Computer-implemented decision support system and method

The invention concerns a computer-implemented decision support system and method, that determines the availability of work items and areas of responsibility, determines the feasibility of completing the work item tasks based on the determined availability of work items and the determined areas of responsibility, determines precedence of the work item tasks to be performed based on the determined feasibility, the determined availability of work items, and the determined areas of responsibility, and outputs one or more worklists that list work item tasks to be performed based on the determined precedence and the determined feasibility of the work item tasks.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of a computer-implemented management tools. More particularly, the present invention relates to processing of various parameters to aid the decision making tasks of production managers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In any business that is based on production of components or entire products in hard goods, soft goods, perishables, etc., efficient production management can be major key to increased production and increased profitability. However, production managers and process developers are often mired in infinite details of determining the availability of work in-progress, what resources are currently available, and what tasks (work items) need to be performed next. If production management errors are made, the entire production process suffers. For example, performing production steps out of sequence or finishing products stages prior to having other component ready, lead to costly delays and ultimately raise overall production costs per unit produced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Whether it is in an office environment or on an assembly line floor, production line managers have the difficult task of keeping production costs as low as possible in order to increase profitability of the product line. One major area of focus in this task is the goal of increasing and maintaining efficiency in the production process. For example, while manufacturing shop floor personnel are often faced with the question as to what task they should perform next, if the wrong decision is made, efficiency suffers.

Thus the invention concerns a decision support system and method that provides a production manager or shop floor person, for example, with a prioritized list of work items and/or tasks to help maintain efficiency in the production process. In providing the worklist, the system and method may evaluate whether a work item is feasible given the current production environment and the inventory available, and then evaluate the precedence of a work item relative to others according to a policy instituted by the production manager. The system and method also allow for re-evaluating the worklist based on a loss of workers due to illness and/or loss of equipment due to failure, for example.

FIG. 1illustrates the components of a possible system and basic computer and network architecture that may implement the decision support method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The decision support system100includes a master terminal110and one or more user terminals120connected through a network130. The production manager may implement the decision support method from the master terminal110, or alternatively, from one of the user terminals120or from any other device that may implement the method and is linked or connected in some manner to the system100. The user terminals120may receive reports and instructions resulting from the decision support method, as well as any other additional information or instructions from the production manager or co-workers.

One or more of the terminals110,120may be personal computers, computer workstations, handheld personal digital assistants (“PDA”), or any other type of microprocessor-based device.

The network130may be a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), remote access network, an intranet, or the Internet, for example. Network links for the network130may include telephone lines, DSL, cable networks, T1 or T3 lines, wireless network connections, or any other arrangement that implements the transmission and reception of network signals. However, whileFIG. 1shows the terminals110,120connected through a network130, the terminals110,120may be connected through other means, including directly hardwired or wirelessly connected. In addition, the terminals110,120may be connected to other network devices not shown, such as wired or wireless routers and servers. The terminals110,120may also be connected to one or more peripheral devices, such a local or network printer, mouse, display, storage drives, etc.

FIG. 2illustrates a possible configuration of a master terminal110(the user terminal120may also have a similar configuration). The master terminal110may include a controller/processor210, memory220, display230, database interface240, input/output device interface250, and network interface260, connected through bus270.

The controller/processor210may be any programmed processor known to one of skill in the art. However, the decision support method can also be implemented on a general-purpose or a special purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller, peripheral integrated circuit elements, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other integrated circuits, hardware/electronic logic circuits, such as a discrete element circuit, a programmable logic device, such as a PLD, PLA, FPGA, or PAL, or the like. In general, any device or devices capable of implementing the decision support method as described herein can be used to implement the decision support system functions of this invention.

The Input/Output interface250may be connected to one or more input devices that may include a keyboard, mouse, pen-operated touch screen or monitor, voice-recognition device, or any other device that accepts input. The Input/Output interface250may also be connected to one or more output devices, such as a monitor, printer, disk drive, speakers, or any other device provided to output data.

The memory220may include volatile and nonvolatile data storage, including one or more electrical, magnetic or optical memories such as a RAM, cache, hard drive, CD-ROM drive, tape drive or removable storage disk.

The network interface260may be connected to a communication device, modem, network interface card, or any other device capable of transmitting and receiving signals over a network130. The components of the terminals110,120may be connected via an electrical bus270, for example, or linked wirelessly.

Client software and databases may be accessed by the controller/processor210from memory220or through the database interface240, and may include, for example, database applications, word processing applications, the client side of a client/server application such as a billing system, as well as components that embody the decision support functionality of the present invention. The terminals110,120may implement any operating system, such as Windows or UNIX, for example. Client and server software may be written in any programming language, such as ABAP, C, C++, Java or Visual Basic, for example.

FIGS. 3,4a-band5a-bare flowcharts that depict a possible computer-implemented decision support process in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 3depicts the overall flowchart whileFIGS. 4aand5adepict more detailed flowcharts of the feasibility and precedence steps, respectively.FIGS. 4band5bdepict a flowchart showing how management can setup feasibility and precedence framework to achieve a desired outcome from the process shown inFIGS. 3,4a,and5a.

With respect toFIG. 3, the process begins at step3010and proceeds to step3020where the controller/processor210determines the availability of the work items and the area of responsibility. The work item can be assembling one or more components on to the work-in-progress, apply a finishing process on a product, etc.

