JP2017187862A - Information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently schedule a process in the case where a subject for actually processing processes of devices or the like of each plant has a plurality of functions.SOLUTION: A schedule server 10 includes: a work subject information acquisition part 11 for acquiring work subject information including information of a plurality of functions executable by each work subject; a virtual device information registration part 15 for storing virtual device information about a virtual device with one or more functions associated therewith among functions included in the work subject information; a process determination part 17 for acquiring process information, the information indicating a series of processes for manufacturing products; a virtual device specification part 20 for specifying a virtual device associated with a function corresponding to each process represented by the process information on the basis of the virtual device information; and a schedule determination part 21 for specifying work subjects capable of executing a function associated with the specified virtual device by using the work subject information, determining a work subject for executing each process among the specified work subjects, and determining a schedule of each process.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that schedules a process for manufacturing a product.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a technology in which a server receives orders and design information from an ordering source device via the Internet and causes a plurality of remote manufacturing apparatuses to work based on the design information. Thereby, the product which concerns on an order can be manufactured. For example, in Patent Document 1, a server that can communicate with a plurality of terminals receives information from a client, and arranges a schedule for each real factory according to the capacity of each real factory in order to optimize the process time. Manufacturing the product.

JP 2000-347718 A

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 merely specifies a factory capable of executing a process, and does not consider the functions of various manufacturing apparatuses included in each factory. In particular, when a manufacturing apparatus has a plurality of functions, in order to operate each manufacturing apparatus efficiently, it is necessary to schedule processes in consideration of the plurality of functions of the manufacturing apparatus.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an information processing apparatus that efficiently schedules a process when an entity that actually processes the process, such as an apparatus in each factory, has a plurality of functions. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a work subject information acquisition unit that obtains work subject information including information on a plurality of functions that can be executed by each work subject, and obtains work subject information. Virtual device information storage means for storing virtual device information relating to a virtual device associated with one or a plurality of functions among the functions included in the work subject information acquired by the means, and a series of steps for manufacturing a product A virtual device associated with a function corresponding to each step included in a series of steps indicated in the step information acquired by the step information acquisition unit, and a step information acquisition unit that acquires step information that is information to be displayed. Using the virtual device specifying means specified based on the information and the work subject information acquired by the work subject information acquiring means, the virtual device specifying means can identify the virtual device specified for each process. It identifies possible work mainly perform the stick function, determines the working principal running in each step among the work principal that the specified, includes determination means for determining a schedule for each step.

  According to the information processing apparatus having such a configuration, each process is identified from among the workers who can execute the function associated with the virtual apparatus by identifying the virtual apparatus corresponding to the process based on the function associated with the virtual apparatus. The work subject to be executed is determined, and the schedule of each process is determined. As described above, based on the function, it is possible to assign to each process in units of functions of the virtual device managed in a unified manner, and to determine the work subject corresponding to the function of the virtual device as the work subject to be executed in each step. Therefore, when a main body that actually processes a process such as an apparatus in each factory has a plurality of functions, the process can be efficiently scheduled.

  The information processing apparatus further includes status information acquisition means for acquiring status information indicating the operating status of each work subject, and the determination means executes in each step based on the status information acquired by the status information acquisition means. The subject of work may be determined.

  If such a configuration is adopted, since the work subject to be executed in each process is determined based on the status information indicating the operation status of each work subject, the work subject that is operating properly is determined to be the work subject to be executed in each process. be able to.

  The information processing apparatus further includes a corresponding function information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a function corresponding to each step indicated in the step information acquired by the step information acquisition unit, and the virtual device identification unit includes the corresponding function information The virtual device may be specified using information indicating a function corresponding to each process acquired by the acquiring unit.

  In this case, since the information in which the process information and the function are associated is acquired and the virtual device corresponding to the process is specified using the information, the virtual apparatus corresponding to the process can be appropriately determined.

  In the information processing apparatus, the work subject information acquisition unit acquires work subject information further including an execution cost that is a cost for executing the work subject, and the determination unit includes the work subject information acquisition unit. A candidate work subject to be executed in each process may be identified using the subject information, and the work subject to be executed in each process may be determined based on the execution cost of the candidate work subject.

  In this case, since the work subject to be executed in each process is determined based on the execution cost of each work subject, for example, the work subject having a relatively high execution cost is determined as the work subject to be executed in each process. Can be avoided. That is, the process can be efficiently scheduled.

  In the information processing apparatus, the work subject information acquisition unit may acquire work subject information including a person as the work subject. In this case, it is possible to schedule a process in consideration of a person such as a worker as a work subject.

  In the information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus further includes inspection process information acquisition means for acquiring inspection process information that is information of an inspection process corresponding to each process, and the virtual device specifying means is an inspection process acquired by the inspection process information acquisition means. You may further specify the virtual apparatus corresponding to the function corresponding to each inspection process of information.

  In this case, in the information processing apparatus, the inspection process corresponding to each process is specified, and the virtual apparatus corresponding to the function corresponding to the inspection process is specified. Therefore, the process can be efficiently scheduled in consideration of the inspection process. Can do.

  In the information processing apparatus, the work subject information acquisition unit acquires work subject information further including information on the work place of the work subject, and the determination unit uses the work subject information acquired by the work subject information acquisition unit. Identify the location of the candidate work subject to be executed in each process, calculate the transport cost that is the cost of transport between the candidate work subjects between the two steps based on the distance between the work subject locations, You may determine the operation main body performed in each process based on conveyance cost.

