with the previous job. Whether or not tank cleaning is performed is set in this switching job. For example, when a product different from the previous job is manufactured, the tank needs to be cleaned, and that effect is set in the switching job. In the “resource job”, various kinds of resource information necessary for producing an order are set.

As described above, there is an order of 100 tons, the capacity of the tank in step 1 to step 3 is 20 t, and the capacity of step 4 to step 5
Assuming that the capacity of the tank is 100 t, five process jobs are generated in each of process 1 to process 3 and
One process job is generated for each of the processes.

Neck Step Determination Process If all steps are considered together, the amount of calculation becomes enormous.
Therefore, a process having a high operating rate and constraints is selected as a neck process, a product manufacturing order in the neck process is determined, and an overall manufacturing sequence is determined based on the manufacturing order of the neck process.

For this reason, the neck step determination processing section 21
With reference to the operation result data WKD and the constraint data RTD, a process having many operation rates and constraints among all the processes is determined as a bottleneck process. The constraint data includes the MUST condition and WA
There is an NT condition, and 100 points in the MUST condition
Less than 100 points are given to the T condition, and the total of the points determines the degree of the constraint condition. The MUST condition includes a delivery date, etc., and the WANT condition includes (1) Product A,
B must not be manufactured in the same process at the same time (process competition). (2) There must be no resource competition (resource competition).
Etc.

Neck Step Manufacturing Order Determination Processing The neck step manufacturing order determination processing section 22 refers to the order, constraint data, equipment / resource data, etc., and satisfies various constraint conditions so that each device (tank) of the neck step can be satisfied. To determine the manufacturing order.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the manufacturing order determination processing in the neck step. With reference to the equipment / resource data IRD, each process job of the neck process is evenly stacked on each device of the neck process, and as for the devices having the process jobs stacked more than the capacity, the device selection know-how ENH set in advance is set. Is reset to another device (the device with the lower load piled up) based on the above, and finally, the device for executing each job group of the neck process is determined (step 101).

Next, of the process jobs assigned to each apparatus, the process job to be executed first is determined based on the job selection know-how JNH (for example, order of delivery date) (step 102). Thereafter, the work start time of the process job is provisionally set (generation of exclusive job, step 103),
In this state, it is checked whether all the constraint conditions are satisfied (Step 104). If so, a process job is set (Step 105).
Returning to step 02, similar processing is performed for the next process job.

On the other hand, if the constraints are not satisfied,
Restriction saving know-how set in advance for the constraint condition (a constraint saving program describing a method for saving a constraint)
, An evacuation plan is generated (step 105). That is, the work start time of the predetermined process job is changed so as to satisfy the constraint condition.

Next, each plan is evaluated, and a plan considered to be optimal is adopted (steps 106 to 108).
To set the process job, and thereafter, return to step 102 and perform the same processing for the next process job. However, if there is no evacuation plan that satisfies the constraint conditions, it is determined that the device selection has been made incorrect (step 109), and thereafter, the process returns to step 101 to perform the device selection process again.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are simple explanatory diagrams for determining the manufacturing order of the neck process. It is assumed that the neck step is a drying step.
It is assumed that there are two drying apparatuses (apparatus 1 to apparatus 3).
Also, there are three orders, ie, product name jobs 1 to 3, each of which has the following content: product name job 1: product A, quantity 300t, delivery date 9/1 product name job 2: product B, quantity 400t, delivery date 9/3 Job 3: Product A, quantity 200t, delivery time 9/3, and product A and product B must not be manufactured (dried) in the drying process at the same time.

As shown in FIG. 8, three process jobs JOB11, JOB12, and JOB13 are generated in the drying process of the product name job 1 by the batch division process of the initial state setting unit 13 and the like. Generates four process jobs JOB21, JOB22, JOB23, and JOB24. In the drying process of the product name job 3, two process jobs JOB31 and JOB32 are generated. Each process job is assigned to each of the drying devices 1 to 3 in order of delivery date by the neck process manufacturing order determination process, and as shown in FIG. 9A, setting of each process job (setting of device, work start time, etc.)
Is done.

When the constraints on the manufacturing order are checked, the delivery date is satisfied for all orders. However, since products A and B are manufactured at the same time on September 2, the constraints on the process competition are not satisfied. Do not meet. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9B, JOB31 and JOB32 are moved on September 3. In this way, all the constraints of the delivery date, process competition, and resource competition are satisfied. However, in this manufacturing order, five cleanings (indicated by arrows) are required due to changes in the products handled by the apparatus, and the number of switching jobs increases.
Therefore, each process job is set as shown in FIG. In this way, three cleanings are sufficient, and all the constraints of the delivery date, the process competition, and the resource competition are satisfied, and this is determined as the production order of the neck process.

Process Group Manufacturing Order Determination Process Neck The determination of the manufacturing order determines the approximate manufacturing order. Accordingly, the process group manufacturing order determination processing unit 23 determines the manufacturing order of the pre-process group and the post-process group based on the neck process manufacturing order. Perform adjustment processing. The following points are taken into consideration when determining the production order of the process groups.
That is, (1) Process jobs are set in each process for one batch, and the production order is determined so that these process jobs are executed continuously. (2) In order to advance the production time, determine the production sequence so as to perform simultaneous parallel operation of multiple tanks specific to the batch process as much as possible. (3) To prevent inconsistency in the production sequence of the process, for example, Determine the production order by trial and error so as to adhere to the previous results so as not to cause too much cleaning and not to break the delivery date. (4) To ensure stable operation, a certain number of batches or more (5) The final batch is used for adjustment, so that the same equipment as that of the previous batch is used so that the environment does not change. The previous process group based on the neck process manufacturing order taking into account etc.
The production order of the post-process group is determined.

