Method and system for optimizing material movement within a computer based manufacturing system

A method and system for determining an optimal material movement product path within a computer based manufacturing system is disclosed. A transport matrix is created having multiple rows and columns, each associated with a workstation within a computer based manufacturing system. At each cell within the matrix located at an intersection of a selected row and column, the attributes for all possible methods of transport between the associated workstations are listed. Preferably transport attributes, such as transport type, velocity/distance, travel time, capacity, authorization required, fragility, cost and current status of the transport system are listed within the cell and may thereafter be dynamically updated. After identifying a selected product path an analysis of the transport matrix may be utilized to determine an optimal route based upon user inputs, such as the most rapid, least expensive, or most reliable form of transport, for transporting material between selected workstations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Technical Field 
The present invention relates in general to improvements in computer based 
manufacturing systems and in particular to improvements in determining 
optimal routes for moving materials between workstations in a computer 
based manufacturing system. Still more particularly, the present invention 
relates to a method and system for automatically determining an optimal 
route among many available routes for transporting materials between 
workstations within a computer based manufacturing system. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
Computer based manufacturing systems are well known in the art. The process 
of designing, developing and manufacturing a new product, or making major 
changes to existing products, presents many challenges to product managers 
and manufacturing managers. It is important to maintain product quality 
while bringing a product to market for the least cost, within a set 
schedule. In today's highly competitive industries, product managers and 
manufacturing managers require information to address many problems which 
arise because of the complexity of new products and the complexity of 
world-wide production and the changing nature of competition. A 
requirement that products be manufactured for the least possible cost is 
an important requirement in all industries. 
Many texts have been written concerning the field of production management. 
For example, Joseph Orlicky wrote Material Requirement Planning, published 
by McGraw-Hill, which has become the industry standard reference for 
almost all job shop planning requirements. This concept of planning and 
releasing work to the manufacturing shop floor is well accepted and, even 
today, many vendors are selling software based upon this concept. From a 
dispatching point of view, this system takes into account only the general 
concept of a first-in, first-out (FIFO) basis of dispatching. Dr. D. T. 
Phillips and G. L. Hogg published a paper entitled A State-of-the-Art 
Survey of Dispatching Rules for Manufacturing Shop Operations, 
International Journal of Production Research, Volume 20, No. 1, pages 
27-45, which provides varying dispatching rules which may be utilized in a 
planning process. 
International Business Machines Corporation has developed a product called 
"Capacity Planning and Operation Sequencing System (CAPOSS)", described in 
Education Guide No. SR19-5004-0, published by International Business 
Machines Corporation, which provides static dispatching functions in the 
form of deciding the next operation to be performed for an order after 
completion of a prior operation. 
One important feature in modern day manufacturing facilities is the need 
for an improved parts and materials supply system which is necessary to 
minimize inventory and floor space required for parts storage at the 
workstations. The efficiency and economy of so-called "just in time" 
inventory control systems is now well recognized and many systems have 
been implemented which attempt to impose such a delivery system. For 
example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,047 discloses an automated parts supply 
system which may be utilized to implement a "just-in-time" supply system. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,783 describes an improved flexible manufacturing system 
which utilizes multiple numerically controlled machine tools. In 
accordance with a supervisory control computer the system described 
therein supplies routing information to the material handling system 
controller which in response, controls the movement of pallets through a 
manufacturing production path to various machine tools. This system deals 
with a novel method of controlling a specific type of manufacturing line. 
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,060 describes a system for controlling the 
flow of articles within a work area which includes multiple workstations 
and for acquiring real time information relating to the status of the work 
in progress. 
None of the above described methods disclose a means for determining the 
best method, among available alternatives, for transporting materials and 
product between work centers, while considering various factors such as 
fragility, size or weight. Modern systems have become so complex that it 
is not uncommon for multiple modes of material movement to be available 
for transferring product between locations within and among manufacturing 
work centers and the availability of such multiple modes of transportation 
has substantially increased the complexity of the tasks of determining an 
optimal path for product to be transported within a computer based 
manufacturing system. Further, a manufacturing process may be distributed 
over a wide geographic area, requiring a much more sophisticated level of 
control for transport of product throughout the process. It is therefore 
obvious that a need exists for a method and system which may be utilized 
to optimize the movement of material within a manufacturing process within 
a dynamic, changing environment. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide an improved 
computer based manufacturing system. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and 
system for determining optimal routes for moving materials between 
workstations within a computer based manufacturing system. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved 
method and system for determining an optimal route among many available 
routes for transporting material between workstations within a computer 
based manufacturing system which is suitable for automatic processing. 