  In this case, since the work subject executed in each process is determined based on the transport cost corresponding to each process, for example, the work subject whose transport cost is relatively high is determined as the work subject executed in each process. Can be avoided. That is, the process can be efficiently scheduled.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when the main body which actually processes a process, such as an apparatus of each factory, has a several function, it can schedule a process efficiently.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an information processing system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the schedule server 10 of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the data stored in the operation subject attribute table. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the data stored in the operation subject function table. It is a figure which shows an example of a data structure of the data memorize | stored in status information DB14. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the data memorize | stored in virtual device information DB16. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of data stored in a process determination unit 17. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the data memorize | stored in corresponding | compatible function information DB19. It is a figure which shows an example of the correspondence of a process and a virtual function. It is a figure which shows an example of the correspondence of a process and a virtual apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of an information output which shows the correspondence of a process and a virtual device. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the data memorize | stored in inter-process information DB22. It is a figure which shows the example of the process image which updates a process. It is a figure which shows an example of plan information. It is a flowchart which shows the process which registers work subject information. 4 is a flowchart showing processing related to a manufacturing execution request by a terminal device 30. 4 is a flowchart showing a schedule determination process by the schedule server 10.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or equivalent elements will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. An information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a system that determines a working subject that executes a series of steps for manufacturing a certain product (for example, an electronic device). Here, the operation subject is an entity that performs operations in a process for manufacturing a product, and specifically includes various manufacturing apparatuses (3D printers, processing devices, inspection devices, transporting machines, etc.) and people. Workers are included. The information processing system 1 includes a schedule server 10 that determines a work subject that executes the series of steps, a plurality of terminal devices 30 (terminal devices 30A to 30C) that make product manufacturing requests, and the series of steps. And a plurality of factory servers 40 (factory server 40A to factory server 40C) for managing (storing and editing) information of apparatuses that perform operations related to the respective processes. The terminal device 30, the schedule server 10, and the factory server 40 are communicably connected to each other via a communication network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network) compliant with Ethernet (registered trademark). ing.

  The terminal device 30 is an information processing terminal such as a personal computer or a mobile phone. The schedule server 10 and the factory server 40 are information processing apparatuses represented by a server apparatus or the like. The schedule server 10, the terminal device 30, and the factory server 40 are physically one or more CPUs, main storage devices such as RAM and ROM, and data that transmits and receives signals including packet data and control signals to the outside. The computer system includes a communication module that is a transmission / reception device, an auxiliary storage device such as a semiconductor memory and a hard disk device, an input device such as a mouse, a touch panel, and a keyboard, and an output device such as a display and a speaker. Each function of the schedule server 10, the terminal device 30, and the factory server 40 is a communication module under the control of the CPU by reading one or a plurality of predetermined computer software on hardware such as a CPU and a RAM. This is realized by operating the input device and the output device, and reading and writing data in the RAM and the auxiliary storage device.

  The terminal device 30 sends product information such as a design drawing of the product to the schedule server 10 and sends a product manufacturing request to the schedule server 10. The schedule server 10 determines a series of steps for manufacturing based on the design drawing information of the product, and then determines a cost (cost) for executing each step of the series of steps. The schedule server 10 transmits to the terminal device 30 cost estimation data for causing the work subject working in each process to operate. The terminal device 30 receives the estimate data, and when the user of the terminal device 30 inputs that there is no problem with the estimate or when there is a plurality of estimate data, any estimate data is When selected and input by the user of the device 30, the fact is transmitted to the schedule server 10. When the schedule server 10 receives from the terminal device 30 that there is no problem with the estimate or that any estimate data has been selected and input by the user of the terminal device 30, the schedule server 40 manages the work subject to be operated in each process. Request work execution. The work subject executes each process based on the work execution request received by the factory server 40. Thereby, a product is manufactured by execution of a series of processes.

  The factory server 40 is a server device that manages information on a subject of work arranged in a factory to which the factory server 40 belongs. The factory server 40 transmits information on the work subject (attribute information of the work subject, information indicating the status of the work subject) to the schedule server 10 or in response to a work execution request from the schedule server 10 Reservation management related to the work of the main work.

  Next, the functional configuration of the schedule server 10 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the schedule server 10. The schedule server 10 functionally includes a work subject information acquisition unit 11 (work subject information acquisition unit), a work subject information DB 12, a situation information acquisition unit 13 (situation information acquisition unit), a situation information DB 14, and a virtual device information registration unit. 15 (virtual device information storage means), virtual device information DB 16, process determination unit 17 (process information acquisition means, inspection process information acquisition means), corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 (corresponding function information acquisition means), corresponding function information DB 19, A virtual device specifying unit 20 (virtual device specifying unit), an inter-process information DB 22, a schedule determining unit 21 (determining unit), and an execution request unit 23 are provided. Hereinafter, functions of each functional unit of the schedule server 10 will be described in detail.

  The work subject information acquisition unit 11 acquires work subject information from the factory server 40. Here, the work subject information is information related to the work subject, and may include information on a plurality of functions that can be executed by each work subject. For example, when a new device is introduced or a new worker is placed in a factory, the factory server 40 belonging to the factory transmits work main body information indicating a new work main body to the schedule server 10. The work subject information acquisition unit 11 obtains the work subject information from the factory server 40 and stores the work subject information in the work subject information DB 12. In addition, when the information indicating the function is not included in the acquired work subject information, the work subject information acquisition unit 11 separately acquires information (for example, a specification table) including the function of the work subject, Functions are extracted separately and stored in the work subject information DB 12.

  The work subject information DB 12 is a database that stores the work subject information acquired by the work subject information acquisition unit 11. The work subject information DB 12 stores a work subject attribute table that stores work subject attribute information indicating the attributes of the work subject itself, and a work subject function table that stores work subject function information indicating the function of the work subject.

  Here, the data structure of the work subject attribute table stored in the work subject information DB 12 will be described with reference to FIG. In the work subject attribute table, for each item “device ID” that uniquely identifies the work subject, an item “factory ID” that uniquely identifies the factory, an item “device description” that describes the type of the work subject, The item “owner” that identifies the owner of the subject, the item “position” that identifies the position (work location) of the worker, the item “type” that identifies the type of the worker, and the worker can be used An item “usable period” for specifying a period and an item “connection information” indicating whether or not connection with another work subject is possible are stored in association with each other. For example, a work subject “3D printer” whose “device ID” corresponds to “3DP-00-0002-00” means that it is located in a factory whose “factory ID” is “FID-00-0120”. To do. In addition, an address or latitude / longitude (for example, latitude / longitude measured by GPS) is input to the “position” as the position of the factory. Further, the work subject “3D printer” means that it can be used from January 1, 2015 to December 20, 2015 based on the item “Available period”. Further, the work subject whose “device ID” corresponds to “MCH-01-134-01” means that “device description” is “normal worker × 3 people”. Thus, a worker (person) is also included as an operation subject. That is, the work subject information acquisition unit 11 obtains work subject information including a person as a work subject.

