JP3215499B2 - Operation optimization system for production machines - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for optimizing an operation schedule of a production machine, and in particular, to optimize an operation schedule of a production machine for performing a predetermined processing on an item to be processed by operating a plurality of units. To a device that

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent production processes, a large number of production machines are generally operated to perform mass production. However, there are many custom-made products such as printed materials and building materials, and it is necessary to supply a very large number of products. Therefore,
In general, a schedule table is created for each production machine, which indicates which items should be processed and in which order, and actual production processing is performed based on the schedule table. Therefore, in order to improve productivity, it is necessary to draft a schedule table that is as efficient as possible.
From such a demand, an operation schedule planning device using a computer has been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-325
No. 56, JP-A-3-256657, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2
Japanese Patent Application No. -226291 discloses an operation schedule planning device using a computer capable of planning an efficient operation schedule for sequentially processing a plurality of items by operating a plurality of production machines and operating the plurality of production machines.

[0003]

[0003] Among production machines, there is a machine that operates a plurality of units to perform predetermined processing on an item to be processed. For example, in a printing machine that performs color printing using three colors of Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan), separate units are used to print each color of Y, M, and C, and the printing is performed in a superimposed manner. I try to print. When printing is sequentially performed on a plurality of items using such a printing machine, it is necessary to convey and replace parts such as a plate cylinder used in each unit each time the items change. Such transfer and replacement of parts takes time and effort, and causes a reduction in overall production efficiency. However, the currently proposed scheduling device does not consider even the production efficiency related to the transfer and replacement of such components, and therefore, at present, an optimal scheduling is not always performed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for optimizing the operation schedule of a production machine capable of optimizing a planned schedule in consideration of production efficiency relating to parts replacement.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems (1) The first invention of the present application is an apparatus for optimizing an operation schedule of a production machine that performs a predetermined processing on an item to be processed by operating a plurality of units. Storage means for holding a schedule table in which a plurality of items to be processed are arranged in the order of processing, and a use parts table indicating parts used in each unit for each item in the schedule table; On the other hand, an input means for inputting a schedule table and a used parts table, and a common point indicating commonality of parts to be used is calculated based on the used parts table for an arbitrary item and another one item. A predetermined correction range is set for the commonality point calculation means and the schedule table, and the item located immediately before this correction range is set as the first reference item, and The processing order is determined as the item having the largest commonality point for the quasi-item as the item following the reference item, and the commonality point for the criterion item is determined as A processing order changing means for sequentially changing the processing order of the largest item as the succeeding item for the correction range, and an output means for outputting a schedule table changed by the processing order changing means. It is. This
According to the device of the above, the schedule table within the predetermined correction range is
Items with common parts as much as possible
Since the processing order is changed,
Saves time and labor for transporting and replacing parts
You.

(2) The second invention of the present application is directed to the apparatus according to the first invention, in which it is determined whether or not a time condition such as a timing of receiving raw materials does not affect the items whose processing order has been changed. A time condition judging means for judging is further provided, and the processing order changing means changes the processing order within a range in which no trouble occurs, based on the judgment result. This
This prevents problems caused by changing the processing order.
Can be passed. (3) The third invention of the present application is the device according to the first or second invention, wherein a plurality of items having the largest commonality point are compared with the reference item whose i-th processing order is determined. If there are, when the plurality of candidates are provisionally selected in the (i + 1) -th processing order,
The sum of the common points of the items that may be assigned to the tentatively selected item in the (i + 2) th processing order is determined, and the candidate having the largest total of the common points is determined as the (i + 1) th process They are determined in order. As a result, sharing of three consecutive items
It is possible to change the processing order in consideration of the comprehensiveness. (4) The fourth invention of the present application provides the device according to the above-described first to third inventions, in which a first point is given when the same unit uses the same part, and when different units use the same part. , A second point is set, the first point is set larger than the second point, and a total value of points for all of the plurality of units is used as a commonality point. This allows
Only the commonality that the same parts are used continuously
And the same parts are used continuously by the same unit
The processing order is changed with emphasis on commonality.
Thus, a more efficient processing order can be determined.

