Patent ID: 7007807

Claim:
A method of processing workpieces conveyed on a conveyor system by a workpiece processor, comprising: (a) initially loading the workpieces on the conveyor system; (b) obtaining one or more physical parameters of the workpieces; (c) obtaining an updated distribution of one or more physical parameters for a population of workpieces; (d) obtaining an updated loading on the conveyor system; (e) obtaining the processing capacity of the workpiece processor; (f) obtaining one or more processing parameters indicating the amount of processing of the workpieces required by the workpiece processor; (g) obtaining the speed that the conveyor system conveys the workpieces; and (h) processing the information obtained from steps (b)–(g) by a computer system to determine which workpieces should remain on the conveyor system and which workpieces should be removed from the conveyor system to optimize the level of workpiece processing achieved.