  Next, the data structure of the work subject function table will be described with reference to FIG. In the work subject function table, an item “factory ID” that uniquely identifies a factory for each item “device ID” that uniquely identifies a work subject and each item “function number” that uniquely identifies a function in the same subject. And the item “function name” that uniquely identifies the function, the item “performance” that identifies the performance of the function of the operator, and the item “cost” that specifies the cost (execution cost) for executing the function of the operator ”, An item“ function that can be operated simultaneously ”, and an item“ condition that issues a function ”that specify a condition for executing the function are stored in association with each other. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the work subject whose “device ID” corresponds to “RBA-00-0023-01” has “function name” “function-00”, “function-01”, “function-02”. It has a function specified by “”. That is, the device whose “device ID” is “RBA-00-0023-01” has the functions of “function-00”, “function-01”, and “function-02”. Yes. In addition, when the “device ID” is specified as “MPM-00-231-00”, the “function name” is “function-00” when the “condition for generating the function” is “start in X mode”. , “Function-01” and “Function-02”, and when the “condition for issuing the function” is “start in Y mode”, the “function name” is “function- 03 ”or“ function-04 ”. This is because a device whose “device ID” is “MPM-00-231-00” has a plurality of modes of an X mode and a Y mode, and in the case of the X mode, “function-00”, “function-01”. "And" Function-02 "can be executed simultaneously. In the Y mode," Function-03 "and" Function-04 "can be executed simultaneously. In addition, the item “cost” includes costs related to execution of each work subject at the time of initial work (device setup and initialization), work completion (device cleanup and state restoration), and operation (for example, Price) information is entered.

  The status information acquisition unit 13 acquires status information indicating the operating status of each work subject. The status information acquisition unit 13 transmits a status confirmation request of the work subject to each factory server 40 at a predetermined timing (for example, one day). Each factory server 40 transmits the status information of each work subject to the schedule server 10 in response to the status confirmation request. When the status information acquisition unit 13 acquires status information of the work subject from each factory server 40, the status information acquisition unit 13 stores the status information in the status information DB 14.

  The situation information DB 14 is a database that stores the situation information acquired by the situation information acquisition unit 13. FIG. 5 shows an example of the data configuration of the situation information stored in the situation information DB 14. As shown in the figure, in the status information DB 14, for each item “device ID” that uniquely identifies a work subject, an “state” that indicates the status of the work subject and an item that indicates the time when the current status is reached. “Current time”, item “scheduled maintenance 1” that identifies the maintenance schedule most recently for the work subject, item “scheduled maintenance 2” that identifies the next maintenance schedule for the work subject, and performance An item “performance change” for specifying a change and an item “reserved time” for specifying an execution reservation status of the apparatus are stored in association with each other. For example, a work subject whose “device ID” corresponds to “3DP-00-0002-00” means that “state” is “serious failure”. Further, the work subject corresponding to “device ID” “3DP-00-0002-00” is “scheduled maintenance 1” “2016/1/3 0: 0 to 23:59”, and “scheduled maintenance 2”. "Means" 2016/4/1 0:00 to 23:59 ". That is, during the period from 0 o'clock on January 3, 2016 to 23:59 and from 0 o'clock on April 1, 2016 to 23:59, the work subject is maintained for maintenance. Means you can't run.

  Further, the work subject whose “device ID” corresponds to “RBA-00-0023-01” means that the “reserved time” is “2016/3/1 10:00:00 to 12:00”. In other words, since there is a reservation for execution of the work subject between 10:00 and 12:00 on March 1, 2016, the execution of the work subject may be newly reserved during the above period unless rescheduled. It means you can't.

  The virtual device information registration unit 15 is a part for registering information (virtual device information) indicating a virtual device. Here, the virtual device is a virtual device that associates one or a plurality of functions. The virtual device information is information in which identification information indicating a virtual device is associated with a function associated with the virtual device. The virtual device information registration unit 15 receives input of virtual device information and registers (stores) the virtual device information in the virtual device information DB 16. In addition, you may manage a virtual apparatus in the state which considered not only a function but performance. In this case, the combination of performance and function is managed as “function with performance added as a constraint”. For example, “a function for machining an object OO with accuracy (performance) of □□” is managed as function A, and a machining function that does not satisfy the performance is managed as function B. In this way, performance can be managed together with the mechanism shown in the present specification. Therefore, in order to facilitate the understanding of the contents, the performance other than the schedule-related performance such as processing speed is omitted.

  The virtual device information DB 16 is a database that stores virtual device information that has been input by the virtual device information registration unit 15. FIG. 6 shows an example of the data configuration of the virtual device information stored in the virtual device information DB 16. As shown in the figure, in the virtual device information DB 16, for each item “virtual device ID” that uniquely specifies a virtual device, an item “one or more functions that specifies a function associated with the virtual device” is specified. Function 1 "to" function 10 "are stored in association with each other. For the sake of explanation, the number of function columns is 10 in the figure, but is not necessarily limited to 10. “Function 1” to “Function 10” indicate information for identifying a function such as a function name, and correspond to “Function Name” in the work subject function table. For example, a virtual device whose “virtual device ID” corresponds to “virtual device-00” means that “function 1” has a function of “function-00”. Further, a virtual device whose “virtual device ID” is “virtual device-01” is associated with information for identifying a function including “function-00”, “function-01”, and “function-04”. On the other hand, it is also associated with information for identifying a function including three “function-04”. This means that the virtual device indicated by the “virtual device-01” has a plurality of modes, and the executable functions differ depending on the mode.

