Patent Document ID: 5530857
Application ID: 08281988
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for shop floor control of work stations wherein a computer system for shop floor control of the work stations is provided and comprises at least one outfit for processing tasks, a local area network connected to a first direct communication line, and a shop floor control center including a data server, said outfit comprising a computer connected to a communication line, a local interface unit comprising local storage means for locally storing data and local processing means for locally processing data, said local processing means being connected to a local work station, the communication line of the outfit and said first direct communication line, the invention being characterized in that the method for shop floor control of said outfit comprises: shifting, at least in part, said tasks assigned to said outfit to said local processing means and said local work station; controlling said computer through said communication line from said local processing means via said interface unit, by transferring files between said data server of the shop floor control center and said local storage means through said first direct communication line and said local area network, said transferring step including initializing a file transfer from the shop floor control center when a requested file is not present in said local storage means without user intervention; and managing storage space in said local storage means by employing a strategy of erasing files stored in said local storage means.