JP7306183B2 - Process design support device, process design support method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a process design support device, a process design support method, and a computer program.

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a work organization method that allocates work to each process in consideration of the work order and work amount in each process of an assembly line that assembles products (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the technique described in Patent Literature 1, the time and cost are calculated in advance for each process performed by a human and a robot. This technique uses pre-calculated time and costs to optimize the work allocated to each process.

JP 2018-26070 A

The technique described in Patent Literature 1 can optimize the work allocation when the number of works and the number of processes are small. However, when the number of tasks and the number of processes increase, the number of combinations of tasks and processes to which tasks are allocated becomes enormous. Derivation of allocation is difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to derive an optimized work allocation or a near-optimal work allocation even when the number of tasks and processes is large.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can be implemented as the following modes. A process design support device, comprising a plurality of tasks, a work time for each task, work information including a work order of the plurality of tasks, and an upper limit value of cumulative work time for a process consisting of one or more tasks. and a generation unit that generates candidates for division positions of the work order when distributing the plurality of works to the process, wherein the work order acquired by the information acquisition unit a generation unit that generates, as the candidates, a plurality of edges that connect one task and another task preceding the one task, the plurality of edges identified from the above, and distributes the plurality of tasks to the steps; and an output for outputting a search result of the search unit, for searching from the candidates for the division position in which the total work time of the work included in each of the steps is equal to or less than the upper limit value. and a storage unit that associates the division position immediately after a specific work with the minimum process time and the maximum process time of a process including the specific work, and The process design support device, wherein the generation unit narrows down candidates from the generated candidates using the minimum process time and the maximum process time stored in the storage unit. In addition, the present invention can also be implemented as the following modes.

(1) According to one aspect of the present invention, a process design support device is provided. This process design support device includes a plurality of works, a work time for each work, work information including the work order of the plurality of works, an upper limit value of the cumulative work time for a process consisting of one or more works, and a generation unit that generates candidates for division positions of the work order when distributing the plurality of works to the process, wherein the work order acquired by the information acquisition unit a generation unit that generates, as the candidates, a plurality of specified edges that connect one task to another task preceding the one task, and the tasks of the tasks included in each of the steps; A searching unit that searches the candidates for the division position whose total time is equal to or less than the upper limit, and an output unit that outputs a search result of the searching unit.

According to this configuration, all edges connecting one work and another work that precedes the one work in the work order are generated as candidates for division positions for dividing the work order. That is, in this configuration, a number of division position candidates is generated that is smaller than the number of combinations of operations to which all operations are allocated to any of the processes and processes to which the operations are allocated. Then, the search unit searches for a division position such that the total work time of all works included in each process is equal to or less than the upper limit value. Therefore, the search unit determines the division position from the reduced number of division position candidates. That is, in this configuration, work allocation candidates whose search is useless are removed and the number of combinations of division position candidates is suppressed. improve sexuality.

(2) In the process design support device of the aspect described above, the generation unit may narrow down candidates from the generated candidates for which the variation in the total time between the processes may be equal to or less than a preset initial variation value. .
According to this configuration, the generating section can narrow down the number of combinations searched by the searching section using the initial variation value. As a result, the search unit can calculate a value close to the optimum within the range of the initial variation value while suppressing the time required to search for the division position.

(3) In the process design support device of the aspect described above, further, when the division position is immediately after a specific work, the division position, the minimum process time and the maximum process time of the process including the specific work, and the generation unit narrows down candidates from the generated candidates using the minimum process time and the maximum process time stored in the storage unit and the initial variation value It's okay.
According to this configuration, the storage unit stores the minimum process time and the maximum process time when a series of tasks including a specific task is performed. Therefore, the generation unit can narrow down the candidates for the division position while saving the amount of calculation by using the minimum process time and the maximum process time of the process including the specific work and the initial variation value. As a result, the search unit can calculate an optimal process design or a near-optimal process design in less time.

