JP6842810B2 - Traceability management method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a traceability management method for parts mounted on a product.

In the vehicle manufacturing process, a wide variety of parts are mounted on the vehicle through a plurality of processes. Then, after the production of the vehicle is completed, it may be necessary to identify the vehicle on which the specific parts produced at a certain date and time or conditions are mounted. For example, if a part produced at a specific date and time is found to be defective in the market and a recall is carried out, the range of vehicles that may be loaded with the defective product is limited and the market is marketed. It is necessary to reduce the number of vehicles recalled from the market as much as possible. In this way, traceability of parts mounted on the vehicle becomes important when a recall occurs.

However, in the past, there were many cases where a management system that emphasized traceability was not sufficiently constructed for each component mounted on a vehicle. Then, in such a case, there is a problem that an excessive recall range is set with respect to the range of parts where defects are found. For example, if information is managed for each part only by the date when the part was produced, the recall range was produced on that day even if only a small part of the defective parts were produced. Since it covers all vehicles, there is a lot of waste in the cost of recall and the trouble of replacing defective parts.

To solve such a problem, for example, there is a method of managing parts by attaching an IC tag to each part (for example, Patent Document 1). In this case, by reading the IC tag with a tag reader, it is possible to read information such as the year of manufacture and the place of manufacture of the parts. In addition, a method of managing the parts by providing a reading code such as a QR code (registered trademark) for each part to record the information of the parts is also conceivable.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-48101

As described above, the method of providing an IC tag, a reading code, or the like for each component and managing the component has a problem that the cost of each component increases due to the provision of the IC tag or the like. Further, in the vehicle assembly line, there is a problem that the work of reading the IC tag and associating the vehicle with the parts on a one-to-one basis occurs for all the parts (or all the parts that require the association). there were. Especially in a vehicle, since a huge number of parts are mounted, it is not realistic to cause the above-mentioned cost increase and increase in work man-hours for each part, and more preferable measures have been required. ..

From the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a traceability management method capable of enhancing the traceability of parts mounted on a product without causing an increase in cost and work man-hours as much as possible.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention presents a parts box having a recording material in which a plurality of the above-mentioned parts are housed and the state of the housed parts is recorded in the traceability management method of the parts mounted on the product. In the process of assembling the product, in the manufacturing process of the product, when the parts are assembled, the recording material contained in the parts box containing the parts is placed in the collection position, and in the collection position. It was housed in the predetermined parts box based on the step of collecting the arranged recording material at a specific collection time, the part information of the recording material of the predetermined parts box, and the collection time of the recording material. It includes a process of limiting the range of products in which the component may be mounted.

According to this configuration, the recording material attached to the parts box is used for managing the parts information. As a result, the recording material attached to the parts box can be reused in the manufacturing process of the vehicle without increasing the cost of each part, so that the cost increase for managing the parts information is minimized. be able to. In addition, by managing the part information for each of a plurality of parts housed in the same parts box, it is possible to manage the traceability relatively as compared with the case where the parts information of each part is individually managed. The work man-hours can be reduced.

By the way, in the manufacturing process of products such as vehicles, a signboard attached to a box for accommodating parts has been conventionally used for inventory control of parts. On this signboard, parts information such as the number of parts housed in the box is recorded. Then, in the manufacturing process of the vehicle, by collecting the signboard after using the parts, the number of parts used in the assembly line is recognized and the inventory of the parts is managed.

In the present invention, in particular, by using the signboard as the recording material, it is possible to provide the recording material for managing the part information without causing an increase in cost. In addition, since the work for inventory management of parts and the work for traceability management of parts can be shared in part or in whole, it is possible to suppress an increase in work man-hours for traceability management as much as possible. ..

According to the present invention, by recording and managing part information in a recording material attached to a parts box, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost and work man-hours as much as possible and enhance traceability of parts.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the process from the production of a part to the mounting on a vehicle. It is a figure which shows the signboard attached to a box. It is a figure which shows the recall range for one mailing. It is a figure which shows the process until the part to be incorporated in an intermediate assembly is incorporated into a vehicle. It is a figure which shows the recall range of the part incorporated in an intermediate assembly. It is a figure which shows the recall range for a plurality of mailings. It is a figure which shows an example of the process until a part is transported to a vehicle assembly factory.

As shown in FIG. 1, the part 10 is a part mounted on a vehicle as a product, is produced at a parts factory K1, and is incorporated into a vehicle at a vehicle assembly factory K2.