The areas of responsibility depend on the structure and function of the work place and the nature of the business. For example, the area of responsibility could be milling, shipping, lathing, design, copying, maintenance, etc. The area of responsibility could be something more specific, such as milling product A & B on Milling Machine 1 & 2, transferring material from Location A to Location B, etc. The area of responsibility may be associated with one or more workers. If one of the workers is sick or on vacation, for example, his or her area of responsibility duties may shift to another worker.

In step3030, the controller/processor210performs one or more feasibility checks.FIG. 4ais a flowchart of a possible feasibility check process shown in step3030inFIG. 3. In step4020, the controller/processor210applies the necessary feasibility filters based on the area of responsibility data to each work item and store the result. Feasibility of completing work item tasks is dependent on, for example, work-in-progress availability and component availability. The feasibility filters are automatic, predetermined and selected by the system administrator.

System administrators may also develop their own feasibility filters and apply them to an area of responsibility.FIG. 4bshows this process. The process begins at step4110, and proceeds to step4120where the controller/processor210receives from the system administrators feasibility filters written to the system administrators' specifications. In step4130, the processor/controller210registers the feasibility filters with the feasibility framework. In step4140, the processor/controller210assigns the feasibility filters to an area of responsibility, categorizing them as mandatory or optional. The process proceeds to step4150and ends. The feasibility filters may also be mandatory or optional, which influences the default aggregation in step4050ofFIG. 4a.

In step4030, the controller/processor210assigns feasibility filters to one or more areas of responsibility. For example, the system operator may want to perform feasibility checks for an area of responsibility described as “Setup and production of any product on lathe 1 and 2.” The possible mandatory filters may be the work-in-progress availability, tool availability, resource availability, for example.

In step4040and4050, the controller/processor210accumulates and processes the feasibility filtering results. The results may be presented to the user on a display or in hardcopy automatically, or upon system operator request through a push of a button, for example. The results for default aggregation in step4050are “Passed all the mandatory and optional filters”, “Passed all the mandatory filters and failed some of the optional filters”, and “Failed one or more mandatory filters.” As mentioned above customers can have their own aggregation policy. The system100may not allow the system operator to execute the work item based on the failure of the feasibility check or may provide for a system operator override. The process then proceeds to step3040inFIG. 3.

Back toFIG. 3, after the feasibility check is complete, in step3040, the controller/processor210determines the precedence of work item tasks based on the results of the feasibility checks. The precedence procedures may be performed individually as selected by the system operator or may be performed automatically in accordance with a precedence profile. The precedence profile may have various grouping and sorting procedures assigned according to a particular area of responsibility, works item in-progress, or available work items, for example.

FIG. 5bshows the steps a system administrator should take to create and assign a precedence profile. The process begins at step5110, and proceeds to step5120where the controller/processor210receives from the system administrators grouping procedures written to the system administrators' specifications. In step5130, the processor/controller210registers the grouping procedures with the precedence framework. In step5140, the controller/processor210receives from the system administrators sorting procedures written to the system administrators' specifications. In step5150, the processor/controller210registers the sorting procedures with the precedence framework. In step5160, the controller/processor210receives a sequence profile defined by the system administrators. In step5170, the processor/controller210assigns the grouping procedures to a sequence profile. In step5180, the processor/controller210assigns the sorting procedures to each group that will be returned by the grouping procedures of Step5170. The process proceeds to step5190and ends.

FIG. 5ais a flowchart of a possible precedence determination process shown in step3040inFIG. 3. In step5020, the controller/processor210receives accumulated feasibility results with associated work item and area of responsibility data. In step5030, the controller/processor210groups work items tasks according to a specified grouping procedure. The grouping procedure may be automatic, one of a predetermined number which are then selected by the system operator. The groups for the work item tasks may be defined as “Hot jobs”, “Normal jobs”, or “Low jobs”, for example.

In step5030, the controller/processor210sorts work items tasks within each group according to a specified sorting procedure. The sorting procedure may be automatic, one of a predetermined number which are then selected by the system operator. Examples of sorting procedures may be earliest start time, shortest processing time, earliest due date, etc. In step5050, the controller/processor210provides the sorting results in the form of one or more worklists to the system operator. Possible worklists parameters and descriptions are discussed below in relation toFIG. 6. The process then proceeds to step3050inFIG. 3.

Back inFIG. 3, in step3050, the controller/processor210displays a worklist to the workers listing the work item tasks for each worker to perform, along with other necessary information. The process proceeds to step3060and ends.

FIG. 6is a possible example of a worklist generated by the computer-implemented decision support system100. The worklist may be displayed at the terminals110,120, or printed on hardcopy for the worker. Along with listing the work item tasks to be performed, the worklist may display a plurality of items related to the work tasks, including the name of the worker, his/her area of responsibility, the work item designation and description, the time allocated to complete the task, status, feasibility, priority, diagrams and instructions on how to perform the tasks, etc., plus any other communication links, pull-down menus, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), etc.

Several embodiments of the invention are specifically illustrated and/or described herein. However, it will be appreciated that modifications and variations of the invention are covered by the above teachings and within the purview of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and intended scope of the invention.