(4) In the process design support device of the above aspect, the information acquisition unit further acquires information on work constraints between the two works when at least two works are allocated to each of the processes, and The unit selects the candidate division position that satisfies the work constraints acquired by the information acquisition unit and that the total work time in one or more works performed in each of the steps is equal to or less than the upper limit value. You can search from
According to this configuration, the search unit searches for a division position that satisfies work constraints between two processes (for example, constraints that one work and another work must be allocated to different processes) from the candidates. do. Therefore, the search unit can determine feasible division positions that satisfy various conditions according to work constraints, among division position candidates for which the total work time is equal to or less than the upper limit value.

(5) In the process design support device of the aspect described above, the output unit may display the candidates generated by the generation unit together with the work order.
According to this configuration, since the division position candidates are displayed together with the work order, the user viewing the output result can intuitively grasp the work order and the division position candidates.

(6) In the process design support device of the above aspect, the output unit may display the part shape to be manufactured after the work in at least one work together with the candidate and the work order.
According to this configuration, the user viewing the output result can visually recognize the shape of the part to be manufactured after the work together with the work order and division position candidates, so that the user can intuitively grasp the division position candidates for the work order. .

It should be noted that the present invention can be implemented in various aspects, for example, a process design support device, a work distribution support device, a process design support system, devices and systems provided with these, a process design support method, a work The distribution support method, a computer program for executing these systems and methods, a server device for distributing this computer program, a non-temporary storage medium storing the computer program, etc. can be realized.

1 is a block diagram of a process design support system including a process design support device as an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of work information stored in a work information storage unit; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of information stored in a process time storage unit; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a plurality of edges; It is a display image when influential process division position groups are superimposed on the dendrogram. It is a display image of the search result of the search unit output from the output unit. It is a display image of the search result of the search unit output from the output unit. It is a display image of the search result of the search unit output from the output unit. It is a flowchart of the process design support method in this embodiment. FIG. 11 is a relational diagram of a dominant process dividing position group and a work order in a modified example;

<Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a process design support system 100 including a process design support device 1 as an embodiment of the present invention. The process design support system 100 of this embodiment is a system that supports the determination of work allocation to each process when distributing a plurality of works to be performed when manufacturing a specific product to a plurality of processes. As shown in FIG. 1, the process design support system 100 determines work allocation to each process using a storage unit 2 storing information about each work and information stored in the storage unit 2. Equipped with a process design support device 1, work constraints 3 input to the process design support device 1 via an input device such as a keyboard, and a monitor 4 for displaying output results output from the process design support device 1. ing.

The storage unit 2 is composed of a hard disk drive (HDD) or the like. As shown in FIG. 1 , the storage section 2 includes a work information storage section 21 and a process time storage section 22 . The work information storage unit 21 stores work information including a plurality of works to be performed until a specific product is manufactured, a work sequence in which the work is performed, and a work time required when the work is performed. , are associated with each other and stored.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of work information stored in the work information storage unit 21. As shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows a list table TB21 that associates a work name 211 corresponding to each work, a work list 212 representing the order of work, and a work time 213 required when each work is performed. there is As shown in the table TB21, in the example of the entry E295 in this embodiment, "element work 295" is attached as the work name. In the work list 212 of the table TB21, the number of the work name 211 corresponding to the work list 212 is stored on the leftmost side, and other work that needs to be done prior to the work corresponding to the work name 211 is stored on the right side. First name 211 is associated. Briefly, in the work list 212, the work name 211 corresponding to one work and the work names 211 corresponding to other work preceding the one work are associated. For example, element operation 295 of entry E295 is an operation in which a part manufactured in element operation 23 and a part manufactured in element operation 26 are combined. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that each part from parts 1 to 294 is a procured part and that there are parts that can be used without waiting for delivery. is set to zero. Therefore, the work name 211, work list 212, and work time 213 in FIG. 2 show the part entry E295 as the first work. The work time 213 is the time required for the corresponding work to be performed in the process. For example, in entry E295, work time 213 required to perform component work 295 is 3.43 seconds (s).

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of information stored in the process time storage unit 22. As shown in FIG. FIG. 3 shows a minimum process time 222 and a maximum process time 223 required for each work to be a division position of the process. The minimum process time 222 for a specific work is the time required when only the work is performed in the process. On the other hand, the maximum process time 223 is the sum of the time required for a specific work and the time required for performing all the work required until the specific work is performed. FIG. 3 shows a table TB22 listing divided work names 221 representing specific works to be divided, minimum process times 222, and maximum process times 223 in correspondence with each other. For example, in entry E295, minimum process time 222 and maximum process time 223 are the same, 3.43 (s). On the other hand, in entry E545, the minimum process time 222 is 10.00 (s) and the maximum process time 223 is 123.73 (s). Tables TB21 and TB22 in FIGS. 2 and 3 are used for later-described processing performed by the process design support device 1. FIG.