The foregoing objects are achieved as is now described. A method and system 
for determining an optimal material movement product path within a 
computer based manufacturing system is disclosed. A transport matrix is 
created having multiple rows and columns, each associated with a 
workstation within a computer based manufacturing system. At each cell 
within the matrix located at an intersection of a selected row and column, 
the attributes for all possible methods of transport between the 
associated workstations are listed. Preferably transport attributes, such 
as transport type, velocity/distance, travel time, capacity, authorization 
required, fragility, cost and current status of the transport system are 
listed within the cell and may thereafter be dynamically updated. After 
identifying a selected product path an analysis of the transport matrix 
may be utilized to determine an optimal route based upon user inputs, such 
as the most rapid, least expensive, or most reliable form of transport, 
for transporting material between selected workstations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference now to the figures and in particular with reference to FIG. 
1, there is depicted a schematic view of a plurality of workstations 
within a computer based manufacturing system 10. As illustrated, computer 
based manufacturing system 10 includes a plurality of workstations 16, 18, 
20, 22, 24, 26 and 28. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, each 
workstation depicted represents a location wherein an operation upon 
material will occur or materials may be stored during the manufacturing 
process. Of course, each workstation may represent a location within a 
different country, multiple locations within a single country, multiple 
locations among buildings at a single manufacturing site or multiple 
locations among work cells or work areas within a single building. 
Connecting each of the workstations depicted are various transport methods 
30 which are depicted schematically utilizing arrows connecting individual 
workstations. 
Transport methods 30 represented schematically within FIG. 1 may represent 
multiple types of transport such as a conveyor belt systems, carts, 
trucking routes, air transport routes, or other various types of 
transportation. Additionally, those skilled in the art will appreciate 
that while a single transport method 30 may be depicted within FIG. 1 for 
connecting a selected workstation to a second selected workstation in 
reality multiple methods of transport may be available to relocate a 
product from one workstation to a second workstation. 
Also depicted within FIG. 1 is a computer 12. Computer 12 is preferably 
utilized to schedule and control operations within the computer based 
manufacturing system depicted and, may be implemented utilizing any 
suitable computer, such as the International Business Machines Corporation 
AS/400. A display screen 40 is depicted within computer 12 and may be 
utilized, in accordance with the method and system of the present 
invention, to display and depict a transport matrix which may be created 
in accordance with the teachings contained herein. Additionally, a 
graphical pointing device 14 is associated with computer 12 in a manner 
well known to those skilled in the computer art and may be utilized, as 
will be explained in greater detail herein, to manipulate data within a 
transport matrix. 
Referring now to FIG. 2, there is depicted a pictorial representation of a 
computer display screen illustrating a transport matrix 40, which is 
created in accordance with the method and system of the present invention. 
As is illustrated, transport matrix 40 includes a plurality of rows and 
columns, each of which is associated with a selected workstation within 
computer based manufacturing system 10 (see FIG. 1). Thus, row 42 is 
associated with workstation 1, row 44 is associated with workstation 2, 
row 46 is associated with workstation 3 and row 48 is associated with 
workstation N. Similarly, each column within transport matrix 40 is also 
associated with a workstation within computer based manufacturing system 
10. That is, columns 50, 52, 54, and 56 are associated respectively with 
workstations 1, 2, 3 and N. 
Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that transport matrix 
40 may be created in whatever size is necessary to accommodate each 
workstation within computer based manufacturing system 10. Thereafter, in 
accordance with an important feature of the present invention, each cell 
within transport matrix 40 has associated therewith a listing of methods 
of transport and associated attributes for those methods of transport 
which are available to transport material from a workstation associated 
with a particular row to a workstation associated with a particular 
column. 0f course, since transport between a workstation and itself will 
not be necessary, the diagonal of transport matrix 40 will be left blank, 
or may be utilized for local movement within a workstation, e.g. 
input/output buffers. 
In the depicted embodiment of FIG. 2, a graphic illustration of each type 
of transport is illustrated. That is, a graphic depiction of a conveyor 
belt, transport cart, truck or airplane may be utilized to indicate the 
method of transport which is available to transport material from one 
workstation to another workstation, as illustrated at various cells 60 
within transport matrix 40. Additionally, in the event multiple methods of 
transport exist for transporting material from a particular workstation to 
a second workstation, transport matrix 40 may be three-dimensional in 
nature or, alternatively, a graphic indication of alternate methods of 
transport may be included within each cell 60, in a manner which will be 
explained in greater detail herein. Also depicted within FIG. 2 is mouse 
pointer 64, which may be utilized in the so-called "point and click" 
method to select a particular method of transport and thereafter display 
the attributes associated with that method of transport, in a manner which 
will be depicted in greater detail below. 
