WO2005006227A1 - Company production data collection and management system - Google Patents

Abstract

This is a hardware, firmware and software system for the collection and management of company production data. The hardware consists of a very low power consumption portable hand held unit (1), applied to the collection and initial processing of production data and work times carried out directly in loco at various assigned production positions. The firmware (3) used by the onboard microprocessor (2) is configured and personalized with a table of prepared data and transmitted by PC (6) based software (5). In turn the unit transmits to the PC the production data and associated information using a predetermined communication protocol. The software (5) on the PC processes the production data and prints a series of information sheets such as for example individual production sheets, the total profits of the production site or the partial profits of a work area, by team, or person. It also offers an evaluation of the progress of a commission. The system uses an electrostatic type key (8), equipped with its own chip, for automatic identification, which is ideal for use in difficult environmental conditions.

Description

Title of invention

"Company production data collection and management system" DESCRIPTION

This invention falls within the sector of systems for the automatic identification of work phases in a productive process, with the contextual association of the persons involved and the connected materials.

These systems are generally based on magnetic swipe cards and/or magnetic proximity cards and/or bar codes. In these systems an identification datum is associated to a magnetic card and the recorded data is memorised on a magnetic or other type of support and periodically transferred to a central unit where they are interpreted, processed and printed. Some systems gather data regarding the time and work of workers by temporarily memorising the data onto floppy disks, magnetic tape or static memory so that it can be transferred onto a central computer to calculate worker pay.

Other systems are based on electronic timers to simultaneously gather data from several channels regarding procedures or events that develop in parallel over a period of time, with manual, photocell or acoustic timer synchronisation signals. Again in this case the data is temporarily recorded in a memory of some form and later passed onto a processing centre. Almost all the systems currently used for data collection are equipped with electronic cards with microprocessors, but their autonomy is limited in times when there is no power supply, generally to about two hours or a little more. Known systems collect information on worker presence or generic data. They are fixed systems, i.e. they are permanently connected to a 220 V power supply and connected by cable to a central computer. The data are downloaded onto this computer in real time or at predetermined intervals. Therefore their use depends on the presence of an outlet socket for connection to a low voltage power supply, normally 220 V. Furthermore they are characterised by relatively high power consumption, as the presence of a power supply does not pose the problem of power saving.

However the attainment of low power consumption in obligatory in applications, like this invention, where normal operation is based on a power supply consisting of rechargeable batteries, which will run flat over time. This is especially true in situations such as building sites where a connection to the power supply network may not have been installed. To increase autonomy, that is the days the system will operate, it is necessary to reduce power consumption to very low levels. The purpose of this invention is to exceed the limits of current technology by creating a hand held instrument that manages the workplace and makes a step forward as a method for company organisation, based on: a) Its portability, due to its small size and weight; b) Low power consumption, due to the choice of the electronic components used and their operational modes.

Developed in this way the hand held instrument is applied to the collection and initial processing of production and work time data directly at the different production positions assigned. This is the result of a particular combination of already existing electronic cards and mechanical components and a firmware on the microprocessor of the electronic card, which provides a substantial difference in respect to current techniques and the advantage of an innovative method for the collection and processing of company production data. The above mentioned objective is achieved by a company production data collection and processing system described in this invention.

One of the main objectives of companies is that of verifying profits, in order to increase them, such as the difference between the value of an item produced and the cost of its production, which indicates the efficiency of the factors employed in the production process. Of fundamental importance is upstream planning and then control of production at the moment it is carried out. It is particularly important to plan and control commissions, that is production carried out for a client's order. It is therefore necessary to collect the flow of production data in an appropriate manner and then to assign a cost to each datum. The system proposed satisfies the management needs of companies, by providing an assessment, not only of overall profits for each production site, but also of partial profits per work area, per team, per person and also in reference to a commission and per single article produced. Now refer to the figure 1. This is a block diagram of the structure of the invention which is purely an example and not restrictive. The activity of gathering production data and work times carried out at one or more work positions by company workers is carried out by a portable electronic hardware unit (1) named Handy. It is equipped with a microprocessor (2) with SMT (Surface Mounted Technology) components. The microprocessor is programmed with firmware (3) that can be updated as it is memorised on the internal flash memory (4). The unit (1) can be used to cany out an initial processing of the data in order to obtain, at the end of the day, production statistics by work code independent of the workers, or a review of the day by person with the phases of work carried out with relative quantities. Data processing carried out in order to obtain the profits of a production site, or part of it, is carried out using a software application (5) on a PC (6). Data can be transferred from a Handy to a PC by an RS 232, RS485 serial cable (7), by infrared, by radio or by modem. The insertion of company and non-company personnel identification data into the Handy unit (1) occurs using an electronic key (8) "i- Button", produced by the American company Dallas Semiconductor. The key consists of a chip (9) positioned inside a portable stainless steel disk (10) of 16 mm in diameter. Contact between the key and the slot situated on the portable unit (1) causes the automatic identification of the worker's code, with contextual association of work phase, commission, article, materials, relative quantity and memorisation of the resulting datum in a static flash memory (12) outside the microprocessor (2). The contact powers the key at the same time (8).