  The process determination unit 17 receives a product manufacturing request from the terminal device 30 and acquires information about the product and process information. The product information includes information on a product blueprint and information on the number of products manufactured. The process information is information indicating a series of processes for manufacturing a product. For example, information (for example, a process ID for identifying a process) indicating contents (painting process, polishing process, etc.) of each process and information indicating an order between processes are included. In addition, when the process determination part 17 receives the request | requirement of process generation from the terminal device 30, based on the design drawing of said product, it automatically produces | generates a series of processes (proposed process) which manufactures a product by a well-known technique. You may do it. In this case, the process determining unit 17 may transmit information indicating the generated process to the terminal device 30 and receive a confirmation request for information indicating the generated process from the terminal apparatus 30.

  In addition, the process determining unit 17 determines whether or not an inspection process is required for each of the series of processes. The process determination unit 17 stores inspection process information in which a process is associated with an inspection process corresponding to the process, and the inspection process corresponding to each of the series of processes with reference to the inspection process information. Judge whether there is. Here, FIG. 7 shows an example of the data structure of the inspection process information. As shown in the figure, for each item “inspection required process ID” that uniquely identifies each process, items “additional inspection process 1” to “additional inspection process” that specify one or a plurality of inspection processes corresponding to the process. 10 ″ is stored in association with each other. For example, a process in which “inspection required process ID” is “process-10” means that an inspection process in which “additional inspection process 1” is “process-9900” is required.

  The process determination unit 17 determines whether or not the inspection process information includes the “inspection process ID” that is the same as the ID indicating each process in the series of processes, and is the same as the ID indicating each process. If there is no “inspection required process ID”, it is determined that the inspection process is unnecessary in the process, and the inspection process is not added. On the other hand, if the process determining unit 17 has the same “inspection required process ID” as the ID indicating each process, the process determining unit 17 determines that the inspection process is necessary for the process and corresponds to the “inspection required process ID”. The additional inspection process to be added is added to the subsequent process. In this way, the process determination unit 17 acquires inspection process information that is information on the inspection process corresponding to each process, and adds the inspection process included in the inspection process information. Specifically, the process determining unit 17 adds a process ID indicating a test process to the process information, and adds a test process by editing the order of a series of processes including the test process.

  The process determination part 17 adds a conveyance process between all the processes, after determining the necessity of an inspection process as mentioned above. Specifically, the process determination unit 17 adds a process ID by adding a process ID indicating a transport process to the process information and editing the order of a series of processes including the transport process. In this way, the process determining unit 17 determines a series of processes (including an inspection process and a transport process) for manufacturing a product. The process determining unit 17 sends the determined process information to the corresponding function information acquiring unit 18.

  The corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 acquires information indicating a function corresponding to each process determined by the process determination unit 17. When the corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 acquires process information from the process determination unit 17, the corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 refers to the corresponding function information stored in the corresponding function information DB 19 and acquires information indicating a function corresponding to each process.

  The corresponding function information DB 19 is a database that stores corresponding function information. FIG. 8 shows an example of the data configuration of the corresponding function information stored in the corresponding function information DB 19. As shown in the figure, in the corresponding function information DB 19, for each item “process ID” that uniquely specifies a process, an item “function 1” that specifies one or a plurality of functions that specify a function associated with the process. ~ "Function 10" is stored in association with each other. For example, a process whose “process ID” is “process-00” means that a function whose “function 1” is “function-00” is associated. Also, “function-04”, “function-04”, “function-04”, and “function--03” are associated with the process whose “process ID” is “process-05”. This indicates that in the process of “Process-05”, it is necessary to simultaneously execute three functions of “Function-04” and a function of “Function-03”.

  The corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 specifies information corresponding to the “process ID” identical to the process ID of each process determined by the process determination unit 17 (stored in “function 1” to “function 10”. Information) is acquired from the corresponding function information DB 19. Corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 virtually adds information (execution process corresponding function information) to which each process included in the process information acquired from process determination unit 17 is associated with information of a function corresponding to the process. The data is sent to the device specifying unit 20.

  For example, the corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 processes the process information in which the process ID of each process in the series of processes is “process-00”, “process-01”, “process-02”, and “process-05”. It is assumed that it is acquired from the determination unit 17. Then, the corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 refers to the corresponding function information and acquires a function ID corresponding to each process ID. Specifically, the corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 acquires “function-00”, which is a function corresponding to “process-00”. Similarly, the corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 acquires “function-01” and “function-03” which are functions corresponding to “process-01”, and “function which is a function corresponding to“ process-02 ”. “-03” and “function-04” are acquired, and “function-04”, “function-04”, “function-04”, and “function--03” corresponding to “process-05” are acquired. To do.

  Then, the corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 generates execution step corresponding function information in which each of the above steps and a function (virtual function) corresponding to each step are associated with each other as shown in FIG. The process corresponding function information is sent to the virtual device specifying unit 20. In the example illustrated in FIG. 9, the processes are executed in the order of “process-00”, “process-01”, “process-02”, and “process-05”. Also, “Function-00” is executed in “Step-00”, “Function-01” and “Function-03” are executed in “Step-01”, and “Function--” is executed in “Step-02”. “03” and “function-04” are executed simultaneously, and “function-04”, “function-04”, “function-04”, and “function--03” are executed simultaneously in “step-05”. Show.

  The virtual device specifying unit 20 specifies a virtual device associated with a function corresponding to each process included in the series of steps indicated in the process information based on the virtual device information. Specifically, the virtual device specifying unit 20 acquires execution process corresponding function information from the corresponding function information acquiring unit 18 and specifies a virtual device using the execution process corresponding function information. That is, the virtual device specifying unit 20 specifies a virtual device using information indicating the function corresponding to each process acquired by the corresponding function information acquiring unit 18.

  In addition, the virtual device specifying unit 20 also specifies the virtual device corresponding to the function corresponding to each inspection process indicated by the inspection process information because the process indicated by the execution process corresponding function information includes the inspection process. Will do.