[0007]

[Operation] When the processing for one item is performed and then the processing for the next item is started, it is very efficient if the same parts can be used for each unit. This is because if the components used in each unit are common, it is not necessary to replace components even if the item changes. The basic idea of the present invention is to change the schedule so that the parts used in each unit can be processed continuously as common as possible,
An object of the present invention is to save labor and time for transporting and exchanging parts at the time of item switching. In the apparatus of the present invention, the commonality of the used parts between any two items is quantitatively evaluated by the commonality point calculating means. For example,
A predetermined common point can be defined between any item A and item B. The greater the point of commonality, the more labor and time required for transporting and exchanging parts when switching from item A to item B. The processing order changing means has a function of changing the processing order of the items so that the common point for the items to be processed successively before and after is improved. Therefore, by this change, the schedule can be optimized.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a production machine operation schedule optimization device according to the present invention. This apparatus includes an input unit 10, a storage unit 20, a common point calculation unit 30, a processing order changing unit 40, a time condition calculation unit 50, and an output unit 60. The purpose of this device is to optimize the operation schedule of a production machine that performs a predetermined processing on an item to be processed by operating a plurality of units. The schedule table 21 and the used component table 2 are input from the input unit 10.
2 is stored in the storage means 20. The schedule table 21 is a table in which a plurality of items to be processed are arranged in the order of processing, and the used parts table 22 indicates the parts used in each unit for each item in the schedule table. The commonality point calculating means 30 has a function of calculating a commonality point indicating commonality of parts to be used for an arbitrary one item and another one item based on the used part table 22. The order changing means 40 has a function of changing the processing order of the items so that the commonality point of the items processed continuously before and after with respect to the schedule table 21 is improved. At this time, an instruction relating to the processing order change can be input to the processing order changing means 40 from the input means 10. Also,
The time condition calculating means 50 has a function of determining whether or not a time condition such as a raw material arrival time does not affect the items whose processing order has been changed. Finally, the schedule table changed by the processing order changing means 40 is output to the output means 60.
Output by

Although the basic components of the device according to the present invention have been described briefly, each of these components is actually realized by using a computer. That is, the commonality point calculating means 30, the processing order changing means 40, and the time condition calculating means 50 are realized by a computer having software for executing the above-described functions, and the storage means 2
0 is realized by a storage device such as a magnetic disk connected to the computer. Also, the input means 10
This is hardware for inputting data to the computer, and may be an input device for inputting data manually by an operator, such as a keyboard or a mouse, or a schedule table 21 created by another computer system. An interface device for loading data such as the component table 22 into the computer may be used. The output unit 60 may be any device as long as it can output the schedule table optimized by the computer in some form. For example, if a display device is used, the output unit 60 may be optimized. The optimized schedule table can be displayed on the screen, and if a printer is used, the optimized schedule table can be output on paper.

Here, the operation of this apparatus will be described by taking as an example a case where the operation schedule of a printing press as shown in FIG. 2 is optimized. The printing press shown in FIG. 2 pulls out the winding material R prepared as the paper feed roll 100 from the leading end, and uses three units X, Y, and Z, each having a different color (for example, Y, M, C). This is a printing machine that performs color printing by performing printing and winding up the wound-up material R after printing as a discharge roll 200. In the unit X, the winding material R is rotated while the impression cylinder 1 and the cylinder 2 are rotated.
And the image formed on the surface of the cylinder 2 is transferred to the ink 3.
Is transferred onto the winding material R. Similarly, in the unit Y, the winding material R is rotated while the impression cylinder 4 and the cylinder 5 are rotated.
And the image formed on the surface of the cylinder 5 is transferred to the ink 6.
Is transferred to the winding material R, and in the unit Z, the impression cylinder 7
Transporting the winding material R while rotating the
The image formed on the surface of the cylinder 8 is transferred to the winding material R by the ink 9. In this manner, color printing with the inks 3, 6, and 9 is performed on the surface of the winding material R. Now, let's consider a case where many types of wallpaper are printed using this printing machine. For example, when printing is performed on ten items A to J, a table as shown in FIG. 3 is created. This table is a table having both the schedule table 21 and the used parts table 22. That is, a portion in which the items A to J are arranged corresponding to the processing orders 1 to 10 is the schedule table 21, and the cylinder number (1) used in each unit X, Y, Z corresponding to each of the items A to J. ~
The part indicated by 8) is the used component table 22. Different plates are formed on the surface of each cylinder,
Cylinder numbers 1 to 8 correspond to plate numbers. For example,
For the item A whose processing order is the first, the cylinder No. 4 is set in the unit X to print the Y color, the cylinder No. 5 is set in the unit Y to print the M color, and the cylinder No. 3 is printed. Is set in the unit Z to perform C color printing. In FIG. 3, item D and item F
This means that printing is performed by setting the same cylinder in the same unit. For example, if the ink color and the paper quality of the winding material are different, the product after printing will be different.