A work constraint 3 shown in FIG. 1 is a constraint when a plurality of tasks stored in the storage unit 2 are divided into a plurality of steps. The work constraint 3 includes the tact time TT (upper limit) of each process used to manufacture a specific product, and the work allocation conditions between specific works when work is allocated to the process. there is The tact time TT is the time during which each process can perform work, that is, the upper limit of the cumulative work time for a process consisting of one or more tasks. The work distribution condition is, for example, when at least two works are allocated to each process, such as the element work 545 and the element work 554 shown in FIGS. This is information on constraints between tasks. Note that these constraints may be constraints set between three or more tasks.

The process design support device 1 is composed of a so-called personal computer (PC). The process design support device 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory), which are not shown in FIG. The process design support apparatus 1 executes various functions by the CPU expanding the computer program stored in the ROM into the RAM and executing it.

The process design support device 1 includes an information acquisition unit 11 that acquires information related to work stored in the storage unit 2 and information on the input work constraints 3, and a generation unit that generates candidates for division positions for dividing the work order. a search unit 13 for searching for a division position from the division position candidates generated by the generation unit 12; and an output unit 14 for outputting the search result of the search unit 13 to the monitor 4.

When distributing a plurality of operations for manufacturing a product to two or more processes, it is necessary to determine the division position for dividing one operation and another operation in the order of operations. The generation unit 12 generates a plurality of edges identified from the work order as candidates for the division position. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a plurality of edges ED. FIG. 4 shows a tree diagram TR that is composed of a plurality of edges ED indicated by straight lines connecting each work (for example, inside the dashed lines in FIG. 4) and representing the order of work. In other words, in the dendrogram TR, each task is indicated by an intersection point IS of a plurality of straight lines, and a plurality of edges ED are indicated as a plurality of straight lines connecting the respective tasks. In the present embodiment, the generation unit 12 generates a tree diagram TR when generating division position candidates. Element operations 545, 554, 574, and 587 are shown in the dendrogram TR of the present embodiment. Also shown are parts PT545, PT554, PT574 that are completed after each component operation 545, 554, 574 is performed. Note that the three-dimensional shape of the part completed after each work is performed is stored in the work information storage unit 21 .

In the order of operations shown in entries E545 and E554 in FIG. 2 and in FIG. 4, element operation 545 is performed after element operations 496 and 502, and element operation 554 is performed after element operations 515 and 526. As shown in entry E 574 of FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, component operation 574 is performed after component operation 545 connected by edge ED1 ₅₇₄ and operation ₅₅₄ connected by edge ED2 574 . That is, in the element work 574, the part PT545 manufactured in the work of the element work 545 and the part PT554 manufactured in the work of the element work 554 are combined. After that, the work after elemental work 574 is performed, and when the last elemental work 587 is performed, the product is completed. Hereinafter, the side closer to the work of completing the product will be called the upper side, and the opposite side will be called the lower side.

In addition, the generation unit 12 determines that the total work time in each process is equal to or less than the takt time TT based on the takt time TT included in the work constraint 3 and the work time when all the work is performed in one process. Calculate the number. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the work time when all the work is done in one process is 2744.68 seconds, which is the maximum process time 223 of the element work 587 . In this case, if the tact time TT is set to 600 seconds, the generator 12 calculates the minimum required number of steps as 5 (≧4.57≈2744.68/600). In addition, it can also be said that when the division is made at one edge ED, the division is made at the higher side work among the one or more works included on the lower side of the one edge ED. Therefore, generating a plurality of edges ED as candidates for the division position can be rephrased as generating the same number of jobs as the edges ED and the jobs on the lower side to which the edge ED connects as candidates for the division position.