The parts 10 are housed in a box (parts box) and transported in a predetermined quantity at the parts factory K1. In the illustrated example, every four parts 10 are sequentially housed in the boxes 11a, 11b, 11c ..., And these boxes are transported to the assembly plant K2 by the carrier 30.

At this time, a signboard (recording material) on which various information of the parts 10 is recorded is attached to each box. In the illustrated example, the signboards 12a, 12b, and 12c are attached to the boxes 11a, 11b, and 11c, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, the signboard 12 records reading information such as a barcode 31, a QR code (registered trademark) 32, and characters 33, which can be read by a reading mechanism such as a barcode reader. In addition, a figure or the like indicating information on the part may be described.

The above-mentioned reading information provided on the signboard 12 is information about the part 10 (see FIG. 1), and specifically, the production place (parts factory K1) and the destination (assembly factory K2) of the parts 10 are accommodated. Information such as the name, number, production date and time of the part 10 is described. Further, the production conditions and environmental conditions of the component 10 may be recorded. In addition, necessary information can be recorded as appropriate.

As shown in FIG. 1, the assembly plant K2 is provided with a vehicle assembly line 13. In the assembly line 13, the vehicle 14 continuously flows in the direction of the arrow A, and the vehicle 14 is assembled in sequence. The boxes 11a, 11b, and 11c transported to the assembly factory K2 are provided at predetermined locations on the assembly line 13.

The operator sequentially incorporates the parts 10 into the continuously flowing vehicle 14 at a predetermined position on the assembly line 13. In the assembly line 13, a plurality of types of vehicles are assembled, and not all vehicles 14 are equipped with the parts 10.

When supplying the part 10 to the assembly line 13, the part 10 of the box 11a is used first, and when the part 10 of the box 11a is used up, the part 10 of the next box 11b is supplied. The parts 10 are used in order of the boxes 11a, 11b, and 11c. Then, for example, when the first part 10 of the box 11a is used, the worker places (arranges) the signboard 12a attached to the box 11a at a predetermined collection position.

Then, another worker collects all the signboards placed at the collection position at predetermined time intervals. In the illustrated example, the signboards 12a and 12b are collected at the first collection time, and then the signboards 12c and 12d are collected at the next collection time.

Each of the collected signboards is read by the reading mechanism, and the information of the parts is read. As a result, the number of parts 10 used in the assembly line 13 can be acquired as information. Then, by transmitting this information to the parts factory K1, as many parts 10 as the number used can be produced at the parts factory K1 and sent to the assembly factory K2 by the transport vehicle 30. In this way, when the operator collects the signboard and reads the read information, the parts 10 can be produced at any time according to the number used and supplied to the assembly line 13. Therefore, the component 10 can be incorporated into the vehicle 14 on the assembly line 13 without causing the component to run out. The information on the parts recorded on the signboard can be read by the reading mechanism, the operator can read the information printed on the signboard, or the number of used parts 10 can be recognized by the number of signboards. There may be.

By the way, after the assembly of the vehicle is completed, it may be necessary to identify the range of the vehicle in which a specific component may be mounted.

For example, when a plurality of parts 10 produced at a specific time are found to be defective in the market, the vehicle 14 on which the defective parts 10 may be mounted is recalled from the market or the customer. Then, the work of replacing the part 10 with a non-defective product may be performed (so-called recall). The narrower the range of the vehicle on which such a defective component 10 may be mounted (hereinafter referred to as the recall range in the present embodiment) is, the more the excess vehicle is not collected, which is preferable. Then, in order to limit the recall range of the vehicle as much as possible, it is an issue to improve the traceability of the parts mounted on the vehicle.

In response to the above problems, in the present embodiment, a method of improving the traceability of parts is adopted by using the above-mentioned signboard used for inventory management of parts. Hereinafter, the traceability management method using the signboard will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the assembly line 13, the parts 10 housed in the boxes 11a, 11b, and 11c are sequentially incorporated into the vehicle 14. Then, when the first parts 10 of the boxes 11a, 11b, and 11c are used, the operator places the signboards 12a, 12b, and 12c at the collection positions, respectively. In the illustrated example, after the collection time T0, the signboards 12a and 12b are placed at the collection position, and these signboards 12a and 12b are collected by another worker at the collection time T1. Then, by reading the reading information of the signboards 12a and 12b, it is recorded that the collection time of the signboards 12a and 12b was the time T1, and the collection time T1 and the delivery box 11a (with the signboards 12a and 12b attached respectively), The part information of the part 10 housed in 11b is associated with it. The above operation is an operation performed by the operator at the time of assembling the vehicle 14.