  Specifically, the virtual device specifying unit 20 determines a virtual device corresponding to the process for each process included in the execution process corresponding function information acquired from the corresponding function information acquiring unit 18. For example, it is assumed that the virtual device specifying unit 20 has acquired the execution process corresponding function information as illustrated in FIG. 9 from the corresponding function information acquiring unit 18. The virtual device specifying unit 20 includes a virtual device having a function (“function-00”) corresponding to the “step-00” that is the first step in the execution step corresponding function information acquired from the corresponding function information acquiring unit 18. Identify. The virtual device specifying unit 20 refers to the virtual device information DB 16 and specifies a virtual device having the “function-00”. The virtual device specifying unit 20 specifies “virtual device ID” having “function-00” as a function (“function 1” to “function 10”) with reference to the virtual device information shown in FIG. As a result, the virtual device specifying unit 20 specifies “virtual device-00” having “function-00”. Similarly, the virtual device specifying unit 20 specifies the virtual device (“virtual device-01”) for the second step and the third step.

  Further, the virtual device specifying unit 20 adds functions (“function-04”, “function-04”, “function-04”, and “function-03”) corresponding to the fourth process “process-05”. Identify the virtual device you have. Each virtual device of the virtual device information shown in FIG. 6 does not have a function corresponding to the “process-05”. Therefore, the virtual device specifying unit 20 includes “virtual device-01”, “function-04-”, and “function-04-” having “function-01”, “function-03”, and “function04” as functions. , And “virtual device-01” having “function-04” as functions are identified as virtual device candidates in the fourth step. In addition, the virtual device specifying unit 20 includes “virtual device-01” having “function-04”, “function-04”, and “function-04” as functions, and “virtual device-01” having “function-03” as functions. Device-02 ″ is identified as a candidate for the virtual device in the fourth step. As described above, the virtual device specifying unit 20 uses the pattern for starting different “virtual devices-01” in a plurality of modes and the “virtual devices-01” and “virtual devices-02” at the same time for the process of the fourth step. Two patterns are specified.

  Based on the result of specifying the virtual device for each process as described above, the virtual device specifying unit 20 generates information (virtual device specifying result information) indicating the virtual device configuration in which the virtual device is associated with each process. To do. An example of this virtual device identification result information is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, the virtual device-00 is associated with the first step (step-00), and the virtual device- is assigned to the second step (step-01) and the third step (step-02). Match 01. As described above, virtual devices of two patterns (a pattern using a plurality of virtual devices-01, a pattern using a virtual device-01 and a virtual device-02) are associated with the fourth step (step-05). The virtual device specifying unit 20 transmits visual information (virtual device confirmation information) based on the virtual device specifying result information to the terminal device 30. An example of this visual information is shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is an example of a process graph in which virtual devices corresponding to process information indicating the five processes of process 1 to process 5 are visually linked. In the figure, in order to make the explanation of the process graph easy to understand, an example different from the process shown in FIG. 10 is given. For simplification, an example in which one virtual device corresponds to one process is shown. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the virtual device specifying unit 20 transmits, as the visual information, a process graph indicating the process order of the processes 1 to 5 and information indicating the virtual apparatus corresponding to each process. When there are two patterns of virtual device configurations as shown in FIG. 10, the virtual device confirmation information of each pattern is transmitted to the terminal device 30 together with the confirmation or selection request of the virtual device configuration.

  When the notification indicating that the virtual device configuration has been confirmed or selected is received from the terminal device 30, the virtual device specifying unit 20 sends the virtual device specifying result information corresponding to the confirmed or selected virtual device confirmation information to the schedule determining unit 21. To send.

  The schedule determination unit 21 uses the work subject information to select a work subject that can be executed in a state in which the function associated with the virtual device identified by the virtual device specification unit 20 is considered in the mode in which the function is used. The work subject to be executed in each process is determined from the identified work subjects, and the schedule of each process is determined. When the schedule determination unit 21 determines a work subject to be executed in each step from the identified work subjects, the schedule determination unit 21 stores the situation information acquired by the situation information acquisition unit 13 (situation information stored in the situation information DB 14). Based on this, the work subject to be executed in each process is determined. Further, the schedule determination unit 21 determines a work subject to be executed in each process based on the execution cost of the identified work subject (a candidate for a work subject to be executed in each process). In addition, the schedule determination unit 21 specifies the location of the candidate work subject to be executed in each process using the work subject information, and calculates the cost of the movement between the candidate work subjects between the two steps. Calculation is performed based on the distance, and a work subject to be executed in each process is determined based on the cost. Note that the schedule determination unit 21 may calculate the cost of movement based on not only the distance but also information on a transportation method (for example, a truck, an automatic guided vehicle, etc.).

  First, the schedule determination unit 21 receives virtual device identification result information from the virtual device identification unit 20. The schedule determination unit 21 executes process combination or process order change based on the virtual device identification result information. The schedule determination unit 21 uses the information stored in the inter-process information DB 22 to execute process combination or process order change.

  The inter-process information DB 22 is a database that stores information indicating the relationship between processes. The inter-process information DB 22 stores a connectable table indicating processes that can be combined and a process variable table indicating processes that can be converted in process order.

  Here, the data structure of the joinable table will be described with reference to FIG. In the joinable table, items “element process A” to “element process C” that specify one or a plurality of processes that can be combined with each other, for each item “post-join process” that uniquely identifies the post-join process. "And an item" supplement "for specifying supplementary information are stored in association with each other. For example, the combined process corresponding to “process 6” is a process in which the process in which “element process A” is “process 2” and the process in which “element process B” is “process 4” can be combined. It means that there is. For example, step 2 is writing of software to the ROM on the electronic board, and step 4 is writing of setting data to the ROM, which is a step of using the same function. Since these are both data write functions, the process can be integrated by combining the write data. The processes that may be integrated in this way are defined in advance in the joinable table to the effect that they can be joined.