In addition, the generation unit 12 of the present embodiment sets the variation in the total work time of each task in each process. In other words, the generation unit 12 narrows down the generated division position candidates to candidates for which the variation in working time between processes is equal to or less than a predetermined value. The predetermined value may be empirically set by the user, or another method may be used. In this embodiment, the generation unit 12 uses the initial variation value calculated by preprocessing. In pre-processing, the initial solution of the process division position that minimizes the variation is determined by a genetic algorithm (GA) without narrowing down the work, and the variation at this time is used as the initial variation value for narrowing down the candidates. set as As a result, the generation unit 12 determines the initial variation set by the variation (dispersion) of the work time between processes (the total time of the work time obtained by accumulating the work time of the work allocated to the process) from the generated division position candidates. Narrow down the division candidates that can be the following.

Assuming that the preset initial variation value (variance) is _Vmin , the work time of the process including any lower-side work whose division position is the work α (when the work α is divided at the upper-side edge ED) is In the case of Tα, when the working times of the remaining (K−1) processes are equal, the variation in the working times between processes is minimized (left side of equation (1)). If this is equal to or less than the initial variation value _Vmin , the work α is a division candidate that can be equal to or less than the set variation value. That is, the formula for calculating the working time Tα of the division candidate that can be less than the set variation is represented by the following relational expressions (1) and (2).

Ｋ：工程数（≧２）
Ｖ_min：初期バラツキ値（初期解の分散）
μ：各工程の作業時間の累計の平均値
ｔｉ：作業ｉの作業時間（ｉ＝１～Ｉ）
上記関係式（１）の左辺における下記関係式（３）は、作業ｋの上位側のエッジＥＤで分割した場合における最小の分散を表している。上記関係式（１）を解くと、下記関係式（４）が導ける。

K: number of steps (≧2)
V _min : Initial variation value (variance of initial solution)
μ: Average value of cumulative work time of each process ti: Work time of work i (i = 1 to I)
The following relational expression (3) on the left side of the above relational expression (1) represents the minimum variance when the operation k is divided by the upper edge ED. Solving the above relational expression (1) leads to the following relational expression (4).

本実施形態の生成部１２は、上記関係式（４）を満たす作業時間Ｔαを算出することにより、分割位置の候補をさらに絞り込む。ここで、生成部１２は、図３に示される特定の作業で分割された場合における工程の作業時間の最小工程時間２２２および最大工程時間２２３を、上記関係式（４）に用いることによって、最終的に絞り込んだ分割候補の位置群（以降では、「有力工程分割位置群」とも言う）を生成する。生成部１２は、有力工程分割位置群を探索部１３および出力部１４に送信する。

The generation unit 12 of the present embodiment further narrows down the candidates for the division position by calculating the working time Tα that satisfies the relational expression (4). Here, the generation unit 12 calculates the final A position group (hereinafter also referred to as a "probable process division position group") that has been narrowed down systematically is generated. The generation unit 12 transmits the influential process division position group to the search unit 13 and the output unit 14 .

The output unit 14 outputs to the monitor 4 a graph in which the dominant process division position group generated by the generation unit 12 is combined with the work order. FIG. 5 is a display image IM1 when the dominant process dividing position PP group is superimposed on the dendrogram TR. The display image IM1 includes a dendrogram TR representing the order of operations, and a probable process dividing position PP displayed on the dendrogram TR. 4, the display image IM1 shows parts PT545, PT554, and PT574 manufactured after element works 545, 554, and 574, which are part of all the works. contains. Note that in the display image IM1, the dominant process dividing position PP is not on the edge ED represented by a straight line, but on the upper side of the plurality of operations included on the lower side of the edge ED of the division candidate. represented as a circle. Note that in other embodiments, the dominant process dividing position PP may be indicated on the edge ED. In addition, the display image IM1 includes parts PT545, PT554, and PT574 manufactured after the elemental tasks 545, 554, and 574 as part of the tasks, but may include parts manufactured after other tasks. Alternatively, it may include parts that are manufactured after all operations have been performed. On the other hand, the display image IM1 may display only one component manufactured after one operation.

The searching unit 13 calculates an evaluation value F represented by the following equation (5) when the necessary dividing positions are tentatively determined from the group of dominant process dividing positions PP generated by the generating unit 12 . The search unit 13 determines the division position at which the evaluation value F calculated from the tentatively determined division positions is the smallest as the process division position.

