JP2921172B2 - Parts management system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a parts management system capable of efficiently storing parts constituting a product for each product and allowing the products to be quickly carried out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a warehouse for storing and managing parts has been managed in the following procedure. In other words, assuming that the unit of one production is for each model of the product, the operator detects the identifier such as the barcode attached to the parts separately delivered from the outside with a barcode reader or the like. By doing so, the type of the part and the model of the product using the part are read, and this is stored by the computer.
Thereafter, the parts are carried and stored by the transport trolley to the storage position designated by the computer. Therefore, the computer is based on the type of parts delivered, the model of the product used,
Parts are managed by the three elements of the storage position. Then, when there is a request from the factory to order parts, the operator specifies the model of the product in the computer. Thus, the computer searches for the parts used in the product, finds the storage position where these parts are stored, and sequentially takes out the parts from this storage position to the transport position by the transport trolley. While checking whether or not the parts sequentially taken out as described above are correct products corresponding to the designated product, the operator collects them as a kit of the corresponding product into one and carries out the kit to the factory.

[0003]

In the parts management system as described above, when one product model is composed of, for example, 100 parts, 100 storage positions are required and 100 storage positions are required. I have to remember. Such a system was not particularly problematic in factories that produce many small types of products, but when producing a small number of large types of products as in today, many parts storage positions for many products are required. In addition, there is a problem that management of the component storage position becomes complicated.

[0004] Further, the conventional parts management system collects parts, collects them as a kit of corresponding products, and carries them out to the factory after receiving a request for parts from the factory.
There was a problem that quick shipment to a factory could not be performed. The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a parts management system capable of quick shipping work suitable for high-mix low-volume production.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, as a means for achieving the above-mentioned objects, there are provided a receiving conveyor for receiving parts, an automatic warehouse having a plurality of storage positions for storing the delivered parts, and a method for shipping parts. In a parts management system which includes a shipping conveyor to be transported and a transport vehicle that circulates between these three elements, and sequentially stores and manages the delivered components, in a component management system provided adjacent to the track of the transport vehicle, a take-out conveyor and a loading side are provided. A kitting station in which at least two conveyors are adjacent to each other; a part discriminating means for discriminating whether or not a part received from the receiving conveyor has been delivered for the production unit of the product used for the first time; If the parts determined by the means are delivered for the first time, the parts are transported directly to the automatic warehouse by the transport trolley. If the delivered parts are the first and subsequent parts, the transport sorting means for transporting the kit to the take-out conveyor of the kitting station by the transport trolley, the production unit name of the product used, the type of the parts, and the parts of the parts transported to the automatic warehouse A part storage unit for storing three pieces of information of storage positions in the automatic warehouse as a set, and a part storage unit from a production unit name of a used product of a part determined as a second or subsequent delivery part by the part determination unit. A storage position at which a part having a stored production unit name of the same used product stored therein is determined, the part is taken out from the automatic warehouse, and is transported to the loading side conveyor of the kitting station by a transport trolley. When,
The parts conveyed to the take-out side conveyor and the stacking side conveyor of the kit forming station are grouped together in one box, and then the grouped parts are stored again in the storage position stored in the parts storage means. Component re-storing means.

[0006]

[Function] The parts received on the receiving conveyor are discriminated by the parts discriminating means as to whether or not this part is delivered for the production unit of the product to be used for the first time, and the transport sorting means is that the parts are delivered for the first time. If this is the case, store it directly in the automated warehouse, and if it is the second or subsequent delivered part, transport it to the conveyor on the take-out side of the kitting station. The parts conveyed to the automatic warehouse are stored by the parts storage means as a set of three pieces of information including the production unit name of the product used, the type of the parts, and the storage position of the parts in the automatic warehouse. On the other hand, when the second and subsequent parts are delivered, the additional parts transporter takes out the parts of the same product used previously stored from the automatic warehouse based on this information, and uses the transport trolley to add the parts to the kitting station. Transfer to conveyor. Thus, the second and subsequent delivered parts currently delivered are conveyed to the take-out conveyor, and the parts previously delivered and having the same production unit name are conveyed to the additional conveyor. Here, the two parts are put together by an operator and stored again in the automatic warehouse by the parts re-storage means.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the parts management system according to the present embodiment mainly includes a receiving station 1, a kitting station 5, a shipping station 8, a parts storage station 7 (automatic warehouse), and a transport vehicle that circulates between these elements. It consists of four. Hereinafter, each of these main parts will be described.