Overall Process Manufacturing Order Determination Process By the above, when the manufacturing order of the preceding and succeeding process groups is determined,
The whole process manufacturing order determination processing unit 25 drafts a plan for a buffer (storage tank) portion existing in the middle. In the batch process, it is often difficult to deal with the buffer portion, but it is determined in consideration of the following criteria. In other words, (1) the order of storage tanks to be used is selected in the order of availability, (2) all storage tanks are considered as a group, and the total usage of all storage tanks exceeds the total capacity of all storage tanks. Decide not to. In other words, consider the tanks to be used without considering individual tanks and only the total amount. (3) Determine the tanks to be used if there is something in the way (thrust). To determine the order of use of storage tanks.

The product production plan determined by the above-described process is modified to a process chart (Gantcha-
) Is displayed on the display screen, and the operator corrects it if necessary. This makes it possible to draft a production plan that matches the current situation.

(C) Application Example When the present invention is applied to a batch plant in the chemical industry shown in FIG. 10, the storage process is divided into a pre-process group and a post-process group,
The drying step is the neck step. Then, in the drying process, the following constraints (1) Delivery deadline ... End by the deadline given in the order (2) Earliest start condition ... No, (3) Resource contention constraints-Competition of resources used by JOBs working on different devices in the same process, (4) Personnel restrictions-Some jobs cannot be performed unless the number of workers can be secured, (5) Restrictions on holidays: There are tasks that can and cannot be performed on holidays. (6) Stop restrictions.
The OB is special. (7) Considering the restrictions on competition in other processes and performing a simple check of the polymerization process.

In the process for determining the production order of the preceding process group, the following points are mainly performed in the polymerization step. (1) Parallel processing is performed as much as possible. In this example, parallel operation of two devices is prioritized. At least 3
Considering (3) the last three batches in the same tank, (4) the last batch at a fixed time interval from the previous batch, and taking the production sequence based on the production sequence of the neck process To determine. That is, in the drying process (neck process), the production end time is assigned in the order of earliest. Next, it is determined whether or not the allocation result is possible depending on whether the last batch allocation time of the polymerization process is before the drying start time of the drying process temporary allocation result. If not satisfied, the product name (process job) assigned to the device with the smallest assigned batch number is removed. In this case, if the delivery date of the removed product name falls, the reassignment process is performed.

Further, in the process order determination process, (1)
Determine the order in which the buffer tanks are used, taking into account that the tanks are selected in order from the empty tanks and (2) tanks are allocated in order from the process job with the earliest polymerization start time. As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments. However, the present invention can be variously modified in accordance with the gist of the present invention described in the claims, and the present invention does not exclude these.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, all processes are divided into a plurality of process groups with a buffer process as a boundary, and a process having a high operation rate among all processes is determined as a bottleneck process. The manufacturing order of each device in the neck process is determined so as to satisfy the constraint condition including the delivery date, the manufacturing order of the process group is determined based on the manufacturing order of the neck process, and the determined manufacturing of each process group is performed. When troubles occur when manufacturing in order, the production sequence is adjusted by adjusting the manufacturing sequence of the process group in which the troubles occur. Therefore, there is no need to rely on specialists, and the production sequence is completed. A plan can be made, and furthermore, the man-hours for building the system can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, when a production plan of a complicated batch plant is prepared, a general product production plan can be prepared in consideration of the characteristics of the batch plant. Even in the application, a satisfactory solution can be obtained in real time, and the utility value is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a process dividing process.

FIG. 4 is a first explanatory diagram of a device dividing process.

FIG. 5 is a second explanatory diagram of the device dividing process.

FIG. 6 is a data structure diagram for expressing a situation of a manufacturing site for an order.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a manufacturing order determination process in a neck process.

FIG. 8 is a first explanatory diagram of determining a manufacturing order in a neck step.

FIG. 9 is a second explanatory diagram of determining a manufacturing order in a neck step.

FIG. 10 is a process explanatory view of a batch plant.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11. Process division processing unit 21 Neck process determination processing unit 22 Neck process manufacturing sequence determination processing unit 23 Process group manufacturing sequence determination processing unit 24 Manufacturing sequence adjustment processing unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kenjiro Mori 1-2-1, Yakko, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Zeon Corporation (72) Inventor Yoshio Totsuka 1015 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Fujitsu Inside (72) Inventor Kenji Aragaki 1015 Uedanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fujitsu Limited (56) References JP-A-3-104544 (JP, A) JP-A-60-135165 (JP, A) JP-A-63-298665 (JP, A) JP-A-3-196948 (JP, A) JP-A-3-166026 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) ) G06F 17/60 B23Q 41/08

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A product production planning apparatus in a batch plant for manufacturing a product through a plurality of processes including a buffer process, means for dividing all processes into a plurality of process groups with a buffer process as a boundary. Means for determining, as a neck step, a step having a high operating efficiency among all the steps; means for determining a manufacturing order of each device in the neck step so as to satisfy constraints including the delivery date of each order; Means for determining the manufacturing order of the process group based on the manufacturing order of the neck process; and, if a problem occurs when manufacturing is performed in the determined manufacturing order of each process group, the manufacturing order of the process group is changed. Hand to adjust
And a stage, wherein the product in a batch plant
Production planning equipment .