Here, after the assembly of the vehicle 14 is completed, it is assumed that only the part 10 housed in the box 11b is a defective product (hereinafter, the part 10 housed in the box 11b is referred to as a defective part 10b). To do). Therefore, after the assembly of the vehicle 14 is completed, that is, after the assembly of the parts 10 into the vehicle 14 is completed, the individual parts 10 incorporated in the vehicle 14 cannot be distinguished from each other, and the signboard 12b associated with the defective parts 10b cannot be distinguished. The range of the vehicle 14 in which the defective component 10b may be mounted is limited by using the information of the recovery time T1 of the above.

The production time and the like of each vehicle 14 flowing through the assembly line 13 is recorded, and it is possible to know the time zone in which the component 10 is incorporated in each vehicle 14. Therefore, by limiting the time zone in which the defective component 10b is incorporated in the vehicle 14 or the like, the range of the vehicle 14 in which the defective component 10b is mounted can be limited.

First, by referring to the recorded information, it can be seen that the collection time of the signboard 12b was the time T1. From this, it can be seen that the defective parts 10b housed in the box 11b were mounted on the vehicle 14 at a time before and after the recovery time T1. Specifically, the range of the vehicle on which the defective component 10b may be mounted can be limited to the range XA consisting of the ranges B1 and B2 (hereinafter, also referred to as the recall range XA). Hereinafter, the ranges B1 and B2 will be described in order.

First, since the signboard 12b is not collected at the collection time T0 and the signboard 12b is collected at the collection time T1, at least the range from the vehicle 14a next to the collection time T0 to the vehicle 14b immediately before the collection time T1 is reached. It can be seen that the first defective part 10b of the box 11b was used for any of the vehicles of B1. Further, there is a possibility that the other defective parts 10b of the box 11b are also mounted on the vehicle in the range B1. At the collection time T1, two signboards 12a and 12b were collected, but which signboard was placed at the collection position first, in other words, which of the boxing boxes 11a and 11b was used? It is unknown whether the part 10 housed in the above was used first. Therefore, as described above, there is a possibility that the defective parts 10b are mounted on all the vehicles 14 in the range B1.

Next, the range B2 is a range set in consideration of the possibility that the defective part 10b of the delivery box 11b is not used and still remains at the time of the recovery time T1. That is, the signboard 12b is placed in the collection position by the worker when the first defective part 10b housed in the box 11b is used, and then collected by another worker. Therefore, even if the signboard 12b is collected at the collection time T1, it is not known whether or not all the defective parts 10b are already used at that time, and a maximum of 3 pieces (a maximum number of 4 pieces housed in the box 11b) are used. Defective parts 10b (the number obtained by subtracting the first one from) may still remain in the box 11b. Therefore, there is a possibility that the defective component 10b is also mounted on the vehicle 14 after the recovery time T1.

Considering the existence of the defective component 10b that may remain at the time of the recovery time T1, the range B2 in which the defective component 10b may be mounted is set. The range B2 can be set as an effective range as appropriate, but in the present embodiment, it is set to a range for three vehicles.

As described above, the defective part 10b housed in the box 11b may be mounted on the vehicle 14 in the range XA including the ranges B1 and B2. Within this recall range XA, there are nine vehicles 14 on which the component 10 is mounted. That is, since the number of vehicles 14 to be recalled is nine with respect to four defective parts 10b housed in the box 11b, the recovery rate of the vehicles is 225%. The less the excess vehicle is recovered, the closer this recovery rate is to 100%, which is preferable.

By the way, the parts to be recalled are not limited to the parts directly incorporated in the assembly line 13 of the vehicle 14 like the above-mentioned part 10. That is, there are some parts that are indirectly incorporated into the vehicle 14 by being incorporated into the intermediate assembly on the intermediate assembly line and being incorporated into the vehicle 14 on the assembly line 13. When setting the recall range for the parts indirectly incorporated in this way, it is necessary to set the range B3 in consideration of the time difference caused by the intermediate assembly in addition to the above ranges B1 and B2. Hereinafter, this range B3 will be described. Since the ranges B1 and B2 can be set by the same method as that of the component 10, the description thereof will be omitted here.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, an intermediate assembly line (assembly line) 20 is provided separately from the assembly line 13 of the vehicle 14. At the intermediate assembly line 20, the intermediate assembly 21 which is a component mounted on the vehicle 14 is assembled. The component 22 is mounted on the intermediate assembly 21.