  Next, the data structure of the process variable table will be described with reference to FIG. In the process variable table, an item “element process A” that uniquely characterizes the process and an item “element process B” that uniquely identifies the process and the process whose order is variable are stored in association with each other. For example, a process in which “element process A” is “process 1” means that the order can be interchanged with a process in which “element process B” is “process 6”. That is, it means that the order of step 1 and step 6 can be changed.

  An example in which the schedule determination unit 21 combines processes or changes the order will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 13A, it is assumed that information indicating a process graph of process 1 to process 5 is input. In this case, as shown in FIG. 13B, the process determining unit 17 inserts an inspection process and a transport process. Thereafter, based on the process as shown in FIG. 13B, after the virtual device specifying unit 20 specifies the virtual device, the schedule determining unit 21 acquires the virtual device specifying result information. First, the schedule determination unit 21 determines whether or not the processes can be combined with reference to the connectable table shown in FIG. In the case of the example in FIG. 13B, it is determined that the process 2 and the process 4 can be combined based on the connectable table. Therefore, the schedule determination unit 21 combines Step 2 and Step 4, changes these steps to Step 6, and updates the steps as shown in FIG. When the process 3 and the inspection process 4 have the same function, the transport process 5 between the process 3 and the inspection process 4 is deleted. As a result, the process is updated as shown in FIG.

  Subsequently, the schedule determination unit 21 determines whether or not the process order can be changed. The schedule determination unit 21 refers to the process variable table, and since the process 1 can be replaced with the processes 6, 3, and 5 in order, the process 1 is changed before or after the process 5. As a result, a result as shown in FIG.

  Subsequently, the schedule determination unit 21 refers to the work subject information DB 12 and acquires all the work subjects having a function including the function of the virtual device corresponding to each process. At this time, it is not always necessary to include the function of the virtual device as a function of the work subject alone, and the function of the virtual device may be included as a combination of the work subjects. Specifically, the schedule determination unit 21 refers to the virtual device information DB 16 and functions ("function 1" to "function" corresponding to the virtual device ID of the target virtual device (the virtual device specified in each process). Function 10 ") is acquired. Then, the schedule determination unit 21 refers to the work subject function table and identifies a work subject or a combination thereof that can include all of the functions (for example, obtains an “apparatus ID” of the identified work subject). Further, the schedule determination unit 21 acquires information indicating the reservation status corresponding to the acquired work subject from the status information DB 14. Specifically, the schedule determination unit 21 refers to the status information DB 14 and acquires “status”, “scheduled maintenance 1”, “scheduled maintenance 2”, and “reserved time” corresponding to the “device ID”. Then, the acquired information and “device ID” are stored in the memory in association with each other.

  Subsequently, the schedule determination unit 21 calculates how many times the number of products received by the process determination unit 17 is larger than the number of lots determined in advance for each product. Subsequently, the schedule determination unit 21 performs the following processing for each lot unit. In other words, the schedule determination unit 21 uses the information indicating the reservation status (“reserved time”, “scheduled maintenance 1”, “scheduled maintenance 2”) for the idle time of the work subject associated with each updated process. To identify. Subsequently, the following processes (1) to (5) are performed in the order from the first process to the last process. First, (1) the idle time of the work subject associated with the first process is acquired (first time). Subsequently, (2) the time required to process one lot is calculated from the performance information of each work subject and the number of lots (second time). (3) When the first time> the second time, the schedule determination unit 21 determines that the work subject can be implemented, and stores that effect in the memory. (4) The schedule determination unit 21 stores a temporary reservation of a work subject in a memory with a unique name including a process ID and a lot number. (5) The schedule determination unit 21 performs the same processing as the processing of (1) to (4) with the completion time of the work subject that can be implemented as the start time of the next step, and performs the processing up to the final step. It is assumed that the lot that has been provisionally reserved until the final process is established. This is performed for all lots. The schedule determination unit 21 stores, in the memory, schedule information (process ID, lot number, work subject ID, usage time) for which a provisional reservation has been made until the final process, as plan information. If the final process is not established, the provisional reservation is canceled. In order to simplify the explanation, the number of lots is the same in all the steps, but it is not necessarily the same. The number of lots may be different for each process. Such a case can be dealt with by preparing a temporary storage area to compensate for the difference in the number of lots between processes. Depending on the product, a plurality of products having the same shape may be assembled. In such a case, not all processes process the lots the same number of times. Depending on the process, more lots may be processed than others. In other words, there are processes that have a smaller number of lot processing times than others. Processes with a small number of times are dealt with by reducing the number of schedule assignments.

  Subsequently, the schedule determination unit 21 calculates how many hours each work subject is used for each plan information described above, and executes the execution cost based on the cost information (“cost”) in the work subject function table of the work subject information DB 12. Is calculated. Moreover, the schedule determination part 21 calculates expense (price for performing a plan) by adding the execution cost of all the processes for every plan. For the transportation process, the transportation cost is calculated based on the movement distance based on the location information between the processes, and the above cost is calculated by adding the transportation cost to the execution cost of the work subject executed in the transportation process. May be. The schedule determination unit 21 also specifies the final completion date for each plan based on the plan information. The schedule determination unit 21 generates information (estimation data) indicating the cost, delivery date, process, and virtual device to be used for each plan, and transmits the information to the terminal device 30. An example of this information is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 14A, the estimate data includes an item “price” indicating a price for executing the plan and an item “date of delivery” for each item “plan number” uniquely identifying the plan. This is information in which the “delivery date”, the item “process” indicating the process of the plan and the item “virtual apparatus to be used” indicating the virtual apparatus used in the process are associated with each other. For example, in the plan corresponding to “0” in the “plan number”, the “price” is “103913 yen”, the “process” is “process A → process B → process C”, and the “virtual device to be used” is “ It shows that “virtual device A × 2 units, virtual device C × 1 unit”. The “plan number” is a number assigned uniquely for each plan. “Delivery date” indicates a delivery date from when the estimated data is transmitted to the terminal device 30 until delivery, and specifically, a period from the date when the estimated data is transmitted to the terminal device 30 to the final completion date. The “process” is a process excluding the inspection process and the transport process among the processes corresponding to the plan. The schedule determination unit 21 sets the process excluding the inspection process and the transport process among the processes indicated by the virtual apparatus specifying result information received from the virtual apparatus specifying unit 20 as the “process”. The “virtual device to be used” is a virtual device indicated by the virtual device specifying result information received from the virtual device specifying unit 20.