ｇ_k：個別評価値（ｋ＝１～ｍ）
ｗ_k：個別評価値の重み（ｋ＝１～ｍ）
探索部１３は、作業制約３の情報、生成部１２の生成結果、および情報取得部１１により取得された情報に基づいて個別評価値ｇ_kを設定する。個別評価値ｇ_kとしては、例えば、各工程間の作業時間のバラツキ、各工程間の作業時間の総時間とタクトタイムＴＴとの関係、作業が配分される過去工程間の位置関係、および制約違反のペナルティ値などによって決定される値である。ペナルティ値は、例えば、別の工程に配分されなければいけない一の作業と他の作業とが同じ工程に配分された場合にペナルティ値が割り当てられてもよい。本実施形態の探索部１３は、遺伝的アルゴリズムを用いて、評価値Ｆが最小となる分割位置を決定する。すなわち、探索部１３は、各工程で行われる作業の作業時間の総時間がタクトタイムＴＴ以下であり、かつ、作業制約３を満たす分割位置を候補から決定する。出力部１４は、探索部１３の探索結果を表示画像としてモニタ４に出力する。

g _k : individual evaluation value (k = 1 to m)
w _k : Weight of individual evaluation value (k = 1 to m)
The search unit 13 sets the individual evaluation value g _k based on the information of the work constraint 3 , the generation result of the generation unit 12 , and the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 11 . As the individual evaluation value _gk , for example, the variation in work time between processes, the relationship between the total work time between processes and the takt time TT, the positional relationship between past processes to which work is allocated, and constraints It is a value determined by a violation penalty value or the like. A penalty value may be assigned, for example, when one work that should be allocated to another process and another work are allocated to the same process. The search unit 13 of this embodiment uses a genetic algorithm to determine the division position where the evaluation value F is the minimum. That is, the searching unit 13 determines a division position from the candidates that satisfies the work constraint 3 and the total work time of the work performed in each process is equal to or less than the tact time TT. The output unit 14 outputs the search result of the search unit 13 to the monitor 4 as a display image.

6 to 8 are display images IM2 to IM4 of search results of the search unit 13 output from the output unit 14. FIG. The display image IM2 of FIG. 6 includes operations P1 to P5, which are the process division positions of the processes OP1 to OP6, and dashed lines representing the processes OP1 to OP6 with respect to the dendrogram TR. The display image IM3 in FIG. 7 shows the correspondence relationship between the work name 211 of each work and the process ID to which each work is allocated. The display image IM4 in FIG. 8 shows the total work time of each process by a bar graph. For the sake of convenience, the display image IM4 individually shows the work times of the elemental works 580 to 587 in the processes OP4 to OP6.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of the process design support method in this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, in the flowchart of the process design support method (hereinafter also simply referred to as “design flow”), first, the information acquisition unit 11 acquires the information stored in the storage unit 2 and the information of the work constraint 3. acquire (step S1). The generation unit 12 uses various information acquired by the information acquisition unit 11 to generate division position candidates (for example, a group of dominant process division position PPs) for dividing the work performed in each process (step S2 ). The search unit 13 determines the division position by comparing the evaluation value F when dividing at each division position from the division position candidates generated by the generation unit 12 (step S3). The output unit 14 outputs the search result of the search unit 13 to the monitor 4 (step S4), and the design flow ends. Note that the generation unit 12 of this embodiment displays an image related to the group of dominant process dividing positions PP generated via the output unit 14 on the monitor 4, but in other embodiments, the generation result of the generation unit 12 is The search by the search unit 13 may be performed without being output.