The key (8), in contrast to traditional magnetic swipe cards and badges with bar codes, is extremely robust and reliable, very small and easy to manage with very low power consumption. It is especially suitable for dusty, humid and oily environments or those where there is electromagnetic interference. The electronic hardware unit (1) in its portable version, collects data on the following functional aspects, intended as data inherent to work activities: • Work time carried out by the worker at different work positions, commissions, projects or work areas • Analysis and control of production flows with relative materials used in the phases of work • A list of names and work times of teams employed by the company, of a department or a sector • Company control of sub-contractors by team, department, sector or individual • Assignment of work materials or safety equipment for the worker • Justifiable exits or absences • Entry/breaks/exit of company employees The electronic hardware unit (1) for the collection of production data has the following technical characteristics: • Portable, hand held instrument, manageable and light, weighing about 400 grams • Single Dallas slot type DS 9092 (11) • Automatic identification key Dallas type DS 1990A (8) • Microprocessor (2) with very low power consumption on standby which guarantees an autonomy without recharging of 60 hours of normal operation, 300 hours on standby • Flash memory (4) aboard the microprocessor (2) and adequate external flash memory (12) • SMT (surface mounted technology) used to construct the onboard card • Power supplied by NiMh (nickel-meialhydrate) or Li (lithium) rechargeable batteries • Rechargeable using incorporated battery charger circuit (14) and external charging unit with temperature sensing o Graphical display (16) or touch screen display (17) o Transmission of recorded data to trie company's production data processing computer (6) through an RS232, RS485 serial cable, by infrared, radio or modem o On line connection between several portable units (up to 128), located in various work areas or rooms that can also be very distant from one another o Easy to use touch keyboard (18) of ergonomic size and colour • Perpetual electronic clock (19) with lithium battery • Buzzer (20) for acoustic signals • Robustly built container with belt holder • Possibility of using the terminal even when the internal batteries are being charged • Temperature range -5° C to +50° C • Protection grade: IP55 (protection against dust and water sprays) • Data retention: 10 year minimum, 1 million writes • Conforms to CE standards Having described the structural features of the invention we now move on to a description of its functions. The software (5) used to process the data on the PC (6) is called "Memory". It was developed using Borland's Builder 5 C++ with Borland's Interbase 6.0 database. To operate the programme requires Windows 95/98/2000/XP, a Pentium 600 Mhz microprocessor, 100 MB of space on the hard disk and 128 MB of RAM. The software (5) on the PC (6) performs the following main processes: « Personalised settings that are memorised in the firmware (3) of the unit • Identification and definition of the production phases and their costs e Print out of a production sheet by person, team, work area or production site • Print out of production statistics by person, team, work area or production site and also by commission, article or work phase code • Print out of attendance sheet, with type of hours, justified absences and labour costs • Control of work times of individual workers or several workers in a work area or on a commission o Evaluation of costs (5 types of cost) and value of the product, with calculation of profits by production site, work area, team, person, commission, article and work code o Data for the planning of production processes and elements useful for management control o Control of contracts between employees and company • Work and overtime hours management • Work and overtime hours management for the purpose of calculating their cost • Justifiable absence management