  As shown in FIG. 14B, the schedule determination unit 21 indicates an item “actual device (planned) to be used” indicating the work subject to be used and the time to be executed by the work subject, and actual process information. Schedule supplementary information indicating the item “actual process information (planned)” and “final shipping location” for specifying a location where the manufactured product is finally shipped is also generated. “Actual device to be used (planned)” is information indicating a work subject to be used, and indicates a period derived from the work subject ID and the use time included in the plan information identified by the schedule determination unit 21. “Actual process information (planned)” is process information of the virtual device specifying result information received from the virtual device specifying unit 20. “Final shipping location” indicates the location of the factory of the operator who executes the function of the final process of the actual process. When the selected estimate data is received from the terminal device 30, the estimate data and schedule supplement information are transmitted to the execution request unit 23.

  The execution request unit 23 notifies the factory server 40 of the work execution request of the work subject corresponding to the estimated data selected as described above. Specifically, when the execution request unit 23 acquires the estimated data and schedule supplement information selected as described above from the schedule determination unit 21, the execution request unit 23 includes the item “real device (planned) to be used” in the schedule supplement information. Reservation information (reservation time, etc.) is registered for the status information of each work subject. Specifically, the execution request unit 23 refers to the situation information DB 14 and updates the “reserved time” corresponding to the “device ID” of the subject work subject to add the time based on the estimated data. Subsequently, the execution request unit 23 notifies the work server ID and work time to the factory server 40 of the factory to which each work entity corresponding to the plan belongs, and transmits a work execution request.

  Hereinafter, operation procedures of various processes of the information processing system 1 will be described. First, the procedure by which the work subject information acquisition unit 11 registers the work subject information in the work subject information DB 12 will be described with reference to FIG. The work subject information obtaining unit 11 receives a work subject information registration request from each factory server 40 and obtains work subject information (step S1). When the work subject information includes information indicating a function, the work subject information acquisition unit 11 identifies the function from information (for example, a specification table) indicating the function (step S2). The work subject information acquisition unit 11 registers information related to the attribute of the work subject in the work subject attribute table in the obtained work subject information, and registers work subject function information indicating the function of the work subject in the work subject function table ( Step S3).

  Next, a processing procedure from when the terminal device 30 transmits a product manufacturing request to when a work allocation request (manufacturing execution request) is transmitted will be described with reference to FIG. First, the terminal device 30 transmits a product manufacturing request and also transmits product information such as a design drawing of the product to the schedule server 10 (step S11). When the terminal device 30 transmits the process information when receiving the manufacturing request (step S12: YES), the terminal apparatus 30 transmits the process information to the schedule server 10 (step S13), and proceeds to step S16. Further, when the process information is not transmitted at the time of the manufacturing request (step S12: NO), the terminal device 30 transmits a process proposal request (process information transmission request) to the schedule server 10 (step S14). The terminal apparatus 30 receives the proposal process (step S15), and when the proposal process is approved by the user input of the terminal apparatus 30, the terminal apparatus 30 transmits a notification to that effect to the schedule server 10. Thereafter, the virtual device information (virtual device confirmation information) corresponding to the process is received from the schedule server 10 (step S16). If this information is accepted by the user's input, the terminal device 30 transmits a production quantity, delivery date, and price estimation request to the schedule server 10 (step S17). Thereafter, the virtual server information (plan information) to be estimated and used is received from the schedule server 10 (step S18). When an input indicating correction request is made by the user for the estimate and information on the virtual device to be used, the terminal device 30 transmits a process correction result (step S20). Here, as an example of the process correction result, a process correction or the like is applicable. On the other hand, when an input indicating that the estimate and the virtual device information to be used is accepted (step S19: YES), the terminal device 30 transmits the information to that effect to the schedule server 10 and requests for work allocation. do.

  Next, an operation procedure of processing for determining a schedule for manufacturing a product by the schedule server 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an operation in which the schedule server 10 determines a schedule for manufacturing a product.

  First, the process determining unit 17 receives product information such as a product blueprint from the terminal device 30 and accepts a product manufacturing request (step S31). When the manufacturing request is received, if a process information transmission request is also received from the terminal device 30 (step S32: YES), a proposal process is created (step S33), and the proposal process is transmitted (step S34). On the other hand, when the transmission request of process information is not received from the terminal device 30 (step S32: NO), process information is received from the terminal device 30 (step S35). Subsequently, the corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 acquires a function corresponding to the process, and the virtual device specifying unit 20 becomes a candidate based on the correspondence between the process and the function and the correspondence between the virtual device and the function. One or more possible virtual devices are specified (step S36). Subsequently, the schedule determination unit 21 updates each process (step S37), and acquires the situation information from the situation information DB 14 (step S38). The schedule determination unit 21 performs process scheduling based on the situation information, the transportation cost, and the execution cost (step S39). The schedule determination unit 21 transmits the scheduling result to the terminal device 30 (step S40). When the correction request is received from the terminal device 30 (step S41: NO), the process proceeds to step S35. Further, when there is no correction request from the terminal device 30 (step S41: YES), the work allocation request is received, and the execution request unit 23 registers the reservation information for the scheduled work subject and also sends the target information to each factory server 40. A work execution request is sent to the work subject (step S42), and the process is terminated.

  According to the schedule server 10 of the information processing system 1 described above, the virtual device specifying unit 20 specifies a virtual device corresponding to each step based on the function associated with the virtual device, and the schedule determining unit 21 A work subject to be executed in each process is determined from work subjects capable of executing a function corresponding to the apparatus, and a schedule for each process is determined. As described above, the schedule server 10 is assigned to each process in units of virtual devices managed in a unified manner based on the function, and the work entity corresponding to the function of the virtual device is executed in each process. Since it can be determined, the process can be efficiently scheduled when the main body that actually processes the process, such as the apparatus of each factory, has a plurality of functions.

