Patent ID: 6311094
Filing Date: 2001-10-30
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
A production planning method for making a production plan in a production line for producing finished products from a raw material, a raw material-to-finished product production process being divided into a plurality of process steps, a plurality of equipments being arranged at the production line, and at least one of the equipments participating in a least two of the process steps, the method comprising:calculating the number of works processed in the respective process steps up to a planning time as current cumulated processed works of the respective process steps based on a stock number of works in respective process steps at the planning time;calculating a target of the stock number of works in the respective process steps at a planned time following a passage of a plan period on the basis of a target production representing the number of finished products outputted up to the planned time and an average cycle time of production from the raw material to the finished products;calculating target cumulated processed works of the respective process steps at the planned time based on the target of the stock number of the works in the respective process steps;calculating the number of works necessary to be processed at the respective process steps during a period from the planning time to the planned time, as a process step load, based on the current cumulated processed works at the planning time and the target cumulated processed works up to the planned time;calculating the number of works processed by the respective equipments during a period from the planning time to the planned time, as an equipment load of the respective equipment, based on the process step load of the respective process steps and a correspondence relation between the equipments and the process steps;selecting equipments having equipment loads which exceed equipment processing capabilities; andreducing the process step load of the respective process steps based on an excess load of the selected equipment, wherein the further upstream the process steps, the greater a quantity of reduction of the process load so as to achieve target production.