As described above, the generation unit 12 of the present embodiment generates division position candidates for dividing the work order when distributing a plurality of works to each process. The generation unit 12 generates a plurality of edges ED connecting one work and another work preceding the one work as candidates for division positions. The search unit 13 searches the candidates generated by the generation unit 12 for division positions where the total work time of each process is equal to or less than the tact time TT. That is, the generation unit 12 generates the number of edges as candidates for division positions according to the number of steps. As a result, the searching unit 13 can generate division position candidates from candidates having a smaller number of edges than the number of combinations of the number of operations and the number of steps. In process division that does not consider the number of edges, for example, if the number of operations is 100 and the number of processes to which the operations are allocated is 5, the number of combinations of the number of operations and the number of processes is approximately 3.2×10 ¹⁵⁰ (= 2 ¹⁰⁰ × ⁵ ). On the other hand, considering the number of edges as in this embodiment, the number of edges connecting tasks is 4 (4 ( = 5-1) is determined. That is, the search unit 13 can determine the division position from the division position candidates of the number of combinations of ₉₉ C ₄ (≈3.7×10 ⁶ ). Therefore, in the process design support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the candidates for division positions that are not searchable are eliminated, the candidates for division positions that can be optimized are calculated, and the number of combinations of the candidates for division positions is suppressed. This makes it possible to calculate an optimal or near-optimal process design, improving productivity during product manufacturing.

In addition, the generation unit 12 of the present embodiment narrows down candidates whose total work time variation between processes is equal to or less than a preset initial variation value V _min from the generated division position candidates. Therefore, the generating unit 12 can narrow down the number of combinations searched by the searching unit 13 using the initial variation value V _min . As a result, the searching unit 13 can calculate a nearly optimal value that is equal to or less than the initial variation value V _min without spending more time than necessary to search for the division position. That is, the search unit 13 calculates division positions that can be equal to or less than the initial variation value V _min , thereby suppressing the time required for searching the division positions in the search unit 13, and then optimally achieving the initial variation value V _min or less. A close value can be calculated.

In addition, the generation unit 12 of the present embodiment uses the table of FIG. Generate candidates. Therefore, the generation unit 12 calculates the minimum process time 222 and the maximum process time 223 (FIG. 3) of a process in which a specific work is a higher-level work when the division is performed at a specific division position, using the above relational expression (4). , it is possible to speed up the generation calculation of the group of influential process dividing positions PP.

In addition, the search unit 13 of the present embodiment selects a division position from the candidates that satisfies the work constraint 3 acquired by the information acquisition unit 11 and that the total work time of the work performed in each process is equal to or less than the tact time TT. Explore. Therefore, the search unit 13 searches candidates for a division position that satisfies the work constraint 3 set between at least two processes. As a result, the searching unit 13 can determine a realizable dividing position that satisfies various conditions according to the work constraint 3 among the candidates for the dividing position where the total work time in each process is equal to or less than the tact time TT. .

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the output unit 14 of the present embodiment displays the potential process dividing positions PP generated by the generation unit 12 together with the tree diagram TR representing the work order to display an image IM1 on the monitor 4. is displayed as Therefore, a user viewing the dendrogram TR can intuitively grasp the work order and the probable process dividing positions PP.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the output unit 14 of the present embodiment performs , to display on the monitor 4 a display image IM1 in which the dominant process dividing positions PP are combined. Therefore, the user viewing the dendrogram TR intuitively grasps the relationship between the work represented by the edge ED connecting one work and the work represented by the intersection IS of the edge ED, and the influential process dividing position PP. can.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the output unit 14 of the present embodiment is a pt545,554, a pt545,554, which is manufactured after the work of 545,554,574 element work for multiple edge ED and tree -shaped diagram TR. The shape of 574 is displayed on the monitor 4 . Therefore, the user viewing the dendrogram TR can visually recognize the shape of the part to be manufactured after the work together with the work order and division position candidates, and can intuitively grasp the division position candidates for the work order.

In addition, the output unit 14 of this embodiment causes the monitor 4 to display a table TB21 shown in FIG. The table TB21 includes, as a list, a work name 211 of each work, a work list 212 in which the work name of one work and the work name of another work are associated, and work time 213 of each work. Therefore, a user viewing the table TB21 can intuitively grasp the association between other work that needs to be done in advance in order to perform the one work and the working time of the one work.

<Modified example of embodiment>
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various aspects without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the following modifications are possible.

[Modification 1]
Although an example of the process design support device 1 and the process design support system 100 has been described in the above embodiment, the process design support device 1 and the process design support system 100 can be modified in various ways. For example, a PC that functions as the process design support device 1 may include a storage unit 2 that also stores work constraints 3 and a monitor 4 . In this case, the monitor 4 can be regarded as part of the output section 14 . The process design support system 100 may not necessarily include the storage unit 2, and the information acquisition unit 11 may acquire work information including a work order via an input device, similar to the work constraint 3. .

