Patent ID: 8565924

Claim:
A method for managing material flows synchronization in a batch manufacturing process, the batch manufacturing process including a plurality of activities, each activity being connected to at least one other activity, each activity X being associated with a quantity Q XM of a material M and a related processing time t X during which the quantity Q XM of the material M is processed, comprising: representing the material M flow between each of any two of the connected activities by a pegging arc e ST(M) , wherein a source activity S of the connected activities is supplying at least a portion q ST of an associated quantity Q SM of the material M to a target activity T of the connected activities, wherein the target activity T is receiving the quantity q ST from the source activity S, wherein the quantity q ST represents at least a portion of an associated quantity Q TM of the material M; assigning to each pegging arc e ST(M) an order; following the assigned order, determining, for each pegging arc e ST(M) : a value C T indicative of a speed at which the target activity T consumes the material M; and a value P T indicative of a speed at which the source activity S produces the material M; and according to the determined values C T and P T , determining, by a processor, which portion of a processing time t s of the production of the material M by the source activity S is to be dedicated to which portion of a processing time t t of the target activity T in order to optimize a throughput of the batch manufacturing process.