The schedule table 21 and the used component table 22 as shown in FIG.
It is input to 0. Such a table can be created manually by a scheduler or can be created using a computer. For example, JP
JP-A-32556, JP-A-3-256657,
Japanese Patent Application No. 2-226291 discloses a technique for creating the schedule table 21 using a computer. It is an object of the present invention to optimize a schedule table 21 created manually or by a computer. More specifically, by changing the processing order of the items A to J, the frequency of component replacement (cylinder replacement in this example) when the item is switched is reduced.

First, the function of the common point calculation means 30 will be specifically described based on an example shown in FIG. The common point calculated by the common point calculating means 30 is a factor indicating the commonality of parts between two items. Any factor may be defined as long as the commonality of parts can be shown. For example,
If the same unit uses the same cylinder (when transfer and exchange can be made more efficient), point 2 is defined, and if different units use the same cylinder (only transfer can be made more efficient), point 1 is defined. The specific common point can be obtained as follows. For example, in the example of FIG. 3, the commonality points for the items AB are point 2 because the unit Y uses the same fifth cylinder, and point 2 because the unit Z also uses the same third cylinder. It will be point 4. On the other hand, the commonality point for the items BC is point 2 because the unit Y uses the same cylinder No. 5, and point 1 because the unit Y is a different unit but uses the same cylinder No. 8. It will be point 3. Here, the larger the point, the more labor and time required for cylinder replacement when switching between the two items. For example, in the switching between the items A and B at which the point 4 is obtained, it is only necessary to exchange the cylinder X from the fourth cylinder to the eighth cylinder. Further, in the switching between the items B and C at which the point 3 is obtained, it is necessary to prepare and set a new cylinder No. 1 in the unit X, but it is not necessary to replace it in the unit Y. Only needs to attach the No. 8 cylinder removed in unit X as it is. However, the above-described point definitions are merely examples, and various other point definitions can be adopted. For example,
Comparing the load of the transfer work and the load of the exchange work, if the former is much higher than the latter, it is more preferable to define point 1 for both the same unit and the same cylinder and different units and the same cylinder. . Conversely, if the latter is extremely higher than the former, it is preferable to define the case of different units and cylinders as point 0. As described above, the definition of the commonality point may be determined in consideration of the actual situation. The processing order changing means 40 changes the processing order of the items so that the commonality point is improved as much as possible. Here, a specific example of performing a process of changing the processing order on the range surrounded by the thick frame in FIG. 4, that is, the items D to I will be described below.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure of the processing order changing means 40 in the apparatus shown in FIG.
Hereinafter, this processing procedure will be described in detail based on this flowchart. First, in step S1, a correction range is specified. In other words, the input from the input unit 10 to the processing order changing unit 40 is performed to specify a correction range as indicated by a thick frame in FIG . When the correction range is designated in this way , all the items D to I within this range are undetermined items. The following processing aims to determine the optimum processing order for each of these undetermined items. As a basic policy, the item corresponding to the processing order 4 is determined first, then the item corresponding to the processing order 5 is determined, and so on. When the processing order is determined for all the items, the procedure is completed. That is, step S2
If it is determined that there is no undetermined item, the process of this flowchart ends. In step S3, a reference item is set. That is, first, the fixed item located immediately before the correction range is set as the reference item. For example, in the example of FIG. 4, the confirmed item C located immediately before the item D in the correction range is the reference item. Hereinafter, a process for assigning the item having the highest commonality point to the reference item in the next processing order is executed.

In step S4, for the reference item C set in step S3, a commonality point is calculated for each of the items D to I that are currently undecided. That is, in the common point calculation means 3, the items CD,
The common point for the combination of CE, CF, CG, CH, and CI is calculated. Here, these common points are referred to as main common points MP. Hereinafter, a specific main common point MP will be described. Here, for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that the load of the replacement work is extremely higher than the load of the transfer work, and point 2 is given only when the same unit uses the same cylinder. In the case of (1), no point is given. (As described above, point 1 can be given when different units use the same cylinder. However, here, since the description is complicated, In such cases, point 0 is assumed). After all,
In the example shown in FIG. 4, for the reference item C, the item D has 0 points, the item E has 2 points, the item F has 0 points, the item G has 4 points, the item H has 4 points, the item I has 4 points, Is obtained.

In the following step S5, an initial value of the candidate reference point Q is set. Here, the candidate criterion point Q is a factor that determines a criterion suitable for a candidate for an item to be allocated in the processing order 4. Here, 6 points, which is the maximum value that the main common point MP can take, is set as an initial value of Q. I do. In the next step S6, one item is extracted from the high point side of the main common point MP.
In the above example, for example, an item G indicating 4 points is extracted. Then, in step S7, MP ≧ Q
Is determined. In this example, since MP = 4 and Q = 6, a negative determination is made in step S7, and the branch A
Then, the process proceeds to step S12 in FIG. In this step S12, the presence or absence of a candidate item is determined, but since no candidate has been found yet, the process proceeds to step S19, and the candidate reference point Q is reduced by one. That is, the criteria for candidates are somewhat relaxed. Here, the process returns from step S20 to step S6 via branch C. In this case, Q = 5. However, a negative determination is made in step S7, and step S12 is performed.
, Through step S19, it is reduced to Q = 4.