In the assembly line 13, the vehicle 14 continuously flows in the direction of arrow A. Further, in the intermediate assembly line 20, the intermediate assembly 21 flows in the direction of the arrow B, and the component 22 is incorporated into the intermediate assembly 21 at the working position C.

In the assembly line 13, the parts 10 housed in the box 11a are incorporated in the vehicle 14. Further, in the intermediate assembly line 20, the parts 22 housed in the box (parts box) 23a are incorporated in the intermediate assembly 21.

Here, the first part 22A of the box 23a is assembled into the intermediate assembly 21A at the same time as the time when the first part 10A of the box 11a is assembled into the vehicle 14A. Then, it is assumed that the signboard 12a attached to the box 11a and the signboard (recording material) 24a attached to the box 23a are collected at the same collection time T1.

The vehicle 14 in which the component 10A is incorporated flows to a process further downstream of the assembly line 13. Further, the intermediate assembly 21A in which the component 22A is incorporated flows through the intermediate assembly line 20.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the assembly of the intermediate assembly 21A is completed, the intermediate assembly 21A is carried to the assembly line 13 and is carried to the vehicle 14F behind the vehicle 14A (upstream in the arrow A direction). It is installed in.

In this way, the parts 10A and the parts 22A are incorporated in the respective lines at the same time zone, and the respective signboards 12a and 24a are collected at the same time T1. However, since the assembly line 13 is constantly flowing during the assembly of the intermediate assembly 21A and the transportation of the intermediate assembly 21A to the assembly line 13, the vehicle in which the intermediate assembly 21A is incorporated is the part 10A. It will be the vehicle 14F behind the vehicle 14A that incorporates. In this way, the parts directly incorporated in the assembly line 13 and the parts incorporated in another line such as the intermediate assembly line and indirectly incorporated in the assembly line 13 may be incorporated in the same time zone. , There is a gap in the time zone when the vehicle is mounted on the vehicle 14. In the above example, in the former case, it is mounted on the vehicle 14A, and in the latter case, it is mounted on the vehicle 14F, and there is a difference of five vehicles. In other words, even if the parts are recovered at the same recovery time T1, considering that they are the parts used in the intermediate assembly line 20, there is a possibility that the parts 22 are mounted further to the rear by the above amount. There is.

The range B3 is a portion considering the use in the intermediate assembly line as described above. In the present embodiment, this range B3 is set for five vehicles in consideration of the working time on the intermediate assembly line 20 and the transportation time of the intermediate assembly 21 to the assembly line 13. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a required number of units can be set as appropriate.

Here, as shown in FIG. 5, among the parts 22 incorporated in the intermediate assembly 21, the part 22b housed in the box 23b is a defective product, and the signboard 24b attached to the box 23b has a recovery time T1. It shall be recovered. In this case, the recall range XB of the defective component 22b is the range B1 to B3. The ranges B1 and B2 are ranges set in the same manner as in the case of the above-mentioned component 10.

In this case, there are twelve vehicles 14 in which the component 22 (intermediate assembly 21) is mounted in the recall range XB. That is, since the number of vehicles 14 to be recalled is twelve with respect to four defective parts 22b housed in the box 23b, the recovery rate of the vehicles is 300%.

Further, if the time difference that occurs in the intermediate assembly line 20 is known in advance, the recall range XB can be limited by this amount. For example, consider the case where the time difference caused by the intermediate assembly line 20 is at least two vehicles. In this case, first, the defective part 22b corresponding to the signboard 24b recovered at the recovery time T1 is used for the first vehicle 14A in the range B1 even if it is used earliest. However, as described above, assembling by the intermediate assembly line 20 causes a time difference of at least two vehicles, so that the defective parts 22b are attached to the two vehicles of the leading vehicle 14A and the rear vehicle 14B. It will not be installed and may be installed in vehicles after vehicle 14C. In this way, if the minimum time difference caused by the intermediate assembly line 20 is known, the recall range on the head side (the side of the range B1) can be partially limited.

By the way, the above-mentioned recovery rate becomes smaller as the range of defective parts becomes larger, and approaches 100%. For example, consider the case where all the parts in the box collected by the collection times T1 to T100 are defective. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, for each recovery time T1 to T100, each recall range is set to the range X1 to X100, and the entire recall range is set to the range X.

In this case, with respect to the recall range X, extra recall ranges Y and Y are generated on both sides of the recall range X, and the range of the vehicle in which the defective parts are actually mounted is the range Xa. That is, when there are consecutive defective parts over a plurality of collection times, it is not clear at the central collection time that one of the defective parts is always mounted on the vehicle and whether or not the defective parts are mounted. Is only the time zone on both sides of it. Therefore, as the recall range becomes larger, the ratio of the time zone on the central side becomes relatively large, and conversely, the ratio of the extra recall range Y becomes relatively small. As a result, the recovery rate approaches 100%.

