Patent ID: 6993492

Claim:
A computer implemented method for reducing the work in process at a given time in the manufacture of one of a product and a series of products by comparing process activity parameters including process setup time and process time per product unit, with the number of different product part numbers processed, changing at least one of said process activity parameters to reduce said work in process, said method including the steps of: determining, by a computer, the aggregate demand in product units per hour based on the number of different product units produced at a facility multiplied by the customer demand rate for respective product units per hour; determining, by a computer, the common minimum batch size for all product units (MINB) for all workstations from the equation: MINB = λ [ ∑ i = 1 N ⁢ S 1 - ∑ i = 1 N ⁢ λ ⁢ ⁢ P ] = Δ ⁢ ⁢ S 1 - Λ ⁢ ⁢ P where λ is the customer demand rate, N is the number of different product part numbers (from i to N), Λ is the aggregate demand for all product units produced in the facility, S is the setup time required to prepare a workstation to produce a batch of product units and P is the time required to process one product unit at the workstation in question; and reducing said work in process by selective reduction of at least one of said product part numbers, said process setup time and said process time per product unit.