When the item G indicating 4 points is extracted again in step S6, the process proceeds to step S7.
Is affirmatively determined, and the process proceeds to step S8. In step S8, time calculation is performed on the item (item G in this example) extracted in step S6. That is, when the item G is changed to the next rank (the processing order 4) of the reference item C by the time condition calculating means 50, it is determined whether or not the time condition such as the arrival time of the raw material does not interfere. Is done. According to the original schedule table shown in FIG. 4, the item G is assigned to the processing order 7, but if this is changed to the processing order 4, the processing time for the item G is increased. In this case, item G
If the raw materials necessary to carry out the processing of the item G are not prepared, or if the pre-processing of the item G has not been completed, even if the schedule is changed, the processing of the item G is actually performed. You won't be able to get started. Step S8 is a process for determining whether or not there is any problem with respect to such a temporal condition when the processing order is changed so that the extracted item is brought next to the reference item. If there is no problem, in step S10, the extracted item is registered as a candidate item. If there is a problem, the process branches from step S9 to step S11, and registration as a candidate item is not performed.

In step S11, it is determined whether or not undetermined items not extracted in step S6 still remain. If there are remaining items, the process returns from step S11 to step S6. In the above example, the main common point M
Since there are three items G, H, and I that have 4 points of P, these three items are sequentially extracted in step S6. If the time condition is not affected in step S9, the three items are extracted. Each of the two items is registered in step S10 as a candidate item. Here, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that there is no problem in terms of time for the items G and H, but it is assumed that if the item I is advanced to the processing order 4, the raw materials cannot be received in time, so that a problem occurs. In this case, only two items, item G and item H, are registered as candidate items in step S10. Subsequently, steps S11 to S11 are performed again.
Returning to 6, here, the item E whose main common point is 2 points is extracted. However, in the next step S7, a negative determination is made because Q = 4, and the process proceeds to step S12 via branch A. By the way, in step S12, item G and item H have already been set as candidate items.
Is registered, a positive determination is made, and the process proceeds to step S13. As described above, the procedure from step S6 to step S12 is, in short, a process of registering, as the candidate item, the item having the highest main commonality point MP with respect to the reference item C and having no hindrance to the time condition. . In the above example, the main common point M
Two items G and H with P = 4 have been registered as candidate items.

The following steps S13 to S16 are processes for selecting only one optimum item from a plurality of candidate items. In the above example, the main common point M
Only one of the items G and H, each of which has four points P, which is optimal to be assigned in the processing order 4 is selected. The basic policy of this selection criterion is as follows. That is, assuming that the item G is assigned to the processing order 4, the total value of the commonality points of the items G that may be assigned to the next processing order 5 (here, this common (The commonality point will be referred to as the sub-commonality point SP for the item G.)
Ask for. Subsequently, in the same manner, the item H is temporarily processed in the processing order 4.
In this case, the total value of the commonality points (sub-commonity points SP for the item H) for each item that may be allocated in the next processing order 5 is determined for the item H. In this way, the candidate item having the maximum sub-commonality point is finally selected. Specifically, it is as follows. First, in step S13, one candidate item is selected as a temporarily selected item. For example, item G is selected as a temporarily selected item. Then, in step S14, the sub common point SP for the item G is calculated. That is, assuming that the item G is assigned to the processing order 4, for each of the items D, E, F, H, and I that may be assigned to the next processing order 5, a common point for the item G is obtained. Item D has 0 points, item E has 4 points, item F has 0 points, item H has 4 points, and item I has 2 points. Therefore, the total value is 10 points. As a result, the sub-common point SP for the item G is 10 points. Such calculation of the sub common point SP is executed for all candidate items in step S15.
Therefore, another candidate item H is selected as the temporarily selected item, and the same calculation is executed. That is, assuming that the item H is assigned to the processing order 4, for each of the items D, E, F, G, and I that may be assigned to the next processing order 5, a common point for the item H is obtained. Item D is 2 points, item E is 2 points, item F is 2 points, item G is 4 points, and item I is 2 points, so the total value is 12 points. As a result, the number of sub-common points SP for the item H is 12 points.