In the process design support device 1 of the modified example, it is not necessary to narrow down the candidates using the initial variation value _Vmin . The generation unit 12 may generate division position candidates that are optimal or close to the optimal solution over time without using the initial variation value _Vmin . In addition, the generation unit 12 may not use the minimum process time 222 and the maximum process time 223 of each work shown in FIG. 3 when narrowing down the candidates for the division position using the initial variation value V _min . Therefore, the storage unit 2 does not have to store data on the minimum process time 222 and the maximum process time 223 of each work as shown in FIG. In addition, although the generating unit 12 uses the initial variation value V _min for the GA optimization method, a well-known method can be applied as the optimization method to be used. Although the generation unit 12 of the above-described embodiment generates division position candidates using the tree diagram TR as the work order, the method using the work order can be modified in various ways. The generator 12 may use the dendrogram TR, or may generate the division position candidates using another form representing the work order.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the group of dominant process dividing positions PP and the work order in the modification. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the generation unit 12 narrows down the candidates using the initial variation value V _min performed in the above embodiment, and the search unit 13 finds the division position candidates generated by the generation unit 12. , the division position is determined using the tact time TT. In FIG. 10, each operation is shown as a plurality of arrows DR going from left to right. The generation unit 12 generates division position candidates PPa within a working time range that does not exceed the tact time TT. The search unit 13 determines one division position candidate PPa as the division position from among the plurality of division position candidates PPa. The work up to the division position determined by the search unit 13 is set as process 1 . Similarly, in the work after step 1, the generator 12 generates a plurality of division position candidates PPb. The searching unit 13 determines one division position candidate PPb from among the division position candidates PPb as the division position. The work up to the division position determined by the searching unit 13 is set as the process 2 . As described above, the division position may be determined from the division position candidates PPa and PPb without using the optimization method.

[Modification 2]
In the above embodiment, the information acquisition unit 11 acquires the work constraint 3, and the search unit 13 uses the work constraint 3 to determine the division position from the candidates for the division position. good. For example, the searching unit 13 may determine the dividing positions using the dominant process dividing positions PP generated by the generating unit 12, or further determine the dividing positions using variations in the total work time. good too.

Although the output unit 14 causes the monitor 4 to display the dominant process dividing positions PP (FIG. 5) generated by the generation unit 12, such an image may not be output. The output unit 14 of the modified example may output only the search result of the search unit 13 without outputting the generation result of the generation unit 12 . In addition, the output unit 14 may employ a method of outputting audio to a speaker or the like and data output to another device instead of image output as an output method. For example, the output unit 14 may output a file in the form shown in FIG. The output unit 14 outputs a dendrogram TR (for example, FIGS. 4 and 5) using straight lines representing the edges ED and intersections IS representing the tasks for the plurality of edges ED and the tasks. Expression can be modified in various ways. For example, the output unit 14 may display only the table TB21 shown in FIG. 2 on the monitor 4 as information representing the work order, and may not output the dendrogram TR. On the other hand, the output unit 14 does not have to output the table TB21 shown in FIG. The output unit 14 may cause the monitor 4 to display the dendrogram TR to which the task name 211 is added instead of the table TB21. Alternatively, the output unit 14 may cause the monitor 4 to display an output result different from the table TB21 and the dendrogram TR. Such an output result may be the result of the correspondence between each work name 211 shown in FIG. 7 and the processes OP1 to OP6 to which each work is allocated. Alternatively, the output result may be displayed in an area in which each of the processes OP1 to OP6 is distinguished, and the work names allocated in each of the areas and the shape images of the parts to be manufactured after the work may be displayed. The output unit 14 does not necessarily have to display the dominant process dividing positions PP generated by the generation unit 12 in accordance with the work order.