  In addition, the status information acquisition unit 13 acquires status information indicating the operating status of each work subject, and the schedule determination unit 21 executes in each step based on the status information and reservation status acquired by the status information acquisition unit. Determine the subject of work. If such a configuration is adopted, since the work subject to be executed in each process is determined based on the status information indicating the operation status of each work subject, the work subject that is operating properly is determined to be the work subject to be executed in each process. be able to.

  In addition, the corresponding function information acquisition unit 18 acquires information indicating functions corresponding to each process indicated in the process information, and the virtual device specifying unit 20 uses the information indicating the function corresponding to each process to select a virtual device. Identify. In this case, since the information in which the process information and the function are associated is acquired and the virtual device corresponding to the process is specified using the information, the virtual apparatus corresponding to the process can be appropriately determined.

  The work subject information acquisition unit 11 obtains work subject information further including an execution cost that is a cost for executing the work subject, and the schedule determination unit 21 obtains the work subject information acquired by the work subject information acquisition unit 11. A candidate work subject to be executed in each process is specified using the information, and a work subject to be executed in each process is determined based on the execution cost of the candidate work subject. In this case, since the work subject to be executed in each process is determined based on the execution cost of each work subject, for example, the work subject having a relatively high execution cost is determined as the work subject to be executed in each process. Can be avoided. That is, the process can be efficiently scheduled.

  The work subject information acquisition unit 11 obtains work subject information including a person as a work subject. In this case, the schedule server 10 can schedule a process in consideration of a person such as a worker as a work subject.

  The process determining unit 17 acquires inspection process information that is information on the inspection process corresponding to each process, and the virtual device specifying unit 20 specifies a virtual device corresponding to a function corresponding to each inspection process in the inspection process information. .

  In this case, in the schedule server 10, the inspection process corresponding to each process is specified, and the virtual device corresponding to the function corresponding to the inspection process is specified. Therefore, the process is efficiently scheduled in consideration of the inspection process. Can do.

  The work subject information acquisition unit 11 acquires work subject information further including information on the work place of the work subject, and the schedule determination unit 21 uses the work subject information acquired by the work subject information acquisition unit 11 in each process. Identify the location of the candidate work subject to execute, calculate the transport cost, which is the cost of transport between the candidate work subjects between the two processes, based on the distance of the location between the work subjects, and based on the transport cost The work subject to be executed in each process is determined.

  In this case, since the schedule server 10 determines a work subject to be executed in each process based on the transport cost corresponding to each process, for example, a work subject whose transport cost is relatively high is executed in each step. It can be avoided that the work subject is determined. That is, the process can be efficiently scheduled.

  In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which a function corresponding to each process in a series of processes to be manufactured is specified, and a virtual apparatus corresponding to the function is specified, thereby specifying a virtual apparatus corresponding to the process. However, depending on the manufacturing field, there may be a case where the type of apparatus to be used, such as an apparatus called “standard apparatus”, is already determined for each process. That is, there is a manufacturing field in which correspondence information between processes and apparatuses can be easily created. In such a case, if all the functions of the device are extracted and linked to the process, the method described so far can be used in the same manner.

1 Information Processing System 10 Schedule Server 11 Work Subject Information Acquisition Unit 12 Work Subject Information DB
13 situation information acquisition part 14 situation information DB
15 Virtual device information registration unit 16 Virtual device information DB
17 Process determination part 18 Corresponding function information acquisition part 19 Corresponding function information DB
20 virtual device specifying unit 21 schedule determining unit 22 inter-process information DB
23 execution request part 30 terminal device 40 factory server

Claims (7)

Worker entity information acquisition means for acquiring worker entity information including information on a plurality of functions executable by each worker entity;
Virtual device information storage means for storing virtual device information relating to a virtual device associated with one or more functions among the functions included in the work subject information acquired by the work subject information acquisition means;
Process information acquisition means for acquiring process information, which is information indicating a series of processes for manufacturing a product;
Virtual device specifying means for specifying, based on the virtual device information, the virtual device associated with a function corresponding to each step included in the series of steps indicated in the step information acquired by the step information acquiring unit; ,
Using the work subject information acquired by the work subject information acquisition means, the work subject that can execute the function corresponding to the virtual device specified for each step by the virtual device specifying means is specified and specified. A determination means for determining a work subject to be executed in each process from the work subjects, and determining a schedule for each process;
An information processing apparatus comprising: It further comprises status information acquisition means for acquiring status information indicating the operating status of each work subject,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines a work subject to be executed in each step based on the situation information acquired by the situation information acquisition unit. A corresponding function information acquiring unit that acquires information indicating a function corresponding to each step indicated in the process information acquired by the step information acquiring unit;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the virtual device specifying unit specifies the virtual device using information indicating a function corresponding to each process acquired by the corresponding function information acquiring unit. The work subject information acquisition means obtains work subject information further including an execution cost that is a cost for executing the work subject,
The determination means identifies a candidate work subject to be executed in each process using the work subject information acquired by the work subject information acquisition means, and executes the process in each step based on the execution cost of the candidate work subject. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a work subject is determined.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the work subject information acquisition unit acquires work subject information including a person as a work subject. Further comprising inspection process information acquisition means for acquiring inspection process information which is information of an inspection process corresponding to each of the processes,
The virtual device specifying means further specifies the virtual device corresponding to a function corresponding to each inspection process of the inspection process information acquired by the inspection process information acquisition means. The information processing apparatus described. The work subject information obtaining means obtains work subject information further including information on a work place of the work subject,
The determination means specifies the location of a candidate work subject to be executed in each process using the work subject information acquired by the work subject information acquisition means, and moves between the candidate work subjects between two processes. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a cost is calculated based on a distance between locations of the work subject, and a work subject to be executed in each step is determined based on the cost.

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