Thus, in step S16, the candidate item H having the larger sub-commonality point SP is selected. In step S17, the selected item H is moved to the position below the current reference item C, that is, the position of the processing order 4. It is decided.
The table shown in FIG. 7 shows a state in which the items up to the processing order 4 are determined in this way. Thereafter, in step S18, the time calculation up to the confirmed item is performed. That is, the time required to execute the processing in the order of processing 1 to 4 (up to the confirmed item H) is calculated. The result of this calculation is
It will be used later for time calculation in step S8. When one item is determined in this way, the process from step S2 is executed again via the branch B, and the item to be assigned in the processing order 5 is set by setting the item H as the reference item. FIG. 8 shows a state where all the items are determined by repeating such processing. The table shown in FIG. 8 is output by the output means 60. By comparing the table before the change shown in FIG. 3 with the table after the change shown in FIG. 8, it can be understood that the frequency of cylinder replacement at the time of item switching is reduced, and the schedule is more efficient.

In step S19 of FIG. 6, if Q = 0 when the candidate reference point Q is decreased, the process proceeds from step S20 to step S21.
Branch to select an undetermined item and confirm it. The fact that the candidate item could not be selected even if the candidate reference point Q was reduced to 1 indicates that all items have low commonality with the current reference item. Item according to
There is no problem even if you select and confirm. Also, in step S16, when there are a plurality of candidate items having the maximum sub-commonality point SP, one of them is selected in consideration of even the commonality of the processing order thereunder. Although it does not matter, either one of them may be arbitrarily selected because the calculation becomes complicated.

Although the present invention has been described based on the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, but can be implemented in various other modes. For example, the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are shown as an example of a specific procedure, and the present invention is not limited to only such a procedure.

[0022]

As described above, according to the apparatus for optimizing the operation schedule of a production machine according to the present invention, the commonality of parts is quantitatively evaluated for each item, and those having high commonality are continuously processed. Since the schedule is changed as described above, it is possible to provide an optimal schedule that takes into account even the production efficiency related to parts replacement.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a production machine operation schedule optimization device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a production machine to which the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is applied.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schedule table and a used component table before being optimized by the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which a correction range for optimization is specified for the table shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a first half of a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a processing order changing means 40 in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a latter half of a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the processing order changing means 40 in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an intermediate stage in which the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 performs optimization on the table shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state in which the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has optimized the table shown in FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 4, 7 ... impression cylinders 2, 5, 8 ... cylinders 3, 6, 9 ... ink 10 ... input means 20 ... storage means 21 ... schedule table 22 ... used part table 30 ... common point calculation means 40 ... processing order Changing means 50: Time condition calculating means 60: Output means 100: Feeding roll 200: Discharge roll R: Winding material

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Nagako Fujimoto 1-1-1, Ichigaya-Kaga-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A 4-150099 (JP, A) JP-A-4-305456 (JP, A) JP-A-5-12305 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G05B 19/418 B41F 33/16 G06F 17/60

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus for optimizing an operation schedule of a production machine for performing a predetermined processing on an item to be processed by operating a plurality of units, wherein the plurality of items to be processed are processed in the order of processing. Storage means for holding an arranged schedule table and a use component table indicating components used in each unit for each item in the schedule table; and for the storage means, the schedule table and the use component table input means for inputting, for the another one item and any one item, and commonality point calculating means for commonality point showing the commonality of parts to be used, calculates on the basis of the use part table, the expected Set the specified correction range for the table and
Item immediately before the correction range of the
And the point of commonality with the reference item is the largest
The order of processing items as items following the above-mentioned reference item
After that, the items for which the processing order has been newly determined will be
As a sub-item, the common point for this base item is
Change the processing order with the largest item as the succeeding item
Processing order changing means for sequentially performing the further processing on the correction range
And an output means for outputting the schedule table changed by the processing order changing means. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a time condition determining means for determining whether or not a time condition such as a timing of receiving raw materials does not hinder the item whose processing order has been changed, An operation schedule optimization device for a production machine, wherein the processing order changing means changes the processing order within a range where no trouble occurs based on the determination result. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
hand, For the reference item for which the i-th processing order has been determined,
When there are multiple items with the highest passability points
Is (i + 1) th for each of the plurality of candidates.
When the product is temporarily selected in the processing order,
(I +2) assigned to the processing order
Calculate the sum of the commonality points of the possible items and calculate this
The candidate with the largest total commonality point is identified as the (i +
1) A production machine characterized in that the processing order is determined.
Operation schedule optimization device. 4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
And First point when the same unit uses the same parts
When different units use the same parts.
Giving a second point, said first point to said second point
Points larger than the number of
Total point value of
Optimizing device for operation schedule of production machine characterized by using
Place.