With reference now to FIG. 3, there is depicted a pictorial representation 
of the computer display screen of FIG. 2, including an additional display 
of transport attributes. As illustrated, transport matrix 40 of FIG. 2 is 
depicted and a particular cell 60 at the intersection of row 42 and column 
52, has been selected, preferably utilizing a graphical selecting device, 
such as mouse pointer 64. In response to such selection a transport 
attribute viewport 66 is displayed which includes a plurality of 
attributes associated with the particular method of transport depicted 
within cell 60. In the depicted embodiment of the present invention, 
attributes such as the type of transport, velocity/distance or travel 
time, capacity, authorization required, fragility, cost and current status 
of the type of transport are displayed. Additionally, a second transport 
attribute viewport 68 may be displayed in an overlapped manner, such as 
that depicted within FIG. 3, indicating the existence of an alternate 
method of transport between workstation 1 and workstation 2. 
Referring now to FIG. 4, there is depicted an enlarged pictorial 
representation of one embodiment of a workstation row or column within the 
computer display screen of FIG. 2. As illustrated, in this depicted 
embodiment of the present invention, row 42 which is associated with 
workstation 1, includes a graphic illustration 70 which may be utilized to 
depict in iconic form an identification of the type and/or purpose of 
workstation 1. Iconic representation 70 is preferably utilized to indicate 
that workstation 1 is a stamping workstation wherein material may be 
modified utilizing a stamping or die cutting type machine. 
With reference now to FIG. 5, there is depicted a transport method cell 60 
within the computer display screen of FIG. 2, which includes an iconic 
representation 72 which may be utilized to identify the method of 
transport which is illustrated within cell 60. Iconic representation 72 
depicts a truck, indicating that transport of material from the 
workstation associated with the associated row to the workstation 
associated with the column associated with cell 60 is by truck transport. 
Additionally, alternate transport selection blocks 74, 76, 78 and 80 may 
be utilized to graphically indicate the presence of additional methods of 
transport between the workstations associated with this cell. 
Referring now to FIG. 6, there is depicted a high level flowchart depicting 
the creation of transport matrix 40 of FIG. 2. As illustrated, the process 
begins at block 90 and thereafter passes to block 92 which depicts an 
identification of all workstations within a selected computer based 
manufacturing system. Next, the process passes to block 94 which depicts 
the creation of a transport matrix in the manner depicted within FIG. 2. 
Thereafter, all available methods of transport between the various 
workstations located within the transport matrix are identified, as 
illustrated in block 96, and block 98 then depicts the filling of the 
cells within the transport matrix with transport method attributes. 
Thereafter, the process terminates, as illustrated at block 100. 
Finally, with reference to FIG. 7, there is depicted a high level flowchart 
depicting an analysis of an optimum product path utilizing the transport 
matrix of FIG. 2. As above, the process begins at block 110 and thereafter 
passes to block 112, which illustrates the identification of a desired 
product path. Those skilled in the computer based manufacturing arts will 
appreciate that scheduling of a particular product path may be 
accomplished by identifying those workstations which must necessarily 
operate upon a material to create the desired product. Additionally, 
multiple methods of transport may exist for moving material from each 
workstation within the desired product path to a subsequent workstation. 
Therefore, block 114 illustrates the prompting of a user for desired path 
attributes. These attributes may be selected by a user in order to 
minimize or maximize any objective function. For example, the fastest 
available method may be selected. Alternately, the least expensive method 
or shortest route may be selected by the user for a desired path 
attribute. Similarly, the desired path attributes may be arbitrarily 
complex. For example, a user may require the optimum path to be specified 
as that route which is least expensive which; however, has a ninety 
percent probability of completion within a specified period of time. 
Similarly, a user may specify a path which will complete production at the 
earliest possible moment including considerations of availability, 
reliability, and speed. Of course, those skilled in the art will 
appreciate that the term "user" as utilized herein, may mean a dispatch or 
shipping program, in addition to an actual human operator of the system. 
In situations wherein the "user" is a shipping program or the like, the 
method and system and system of the present invention may be processed 
automatically. 
After prompting the user for the desired path attributes for an identified 
product path block 116 depicts the analysis of the transport matrix, which 
was created within FIG. 6. This may be accomplished utilizing any well 
known matrix/path analysis technique. Block 118 then illustrates the 
specification of the optimum product path complying with the user's 
desired path attributes and the process then terminates, as depicted at 
block 120. 
Upon reference to the foregoing those skilled in the art will appreciate 
that the Applicants herein have provided a method and system for 
describing alternate modes of material movement between locations within a 
computer based manufacturing system and for the efficient utilization of 
this information in creating an optimum routing for material within that 
system. The information regarding alternate modes of material movement, as 
well as particular information relating to each of these alternate modes 
may be dynamically updated to compensate for variations in the transport 
modes available while still providing an optimized route for material 
movement within the system. 
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with 
reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those 
skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made 
therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.