The following describes the data flow and the parameter functions between the various components of the system. a) Data flow PC (6) -> Flash memory (12) outside the microprocessor (2) onboard the hand held insturment (1) for its initial operational configuration • Terminal identification code • List of the enabled keys with relative type (normal or master) and names of the persons associated to them • List of the work phase codes • List of articles • List of commissions • List of the material codes • List of the units of measurement of the material codes • Basic list of materials • List of justifiable absences • Date and time synchronisation • All the operations described above can only be carried out by personnel recognised by the PC through use of a personal password b) Data flow from the external flash memory (12) of the hand held unit (1) → PC (6) • The unit (1) sends the PC (6) the production data recorded using a predetermined communication protocol c) Reports and alarms o Visual error display if the key (8) is not enabled on that terminal © Acoustic signal (20) when the key (8) is recognised, association to the commission, work code, article with relative quantity and measurement unit and contextual memorisation • Visual and acoustic alarm signals the fact the battery has only a 20% charge remaining. d) Operator functions using the keyboard (18) and LCD display (16) or touch screen (17) • Possibility to select and memorise in the memory a commission, a work code, an article code, a material code, a code list, from among those configured and transmitted to the hand held unit • A normal key will reveal data regarding work codes with relative quantity and hours worked during the day requested only for that particular key, if the data is still stored in the terminal • A master key will reveal the total of the work codes with relative quantity for the various types of codes and work hours during the day requested of any worker, if the data is still stored in the terminal • A master key will allow the printing on a portable printer of the work codes by article and by commission and the total attendance hours in a specified day • A master key allows modifications to the work codes with relative quantities, of entries, exits, justifiable absences and other data inserted by employees β Possibility of reading the extended code of a DALLAS key, with display on LCD or touch screen and transmission of the code to the key table in the PC • Display of the list of keys enabled for the terminal. This operation can only be carried out by a master key holder • Display of the date of the last data transfer. This operation can only be carried out by a master key holder o A master key allows the modification of date and time and the configuration of the unit's operational parameters. e) Automatism (programmable and/or optional) o Display on start up of the main screen containing the operating menu o Automatic change of daylight saving time solar time • Ignore automatically production data, entries, exits and justifiable absences recorded in the same minute • Fitted with a 28 key keyboard or touch screen • Automatic lunch break insertion

The invention therefore achieves the objectives proposed and manages the company's whole production activity, for each work area and for all the data required, autonomously with ease of use (it is portable) and with extreme reliability, as it is totally based on a computer method (software and firmware). This model for production data collection, by virtue of its portability and the functions it carries out, is completely innovative in respect to what is available on the market today.

It can be used by individual workers, groups of workers or persons who are tasked with collecting production data regarding a commission or an article.

The invention contains several innovative elements in respect to similar products current available on the market: 1. The portability of the Handy terminal allows managers of building sites, workshops or laboratories to collect and record real time data regarding the distribution of work tasks given to employees directly at the assigned work positions 2. The robustness and practicality of the i-Button key makes it the ideal unit, in contrast to products currently being used, for use in dusty conditions (carpenter's shops, cement works, lime and plaster production, road works, building sites and quarries etc.) 3. The flexibility of the data collection system which makes use of a mobile unit so that it can satisfy a various configurations and company needs.

This production data collection and processing system intends to provide a service: o To small and medium sized companies that wish to improve their efficiency and productivity and want to qualify for quality certification. o To companies that operate outside in dusty, humid or oily conditions. • To companies operating at various locations in which data is collected and then controlled and processed at the company's headquarters. Obviously other implementations are possible which all fall within the inventive scope of the invention.

Claims

1. System for the collection and management of company production data, characterised by the fact that it is comprised of a very low power consumption portable hand held unit (1) applied to the collection and processing of production data and work times carried out directly in loco at several assigned production positions which is then transmitted by an interface (7).

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, characterised by the fact that the unit (1) uses a key (8) for automatic identification. The key is of the electrostatic type and fitted with its own chip (9) is situated inside a disk (10).

3. A system as claimed in claim 1, characterised by the fact that production data, in the form of codes of the various work phases, are associated via firmware (3) to the article, commission, worker, team and work area directly on the unit (1) through an slot (11) into which the key (8) fits, at the end of each work phase, revealing the time used for its execution.

4. A system as claimed in claim 1, characterised by the fact that the materials used, that can also be grouped in basic lists, again under the form of codes, are associated via firmware (3) to the article, commission, worker, team and work area directly on the unit (1) at the beginning of each work phase.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1, characterised by the fact that the attendance data, used to calculate labour costs, are memorised in the unit (1) by recording date/time, person, team, work area and cost, taking into consideration of the various types of work hours.

6. A system as claimed in claim 1, characterised by the fact that the individual protection devices are memorised in the unit (1), by recording date/time, person, team, work area.

7. A system according to what has been written and illustrated about this invention for the purposes specified.