As described above, in the traceability management method of the present embodiment, the range of the vehicle on which the specific parts are mounted is limited as described above by recording and managing the parts information on the signboard attached to the box. be able to. As a result, even if a recall occurs in the market, for example, the recall range can be reduced.

Further, by recording and managing the parts information on the signboard, the cost of the parts does not increase unlike the method of processing the parts themselves and recording the parts information. Since the signboard attached to the box can be reused repeatedly in the manufacturing process of the vehicle, the cost increase due to the signboard can be reduced. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the signboard conventionally used for the inventory management of parts is used as the recording material, the traceability of the parts can be improved without incurring the cost increase due to the provision of the recording material.

In addition, by managing the traceability of parts on a box-by-box basis, traceability management can be performed, for example, the number of times a signboard is placed at the collection position can be reduced as much as possible compared to the case where each part is managed individually. It is possible to reduce the work load for. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the work of placing the signboard at the collection position and the work of collecting the signboard are conventionally performed for parts management, the work man-hours increased for traceability management are minimized. Can be fastened to.

By the way, when the traceability of parts is managed on a box-by-box basis, it is not possible to distinguish each part housed in the same box, but this does not cause a big problem. That is, the parts housed in the same box are often produced under the same production conditions and environmental conditions. Therefore, for example, as in the present embodiment, when it is necessary to improve traceability for the purpose of limiting the recall range, and when one of the parts housed in a certain box is defective, the other parts. There is also a high possibility that these parts are defective, and there is little need to distinguish between these parts. In this way, by managing the traceability of parts on a box-by-box basis, it is possible to realize a traceability management method that has both the convenience of reducing the labor of work as much as possible and the aspect of practicality.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

In the above description, it is assumed that the operator performs the work of incorporating the component 10 into the vehicle 14 and the work of collecting the signboard at the collection position, but these operations may be automated by a machine.

In the above embodiment, for the purpose of managing the traceability of the parts mounted on the vehicle, a case where a part of the parts is found to be defective and a recall occurs is illustrated. However, the purpose of managing the traceability of parts is not limited to this. For example, it can also be used for the purpose of investigating the cause of a performance difference in the normal quality range of each vehicle.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the case where the part 10 is produced at the parts factory K1 and directly transported to the vehicle assembly factory K2 is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a warehouse K3 for temporarily storing the parts 10 may be passed between the parts factory K1 and the assembly factory K2 of the parts 10. The parts 10 produced at the parts factory K1 are housed in the production side box 15 of the parts factory K1 and transported to the warehouse K3. Then, it is subdivided in the warehouse K3 and housed in the respective boxes (parts boxes) 11a to 11d, and the signboards (recording materials) 12a to 12d are attached to the respective boxes 11a to 11d. Each of the boxes 11a to 11d is transported to the assembly factory K2 and used for the vehicle assembly line. A production side signboard 16 is attached to the production side box 15, and information such as the production date and time of the part 10 is recorded on the production side signboard 16. When the parts 10 are subdivided into the boxes 11a to 11d in the warehouse K3, it is necessary to associate the production side signboard 16 with each signboard 12a to 12d. As a result, information such as the production date and time of the component 10 can be finally associated with the vehicle on which the component 10 is mounted, and the traceability of the component 10 can be enhanced. Further, a factory for assembling an intermediate assembly on which the parts 10 are mounted may be provided between the parts factory K1 and the vehicle assembly factory K2.

10 Parts 11 Box (parts box)
12 Signboard (recording material)
13 Assembly line 14 Vehicle (product)
20 Intermediate assembly line (assembly line)
21 Intermediate assembly 22 Parts X, XA, XB Recall range

Claims (1)

In the traceability management method of the parts mounted on the product
A process of providing a parts box having a recording material in which a plurality of the above-mentioned parts are housed and recording the state of the housed parts to an assembly line for incorporating the parts.
In the manufacturing process of the product, when the parts are incorporated, the step of arranging the recording material contained in the parts box containing the parts at the collection position, and
A step of recovering the recording material arranged at the recovery position at a specific recovery time, and
A step of limiting the range of products in which the parts contained in the predetermined parts box may be mounted, based on the part information of the recording material of the predetermined parts box and the collection time of the recording material. Traceability management methods including and.

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