The present aspect has been described above based on the embodiments and modifications, but the above-described embodiments are intended to facilitate understanding of the present aspect, and do not limit the present aspect. This aspect may be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims, and this aspect includes equivalents thereof. Also, if the technical features are not described as essential in this specification, they can be deleted as appropriate.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Process design support apparatus 2... Storage part 3... Work constraint 4... Monitor 11... Information acquisition part 12... Generation part 13... Search part 14... Output part 21... Work information storage part 22... Process time storage part 100... Process design Support system 211 Work name 212 Work list 213 Work time 221 Divided work name 222 Minimum process time 223 Maximum process time DR Arrow E295, E545, E554, E574 Entry ED, ED1 ₅₇₄ , ED2 ₅₇₄ Edge F...Evaluation value IM1 to IM4...Display image IS...Intersection OP1 to OP6...Process P1 to P5, i, k...Work PP...Possible process division position PPa, PPb...Division position candidate PT545, PT554, PT574...Part TR...Tree TT: Takt time (upper limit)
V _min … Initial variation value g _k … Individual evaluation value TB21, TB22 … Table

Claims (8)

A process design support device,
an information acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of tasks, a task time for each task, task information including the task sequence of the plurality of tasks, and an upper limit value of cumulative task time for a process consisting of one or more tasks; ,
A generating unit that generates candidates for division positions of the work order when distributing the plurality of works to the processes, and is a plurality of edges identified from the work order acquired by the information acquiring unit. a generation unit that generates, as the candidates, a plurality of edges connecting one work and another work preceding the one work;
a search unit for searching from the candidates for the division position where the total work time of the work included in each of the steps is equal to or less than the upper limit when distributing the plurality of works to the steps;
an output unit that outputs the search result of the search unit;
a storage unit that associates the division position immediately after a specific work with the minimum process time and the maximum process time of a process including the specific work;
with
The process design support device, wherein the generation unit narrows down candidates from the generated candidates using the minimum process time and the maximum process time stored in the storage unit. The process design support device according to claim 1,
The process design support device, wherein the generation unit narrows down candidates for which the variation in the total time between the processes can be equal to or less than a preset initial variation value from the generated candidates. The process design support device according to claim 2 ,
The process design support apparatus, wherein the generating unit narrows down candidates from the generated candidates by using the initial variation value in addition to the minimum process time and the maximum process time stored in the storage unit. The process design support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The information acquisition unit further acquires work constraint information between the two works when at least two works are allocated to each of the processes,
The search unit searches for the division position where the total work time in one or more works performed in each of the steps is equal to or less than the upper limit and that satisfies the work constraints acquired by the information acquisition unit. A process design support device that searches from the candidates. The process design support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The process design support device, wherein the output unit displays the candidates generated by the generation unit together with the work order. The process design support device according to claim 5,
The process design support device, wherein the output unit displays the part shape to be manufactured after the work in at least one work together with the candidate and the work order. A process design support method,
An information acquisition step of acquiring work information including a plurality of works, a work time for each work, and a work order of the plurality of works, and an upper limit value of the cumulative work time for a process consisting of one or more works. and,
A generation step of generating candidates for division positions of the work order when distributing the plurality of works to the processes, wherein a plurality of edges identified from the acquired work order, wherein one work and a generation step of generating a plurality of edges connecting the one work and another work preceding the one work as the candidates;
a search step of searching from the candidates for the division position where the total work time of the work included in each of the processes is equal to or less than the upper limit when distributing the plurality of works to the processes ;
an output step that outputs the searched search result;
with
The generating step includes the division position, the minimum process time and the maximum process time of the process including the specific work, which are stored in association with the storage unit, when the division position is immediately after the specific work. A process design support method , further narrowing down candidates from the generated candidates by using . A computer program,
Information acquisition function for acquiring work information including a plurality of works, work time for each work, work order of the plurality of works, and an upper limit value of cumulative work time for a process consisting of one or more works. and,
A generation function that generates candidates for division positions of the work order when distributing the plurality of works to the processes, and is a plurality of edges specified from the work order acquired by the information acquisition function. a generation function for generating, as the candidates, a plurality of edges connecting one work and another work preceding the one work;
a search function for searching from the candidates for the division position where the total work time of the work included in each of the processes is equal to or less than the upper limit when the plurality of works are distributed to the processes ;
an output function for outputting search results of the search function;
on the computer , and
The generating function stores the division position immediately after a specific work and the minimum process time and the maximum process time of a process including the specific work, which are stored in association with a storage unit. , further narrowing the candidates from the generated candidates .

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