JPH06251044A - Parts stock management device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately manage the quantity of stock of parts without increasing the man-hour of work by in structing delivery of parts based on the detection result of a residual quantity detecting means. CONSTITUTION:When stock management data is inputted from a weight sensor S1 arranged on a measuring truck D1 a first process, a host computer HC reads out corresponding master data from a memory based on ID data in the stock management data and compares safe stock data in the master data with load data in stock management data with each other to decide whether parts should be delivered to the measuring truck D1 in the first process or not. If it is decided that delivery of parts is necessary, a pertinent purchasing transaction destination T is specified based on transaction destination data in master data, and ID data in master data, data indicating the parts number, and data indicating the standard delivery quantity are transmitted as delivery indication data of pertinent parts through a public line K by radio to the purchasing transaction destination.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for managing inventory of parts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in an assembly line facility for a four-wheeled vehicle, a plurality of parts placement areas are formed along the assembly line, and each of the above parts is placed on an assembly to be transported through the assembly line. The four-wheeled vehicle is efficiently assembled by sequentially assembling the parts placed in the storage area.

Conventionally, in this type of assembly line facility, information such as individual cards, such as a part number, a supplier of the parts, and a placement place of the parts placement area, is provided for each part or each pallet containing the parts. The described card is affixed, the above card is collected according to the use of the relevant part, and the parts corresponding to the collected card are delivered to the parts placement area to deliver the parts in the parts placement area. The stocks of are always managed to stay within a certain range.

[0004]

By the way, in the assembly line facility for managing parts by using the card as described above, it is necessary to remove the card from the part or pallet each time the part is used. Since it is necessary to collect the removed cards and add them up and give instructions to deliver the parts, the number of man-hours required for actual operation increases. Moreover, in the recent assembly line equipment, a large number of parts loading areas are configured on the line side due to the demand for high-mix low-volume production, so the number of operated cards also increases, increasing the number of work steps described above. Appears more prominently.

Further, when handling the card, there is a risk that the card may be forgotten or lost, and in such a case, it becomes impossible to accurately manage the number of parts in stock.

In view of the above situation, it is an object of the present invention to provide a parts inventory management apparatus capable of accurately managing the inventory quantity of parts without increasing the number of working steps.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A parts inventory management apparatus according to the present invention is a residual quantity detecting means for detecting a residual quantity of parts in a parts placement area, and a detection result of the residual quantity detecting means is a preset value. A delivery instructing means for instructing delivery of parts when the following occurs is provided.

[0008]

According to the above construction, the delivery instruction of the parts is given based on the detection result of the remaining amount detecting means.

[0009]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a parts inventory management device according to the present invention, and illustrates a parts inventory management device applied to an assembly line facility.

The assembly line equipment exemplified here is for assembling a four-wheeled vehicle by appropriately assembling parts to an assembly (not shown) conveyed on the assembly line L, and along the assembly line L. The measuring carriage D is provided at each of a plurality of appropriate positions.

As shown in FIG. 2, the measuring carriage D is provided with a carriage main body DH each having a wheel W on its lower surface, and a columnar portion of the carriage main body DH so as to be vertically movable. A movable mounting table SD having a component mounting area on its upper surface
And a pilot lamp PL which is attached to the upper surface of the columnar portion of the carriage main body DH and is turned on when the movable mounting table SD is moved up to a predetermined height, and between the assembly line L and the pilot line PL. It is arranged in the vicinity of the assembly line L with the assembly work area secured. It should be noted that, although not shown in the drawing, regardless of the magnitude of the load applied to the movable mounting table SD, the movable mounting table SD is always attached to each measurement carriage D.
A spring mechanism is provided for holding the pallet P placed on the upper surface of the pallet at a constant height.

Further, each of the measuring carts D has a weight sensor S. The weight sensor S detects the load applied to the movable mounting table SD, and adds data (hereinafter, simply referred to as ID data) indicating an identification label unique to each measurement carriage D to the detected load data. Data (hereinafter, simply referred to as inventory management data), and is connected to the host computer HC via a local network N.

In this embodiment, the assembly line L is previously prepared.
Master data for each part used in, that is, ID data of the measurement cart D that is the delivery destination, data indicating the part number,
Data indicating the supplier T (hereinafter simply referred to as supplier data), data indicating the weight of parts corresponding to the number of safety stocks (hereinafter simply referred to as safety stock data), and data indicating the standard number of deliveries, respectively. It is input to the terminal computer PC provided in the construction room. The safety stock data is set to a value larger than the number of parts used from the time when the host computer HC outputs the delivery instruction data described later to the time when the parts are actually delivered.

The input master data is transferred to the host computer HC and stored in the memory of the host computer HC.

During the operation of the assembly line L, the inventory control data of the corresponding parts from the weight sensors S of the measuring carriages D are constantly fetched into the host computer HC via the local network N.

When the inventory management data is input from the weight sensor S1 provided on the measuring carriage D1 in the first step, the host computer HC responds from the memory based on the ID data in the inventory management data. The master data is read and the safety stock data in the master data is compared with the load data in the inventory management data to determine whether or not the parts are delivered to the measurement carriage D1 in the first step.

That is, when the load data is larger than the safety stock data, it is determined that the necessary and sufficient amount of parts remain on the measurement carriage D1 in the first step and it is not necessary to deliver the parts. If the load data is less than the safety stock data, it is judged that it is necessary to deliver the parts onto the measurement carriage D1 in the first step.

When it is determined that the parts need to be delivered, the corresponding supplier T is specified based on the supplier data in the master data, and the supplier T is connected to the public line K. The ID data in the master data, the data indicating the part number, and the data indicating the standard delivery number are transmitted as the delivery instruction data of the relevant component via the. At this time, in the measuring carriage D1 arranged in the first step, the pilot lamp PL is turned on to warn the operator.

Supplier T who received the delivery instruction signal
Is the applicable measurement carriage D based on the above delivery instruction data.
Deliver parts to 1.

The host computer HC executes the same processing for the other steps, and sends the delivery instruction data to the corresponding supplier T in order to deliver the parts to the measurement carriage D which requires the delivery of the parts.

In the above embodiment, the weight sensor is used as the remaining amount detecting means, and the delivery instruction of the component is instructed based on the remaining weight of the component. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A photoelectric sensor that detects the presence / absence of a component is arranged in the component mounting area, and a delivery instruction for the component is issued based on the detection result of this photoelectric sensor, that is, the number of remaining components mounted in the component mounting area. It doesn't matter.

Further, in the above embodiment, the remaining amount of the component is always detected, and the delivery instruction of the component is issued when the remaining amount becomes less than the preset value. Of course, the amount may be detected.

Further, although the inventory management device applied to the assembly line facility is illustrated, the present invention can be applied to other devices as long as it requires inventory management.

[0024]

As described above, according to the parts inventory management apparatus of the present invention, the delivery instruction of the parts is instructed based on the detection result of the remaining amount detecting means. No increase is invited. Moreover, since a medium such as a card is not required, it is possible to accurately manage the inventory quantity of parts without forgetting to take it or losing it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing a parts inventory management device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view conceptually showing a measuring carriage applied to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 HC ... Delivery instruction means S ... Remaining amount detection means SD ... Parts placement area

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A remaining amount detecting means for detecting a remaining amount of a component in a component mounting area, and a delivery instructing means for instructing delivery of a component when the detection result of the remaining amount detecting means is below a preset value. An inventory management device for parts, comprising: