Abstract:
Planning items necessary for the evaluation of a manufacturing capability in a production line are categorized from process routes of operation achievement information for every ordered product, so that operation time per process unit is calculated. Thereupon the similarity of the process routes of the categorized planning items to those of an ordered product is evaluated, the planning items are allocated to the ordered product, and different product operation time is set up for every specification, so that a manufacturing capability of a production line is precisely evaluated to make a production plan.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a production planning system and a production planning method for individually ordered products, and more particularly to a production planning system and a production planning method for drawing up a highly accurate production plan in a short time. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    For individually ordered products such as industrial machines, motors, and elevators, it is important to construct a production line and build production management technology which enable ordered products to be manufactured in time for a delivery date requested by customers. Up to now, in terms of production line construction and production management technology, they have made production plans which can meet delivery dates requested by customers by making use of production line simulators and evaluating manufacturing capabilities of individual production lines. Patent document 1, for example, discloses that, for a semiconductor product, a starting plan and production instructions are generated by evaluating the manufacturing capability of a production line using a production line simulator. 
         [0003]    To accurately evaluate the manufacturing capability of a production line using a production line simulator, it is necessary to secure accuracy of the operation time for each process for each product to be used as a parameter for a production line simulator. To realize this, there is a method in which parameters such as operation time to be used by a production line simulator are automatically set. According to patent document 2, achievement data is acquired from a production line via an achievement collection system, and operation times are automatically set as parameters to be used next time by a production line simulator. In this way, the accuracy of evaluation of the manufacturing capability of a production line made using a production line simulator is improved. 
         [0004]    Furthermore, according to patent document 3, in order to improve the accuracy of a production line simulator, operation time, for example, of an assembly process involving human factors, is set by taking into account an operator&#39;s maturity and fatigue level.
   Patent document 1: Japanese patent laid-open No.   Patent document 2: Japanese patent laid-open No. 2007-201309   Patent document 3: Japanese patent laid-open No. 2007-188133   
 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Problem to be Solved by the Invention 
       [0008]    Individually ordered products such as industrial machines, motors, elevators, and escalators, however, involve different specifications depending on orders received from customers, so that there are not many cases in which same components are repeatedly manufactured. Even same-named products use different optional components to be manufactured through different operations requiring different operation times and involving different processes. Therefore, in order to evaluate the manufacturing capability of a production line using a production line simulator, it is necessary to set operation time for each order received from a customer and each process. In reality, operation time setting has not been standardized, and it is difficult to set operation time for each order and each process because doing so takes a great amount of time. Furthermore, in the case of a new product, manufacturing involves a new operation, so that operation time cannot be accurately set. This poses a problem that the manufacturing capability of a production line cannot be accurately evaluated using a production line simulator. 
         [0009]    According to the present invention, to address the above problem, operation times are set for products of different specifications based on operation time for each process. The present invention provides a production planning system and a production planning method for, using the above approach, accurately evaluating the manufacturing capability of a production line and drawing up a production plan. 
       Means for Solving Problem 
       [0010]    The above object can be achieved by a production planning system which classifies planning items necessary for evaluating the manufacturing capability of a production line based on process routes known from operation achievement information for each order received, and calculates operation time for each process. The production planning system then evaluates similarity between the process routes of the classified planning items and the process routes for the received order, allocates planning items to the order and, by using the operation time calculated for each process, sets operation time for each product of a different specification, so that the production planning system can accurately evaluate the manufacturing capability of a production line and make a production plan. 
         [0011]    Also, the object can be achieved by a production planning system including: an extraction/calculation section for, based on operation achievement information, extracting a process route of a production line and calculating an operation time for the process route; an addition/calculation section for, based on a difference between achieved manufacturing capability of the production line and evaluated manufacturing capability of the production line, adding the process route to a process route list and calculating a corrected operation time; a selection section for selecting a planning item from the process route list; an allocation section for evaluating similarity between the process route of the planning item and a process route for a received order and allocating the planning item to the received order; and a production planning section for evaluating the manufacturing capability of the production line based on the planning item and creating a production plan. Furthermore, the object can be achieved by a production planning method including the steps of: based on operation achievement information, extracting a process route of a production line and calculating an operation time for the process route; based on a difference between achieved manufacturing capability of the production line and evaluated manufacturing capability of the production line, adding the process route to a process route list and calculating a corrected operation time; selecting a planning item from the process route list; evaluating similarity between the process route of the planning item and a process route for a received order and allocating the planning item to the received order; and evaluating the manufacturing capability of the production line based on the planning item and creating a production plan. 
       Effect of the Invention 
       [0012]    According to the present invention, the manufacturing capability of a production line for an individually ordered product can be accurately evaluated. This makes it possible to make, accurately and in a short period of time, a production plan which enables a delivery date to be observed. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a hardware block diagram of a production planning system; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram for explaining information held in an external storage device; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a macroscopic operation flowchart for a production planning system; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart for extracting all processes from operation achievement information and creating a process route; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a diagram for explaining operation achievement information; 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a diagram for explaining process route information; 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is a diagram for explaining a table depicting process routes using a table; 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  is a diagram for explaining a screen showing process routes in a graph format; 
           [0021]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart for category classification based on process routes and operation times; 
           [0022]      FIG. 10  is a flowchart of processing for examining the accuracy of evaluation of the manufacturing capability of a production line; 
           [0023]      FIG. 11  is a diagram for explaining planning item information; 
           [0024]      FIG. 12  is a diagram for explaining order information; 
           [0025]      FIG. 13  is a diagram for explaining operation process information; 
           [0026]      FIG. 14  is a flowchart of processing for order information allocation; 
           [0027]      FIG. 15  is a diagram for explaining planning item allocation information; 
           [0028]      FIG. 16  is a flowchart of processing for drawing up a production plan; 
           [0029]      FIG. 17  shows a screen displaying a result of evaluating the manufacturing capability of a production line; 
           [0030]      FIG. 18  shows a screen displaying a result of evaluating the manufacturing capability of a production line; 
           [0031]      FIG. 19  shows a screen displaying a result of evaluating the manufacturing capability of a production line; 
           [0032]      FIG. 20  is a diagram for explaining a result of evaluating the throughput of a production line; and 
           [0033]      FIG. 21  is a diagram for explaining a result of evaluating the work in process of a production line. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0034]    Modes of the present invention will be described below with reference to drawings based on an embodiment. In the following, identical parts will be allocated identical reference numerals and their description will not be repeated. 
         [0035]    A production planning system  100  is comprised of a computer system including, as shown in  FIG. 1 , a CPU  101 , a memory  102 , an external storage device  103  comprised of a hard disk drive, a reader  107  which reads data from a portable storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM, an input device  105  such as a keyboard and a mouse, an output device  106  such as a CRT or an LCD, a communication device  104  for performing communication via a network  108  which may be, for example, the Internet, and a bus interconnecting the above devices. The production planning system  100  can also be built on a network system provided with plural computer systems like the one described above. 
         [0036]    External systems such as a production line management system  109 , a production planning system  110 , and an order processing system  111  are connected to the production planning system  100  via a network  108 . There are cases in which a single production line management system  109  manages operation achievement information for all production lines and also cases in which as many production line management systems  109  as the number of production lines are installed. The production planning system  110  manages production plan information. The order processing system  111  manages order information such as product specifications, customer information and a delivery date for each order received from a customer. 
         [0037]    The storage section  103  of the production planning system  100  holds, as shown in  FIG. 2 , operation achievement information  51 , process route information  61  and planning item information  11  read from the production line management system  109  and registered and order information  21  about orders from customers, operation process information  31  and planning item allocation information  41  registered at the order processing system  111 . 
         [0038]    The operation achievement information  51 , process route information  61 , planning item information  11 , order information  21 , operation process information  31 , and planning item allocation information  41  will be described later with reference to  FIGS. 5 ,  6 ,  11 ,  12 ,  13 , and  15 , respectively. 
         [0039]    Next, the processing flow of a processing program executed by the CPU  101  of the production planning system  100  will be described with reference to  FIG. 3 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , the production planning system  100  first collects operation start and operation completion information (operation achievement information) by process and order, calculates operation times, and extracts all process routes from operation achievement information for each product (S 31 ). Next, the production planning system  100  adds process routes to a process route list based on the difference between the actual manufacturing capability and evaluated manufacturing capability of the production line and corrects the operation times (S 32 ). Based on the process route list, the production planning system  100  sets and determines planning items (S 33 ), wherein each planning item represents a process route pattern to make up a production plan. 
         [0040]    Next, the production planning system  100  calculates similarity between the process routes of the planning items and the process route of the order and allocates the order information to the planning item showing the highest similarity (S 34 ). Finally, the production planning system  100  evaluates the manufacturing capability of the production line and creates a production plan (S 35 ). 
         [0041]    In the following, details of the processing shown in  FIG. 3  will be described in order.  FIG. 4  shows details of step  31  in which the production planning system  100  collects operation start and operation completion information by process and order, calculates operation times, and extracts all process routes from operation achievement information for each product. 
         [0042]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , the production planning system  100  first extracts all process achievement information from the operation achievement information (operation achievement data) (S 311 ). 
         [0043]    Next, the production planning system  100  re-orders product numbers by delivery date and the process achievement information by operation start time (S 312 ). Next, the production planning system  100  acquires one line of re-ordered operation achievement data (S 313 ). Next, the production planning system  100  examines the process routes indicated by the acquired data and registers them as process route patterns. In doing this, the production planning system  100  compares past process route patterns and the process routes included in the acquired data (S 314 ). To be concrete, when all processes match, the process route patterns are determined to be the same. When there are one or more extra processes or when one or more processes are lacking, the process route patterns are regarded not matching and the acquired processes are regarded as making up a new process route pattern. A process route not found in the past process routes is registered as a new process route pattern by the production planning system  100  (S 315 ). When an identical process route already exists, the production planning system  100  increments the number of process route patterns (S 316 ). The production planning system  100  repeats the above processing until all data included in the operation achievement information has been finished (S 317 ). When all data has been finished, the production planning system  100  calculates operation time averages and variances by process route (S 318 ). 
         [0044]    Where n is the total number of process routes i and Stj is the operation time for product number j, average μi of operation times Stj of process routes i is given by the following equation 1. Also, variance σi of operation times Stj of process routes i is given by the following equation 2. 
         [0000]    
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     μ 
                     i 
                   
                   = 
                   
                     
                       1 
                       n 
                     
                      
                     
                       
                         ∑ 
                         
                           j 
                           = 
                           1 
                         
                         n 
                       
                        
                       
                         St 
                         j 
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   ( 
                   1 
                   ) 
                 
               
             
             
               
                 
                   
                     σ 
                     i 
                   
                   = 
                   
                     
                       
                         1 
                         n 
                       
                        
                       
                         
                           ∑ 
                           
                             j 
                             = 
                             1 
                           
                           n 
                         
                          
                         
                           
                             ( 
                             
                               
                                 St 
                                 j 
                               
                               - 
                               
                                 μ 
                                 i 
                               
                             
                             ) 
                           
                           2 
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   ( 
                   2 
                   ) 
                 
               
             
           
         
       
     
         [0045]    Finally, the production planning system  100  registers the calculated data as process route information in the storage section  103  (S 319 ). 
         [0046]    The operation achievement information will be described with reference to  FIG. 5 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , the operation achievement information  51  includes a product number field  511  where product numbers are registered as final product identification numbers, a product field  512  where product names of final products are registered, a process field  513  where production processes are registered, a start time field  514  where the operation start times of production processes are registered, and an end time field  515  where the operation end times of the production processes are entered. 
         [0047]    The process route information will be described with reference to  FIG. 6 . Referring to  FIG. 6 , the process route information  61  includes a route pattern field  611  where route patterns are registered as process route information identification numbers, a process field  612  where the names of processes passed through in each route pattern are registered, a total number field  613  where the total numbers of times process routes have been passed through are registered, an average field  614  where operation time averages are registered, and a variance field  615  where operation time variances are registered. 
         [0048]    The process route patterns extracted and classified as described with reference to  FIG. 4  will be described below with reference to  FIGS. 7 and 8 .  FIGS. 7 and 8  each show a display of the output device  106 . Referring to  FIG. 7 , the production planning system  100  classifies process route patterns and displays the results in the format of a process pattern classification table  71 . In the process pattern classification table  71 , process route patterns are listed along the horizontal direction and processes passed through by products are listed along the vertical direction. In the process extraction processing described in  FIG. 4 , all process routes are extracted, and the results are displayed as process route pattern types along the horizontal direction of the process pattern classification table  71 . The processes included in each of the process route patterns are listed along the vertical direction. In the bottom row of the table, the total number of times each process route pattern has been passed through is displayed. In  FIG. 7 , a pull-down menu  72  is shown in an upper right part of the process pattern classification table  71 . In the present example, TABLE is selected in the pull-down menu. 
         [0049]      FIG. 8  shows a display which appears when GRAPH is selected by the pull-down menu shown in  FIG. 7 . Referring to  FIG. 8 , when GRAPH is selected by the pull-down menu  72 , the production planning system  100  shows a process pattern frequency graph  81 . In the process pattern frequency graph  81 , the horizontal axis represents patterns and the vertical axis represents the total number of times each pattern has been passed through. In the process pattern frequency graph  81 , the process patterns are ordered according to the frequency of being passed through. The process pattern frequency graph  81  is a Pareto chart showing process patterns having large effects on a production plan. Process patterns accounting for about 80% of all the process patterns are selected as planning items. 
         [0050]    Next, addition to the process route list and operation time correction processing (S 32 ) will be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 9 . Referring to  FIG. 9 , the production planning system  100  first adds the process route pattern that has been passed through the most times among all the process route patterns to the process route list to be the target of evaluating the manufacturing capability of the production line and acquires the operation time of each process registered in the process route information (S 321 ). 
         [0051]    Next, based on the target process route list and operation time, the production planning system  100  evaluates the manufacturing capability of the production line (S 322 ). 
         [0052]    Furthermore, based on the result of evaluation of the manufacturing capability of the production line, the production planning system  100  determines whether the throughput and work in process are within threshold values (S 323 ). Concerning the throughput and work in process, the production planning system  100  calculates accuracies Th_Ratio and Wip_Ratio using the following equations 3 and 4. When the calculated values are within the threshold values (S 323 : YES), the production planning system  100  ends evaluation of the manufacturing capability of the production line. In the above, Th represents Throughput and Wip represents Work In Process. 
         [0000]    
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   Th_Ratio 
                   = 
                   
                      
                     
                       
                         Actual_Th 
                         - 
                         Sim_Th 
                       
                       Actual_Th 
                     
                      
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   ( 
                   3 
                   ) 
                 
               
             
             
               
                 
                   Wip_Ratio 
                   = 
                   
                      
                     
                       
                         Actual_Wip 
                         - 
                         Sim_Wip 
                       
                       Actual_Wip 
                     
                      
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   ( 
                   4 
                   ) 
                 
               
             
           
         
       
     
         [0053]    In the above equations, Actual_Th represents throughput achievement in a certain period, Actual_Wip represents work-in-process achievement, Sim_Th represents throughput determined in evaluation of the manufacturing capability of the production line, and Sim_Wip represents work in process determined. Note that Sim stands for simulation. 
         [0054]    When the calculated values are not within the threshold values (S 323 : NO), the production planning system  100  acquires data on the process route that has been passed through the second most times from the process route information, adds a new process route line to the process route list that has been in use for manufacturing capability evaluation, and evaluates the manufacturing capability of the production line. This process is repeated until all process routes have been added to the process route list (S 324 ). 
         [0055]    After all process routes are added to the process route list (S 324 : YES), the production planning system  100  changes the operation time for each process showing a large difference between the work in process determined in evaluation of the manufacturing capability of the production line and the work-in-process achievement, creates a target process route list, and calculates the operation time for each process (S 325 ). 
         [0056]    Based on the new process route list, the production planning system  100  evaluates the manufacturing capability of the production line and, based on the results of evaluation of the manufacturing capability of the production line, determines whether the throughput and work in process are within predetermined threshold values (S 326 ). 
         [0057]    When the throughput and work in process are within the threshold values (S 326 : YES), the production planning system  100  ends the processing. When they are not within the threshold values (S 326 : NO), the production planning system  100  adds the next process route as a target process, then repeats the above processing until the operation times of all processes have been added to the division (S 327 ). When the operation times of all processes have been added to the division (S 327 : YES), the production planning system  100  ends the processing. 
         [0058]    Details of the processing performed in step  325  will be described with reference to  FIG. 10 . Referring to  FIG. 10 , the production planning system  100  first compares the work in process achievement of each process with the work in process determined in evaluation of the manufacturing capability of the production line and selects the process with the largest difference ratio (S 3251 ). To be concrete, the process whose Delta_Wipi value calculated using the following equation 5 is the largest is selected. 
         [0000]    
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     Delta_Wip 
                     i 
                   
                   = 
                   
                      
                     
                       
                         
                           Actual_Wip 
                           i 
                         
                         - 
                         
                           Sim_Wip 
                           i 
                         
                       
                       
                         Actual_Wip 
                         i 
                       
                     
                      
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   ( 
                   5 
                   ) 
                 
               
             
           
         
       
     
         [0059]    In the above equation, Actual Wipi represents the work-in-process achievement in a certain period of process and Sim_Wipi represents the work in process of process i determined as a result of evaluating the manufacturing capability of the production line. 
         [0060]    Next, the production planning system  100  compares the difference between the achievement of the selected process and the throughput determined in manufacturing capability evaluation with a threshold value (S 3252 ). When the difference is larger than the threshold value (YES), the production planning system  100  corrects the operation time (S 3253 ). To be concrete, the operation time is corrected to St_Newi calculated using the following equation 6 where Sti represents the operation time of process i, Actual_Thi represents the throughput achievement in a certain period of process i, and Sim_Thi represents the throughput determined in evaluation of the manufacturing capability of the production line. 
         [0000]    
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     St_New 
                     i 
                   
                   = 
                   
                     
                       Sim_Thi 
                       Actual_Thi 
                     
                     · 
                     
                       St 
                       i 
                     
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   ( 
                   6 
                   ) 
                 
               
             
           
         
       
     
         [0061]    The production planning system  100  corrects the operation time in the planning item information (S 3254 ) and ends the processing. 
         [0062]    When, in step  3252 , the difference is smaller than the threshold value (NO), the production planning system  100  again compares the work in process achievement of each process and the work in process determined as a result of evaluating the manufacturing capability of the production line, selects the process with the second largest difference (S 3255 ), and repeats the processing. 
         [0063]    Next, the processing for determining classified categories as planning items ( FIG. 3 : S 33 ) will be described with reference to  FIG. 11 . Referring to  FIG. 11 , the planning item information  11  includes a planning item code field  115  where planning item codes representing identification numbers for planning item information are registered, a process field  116  where the names of processes passed through by planning item codes are registered, and an operation time field  117  where the operation times during which the planning item codes respectively operate in the corresponding processes are registered. 
         [0064]    The processing for allocating order information to a planning item ( FIG. 3 : step  34 ) will be described with reference to  FIGS. 12 to 14 . 
         [0065]    First, referring to  FIG. 12 , the order information  21  includes an order number field  211  where order numbers which are identification numbers allocated to orders when received from delivery destinations, i.e. customers, are registered, a product number field  212  where product numbers of final products are registered, a delivery date field  213  where delivery dates for products to be shipped to delivery destinations are registered, and a delivery destination field  214  where product shipment destinations are registered. 
         [0066]    Referring to  FIG. 13 , the operation process information  31  includes a product number field  311  where product numbers used as final product identification numbers are registered, a product field  312  where the names of final products are registered, and a process field  313  where manufacturing processes are registered. 
         [0067]    With reference to  FIG. 14 , the processing for order information allocation (S 34 ) will be described in detail. Referring to  FIG. 14 , the production planning system  100  first reads the order information  21 , operation process information  31 , and planning item information  11  (S 341 ). Next, the production planning system  100  acquires a line of target data from order information (S 342 ). The production planning system  100  compares the processes indicated by the operation process information included in the target order information with the processes indicated by the planning item information and allocates a product number to a planning item code showing similarity (S 343 ). To be concrete, a planning item code whose similarity P calculated using the following equation 7 is small is regarded as a similar planning item code. 
         [0000]    
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     P 
                     i 
                   
                   = 
                   
                      
                     
                       
                         n 
                         - 
                         
                           m 
                           i 
                         
                       
                       n 
                     
                      
                   
                 
               
               
                 
                   ( 
                   7 
                   ) 
                 
               
             
           
         
       
     
         [0068]    In the above equation 7, i represents a planning item code, n represents the umber of processes indicated by the target order data, and mi represents the number of matches between planning item processes and processes indicated by the order information. 
         [0069]    The production planning system  100  determines whether all data included in the order information has been finished (S 344 ) and, if not yet, repeats the above processing until all data has been finished (S 344 : YES). Finally, the production planning system  100  registers the planning item code and product number as the planning item allocation information  41  in the storage section  103  (S 345 ) and ends the processing. 
         [0070]    With reference to  FIG. 15 , the planning item allocation information  41  will be described. Referring to  FIG. 15 , the planning item allocation information  41  includes a planning item code field  411  where planning item codes which are identification numbers for planning item information are registered and a product number field  412  where product numbers which are identification numbers for final products are registered. 
         [0071]    Next, the processing for evaluating the manufacturing capability of the production line ( FIG. 3 : S 35 ) will be described in detail with reference to  FIG. 16 . Referring to  FIG. 16 , the production planning system  100  first calculates operation time by process and product number for every date (S 351 ). In doing this, product numbers included in the planning item allocation information  41  and operation times included in the planning item information  11  are used. The production planning system  100  acquires target date data (S 352 ) and order data (S 353 ). The production planning system  100  determines whether operation time can be allocated as process operating time for every process (S 354 ). When operation time can be allocated as process operating time for every process (S 354 : YES), the production planning system  100  determines a delivery date (S 356 ). 
         [0072]    When operation time allocation is not possible (S 354 : NO), the production planning system  100  allocates processes to allocatable operation time, corrects the operation date (S 355 ), and returns the processing to step  354 . The production planning system  100  repeats the above processing for every product number (S 357 ) and for every date (S 358 ), then ends the processing. 
         [0073]    With reference to  FIG. 17 , a screen display showing results of evaluating the manufacturing capability of a production line will be described. Referring to  FIG. 17 , a result output screen  91  shows a production line throughput  911 , a production-line work in process  912 , and a pull-down menu  913 . In each of the throughput  911  and the work in process  912 , an achievement and a manufacturing capability evaluation result are displayed for comparison. This allows the user to check, in terms of the overall throughput and work in process, the difference between the achievement and an evaluation result. The difference represents the accuracy of manufacturing capability evaluation. Namely, when a new order is received, the manufacturing capability of the production line can be estimated with accuracy of the same level as achieved concerning the relationship between past production achievement and a result of manufacturing capability evaluation. 
         [0074]    Based on the result output screen  91 , changing the selection in the pull-down menu  913  using the input device  105  makes it possible to display comparison between production line achievement and a result of evaluating the manufacturing capability of the production line for each planning item as shown in  FIG. 18 . Referring to  FIG. 18 , a result output screen  92  shows a production-line throughput  911 , a production-line work in process  912 , pull-down menus  913  and  924 , and a DETAIL button  925 . In each of the throughput  911  and the work in process  912 , an achievement and a manufacturing capability evaluation result are displayed for comparison. With the PLANNING ITEM and planning item code K 001  selected in the pull-down menus  913  and  924 , the throughput and the work in process shown are for planning item code K 001 . This allows the user to check, by comparing the achievement with the result of evaluating the manufacturing capability of the production line, the accuracy of evaluation of the manufacturing capability of the production line. 
         [0075]    With reference to  FIG. 19 , a detailed result output screen will be described. Referring to  FIG. 19 , a result output screen  93  shows a process list  931 , an item allocation list  932 , the pull-down menus  913  and  924 , and the DETAIL button  925 . In the result output screen  92  shown in  FIG. 18 , process routes, operation times and allocated product numbers for the planning item can be checked by pressing the DETAIL button  925 . 
         [0076]    Finally, results of evaluating the manufacturing capability of a production line will be described with reference to  FIGS. 20 and 21 . In  FIG. 20 , the vertical axis of graph  94  represents throughput (units/day), both achievement and evaluation result. In  FIG. 21 , the vertical axis of graph  95  represents work in process (units), both achievement and evaluation result. Both the throughput and work in process are of a process. In  FIGS. 20 and 21 , “ACHIEVEMENT” represents achievement in a past half year, “MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY EVALUATION RESULT  1 ” represents a result of reproducing a past half year using the present technique, and “MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY EVALUATION RESULT  2 ” represents a result of estimating future manufacturing capability. The error between the “ACHIEVEMENT” and the “MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY EVALUATION RESULT  1 ” is within 3% both for the throughput and for the work in process. Namely, it is found that the “MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY EVALUATION RESULT  2 ” can also be estimated with an error not exceeding 3%. 
         [0077]    According to the above embodiment, the manufacturing capability of a production line can be accurately evaluated for individually ordered products, so that a production plan to comply with a date of delivery to a customer can be accurately created in a short period of time. 
       DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 
       [0000]    
       
         
           
               11  . . . Planning item information 
               21  . . . Order information 
               31  . . . Operation process information 
               41  . . . Planning item allocation information 
               51  . . . Operation achievement information 
               61  . . . Process route information 
               71  . . . Process pattern classification table 
               81  . . . Process pattern frequency graph 
               91  . . . Result output screen 
               92  . . . Result output screen 
               93  . . . Result output screen 
               94  . . . Graph 
               95  . . . Graph 
               100  . . . Production planning system 
               101  . . . CPU 
               102  . . . Memory 
               103  . . . External storage device 
               104  . . . Communication device 
               105  . . . Input device 
               106  . . . Output device 
               107  . . . Reader 
               108  . . . Network 
               109  . . . Production line management system 
               110  . . . Production planning system 
               111  . . . Order processing system