The receiving station 1 comprises three receiving conveyors 1a, an inspection section 1b, and a transport conveyor 1c for connecting these parts and placing components on a transport carriage 4.
The inspection section 1b includes a personal computer 6 for parts inspection.
0, a magnetic card reader 61 and a bar code reader 62 connected thereto. The kitting station 5 includes a take-out conveyor 70 and a stacking conveyor 71 connected in a U-shape as shown in detail in FIG.
Are arranged adjacent to each other, and as shown by arrows 72 and 73, the two parts carried in from the carry-in ends 70a and 71a of each conveyor meet at the center of the kitting station 5. , Discharge end 70b, 7
1b is located in the center of the kitting station 5. In the vicinity of the center of the kit station 5, a confirmation personal computer 79, a magnetic card reader 78 and a bar code reader 74 connected thereto are provided.

The shipping station 8 has a carry-in conveyor 80.
And three shipping conveyors 81 connected thereto, and an individual shipping conveyor 82 connected to the carry-in conveyor 80 from the vicinity of the kitting station 5. The component storage station 7 has a plurality of storage positions, a rack 90 to which storage position numbers are assigned to the storage positions, and a stacker crane 91 having a fork 92 and storing components in the rack 90. ing.

A plurality of transport carts 4 are arranged on a rail 40. The rail 40 is connected to the inspection section 1b of the receiving station 1 and the loading end 70 of the kit station 5.
a, 71a and the carry-out ends 70b, 71b, the carry-in conveyor 80 of the shipping station 8 and the carry-in / carry-out position of the stacker crane 91 form a circular orbit. Next, the configuration of the control device of the present embodiment will be described.

The control device of this embodiment mainly comprises a minicomputer 20, a host computer 22, and a system controller 24. The minicomputer 20
Two personal computers 60 and 79 arranged in the above-mentioned receiving station 1 and kitting station 5 as data input terminals, and a personal computer 27 having a bar code reader 28 for ordering parts, which is communicated from an external factory or the like. Information is input from a total of three personal computers and the host computer 22,
Data is exchanged with the system controller 24. The minicomputer 20 is provided with a storage device 21 for storing a shelf management program for managing the storage position of the rack 90 and storage position data.

The host computer 22 manages the time limit for receiving and shipping parts based on the part data sent from the minicomputer 20, and has a storage device 23 for storing a management program, delivery part data and the like necessary for these. . The system controller 24 is connected to the minicomputer 2
The control of each conveyor, the carrier 4 and the stacker crane 91 described above is performed on the basis of the information on the incoming / outgoing of the parts and the information on delivery / unloading to / from the rack 90. The system controller 24 includes control units 26 and 41 of each conveyor, the carrier 4 and the stacker crane 91.
93 is connected, and a storage device 25 storing these control programs is provided.

Next, the operation of this embodiment based on the above configuration will be described. In this embodiment, the production unit is a single product unit, and the production unit name is called a machine. 4 and 5 illustrate the process of storing components delivered from the outside in the rack 90. The parts delivered from the outside are put into a predetermined parts bucket by an operator, and then placed on the receiving conveyor 1a (step 100). When the receiving operation is completed, the operator turns on a receiving completion switch (not shown). (Step 102). The control device which inputs the receiving switch is the receiving conveyor 1a.
Then, the conveyor 1c is started, and the component bucket is transported to the inspection unit 1b (step 104).

In the inspection section 1b, a worker reads a bar code or a magnetic card attached to the conveyed component by a bar code reader 62 or a magnetic card reader 61 and inputs the bar code or magnetic card to a personal computer 60 for component inspection. The bar code data (or magnetic card data) input at this time is transferred to the host computer 22 via the mini computer 20. Then, from the barcode data (or magnetic card data), the host computer 22 calculates a product number indicating the type of the part from the stored delivered parts data stored in the storage device 23, a model of a product in which the part is used, And the number of this part 3
Are called (step 106). Then, these three pieces of information are displayed on the display of the personal computer 60, and the operator visually checks whether or not the part number and the number of the parts match, and turns on the inspection completion switch (step 108).

The control device that has input the inspection completion switch activates the transport conveyor 1c and places the component bucket on the transport trolley 4. Note that the above steps 100 to 108
Up to the receiving station 1
It's above. The component buckets placed on the transport trolley 4 are transported after being classified by the control device as follows. That is, based on the delivered part data in the storage device 23, the inspection unit 1b determines whether or not there is a record of previously delivered parts of the same machine as the machine called by the host computer 22 (step 110). As a result, if the currently delivered part is the first delivered part for the machine (YES), the minicomputer 20 issues an instruction to directly store this part in the rack 90 and an empty position among the storage positions of the rack 90. And instruct the system controller 24 of the vacant position. In accordance with this instruction, the system controller 24 controls the transport trolley 4 and the stacker crane 91, and stores the component at the specified storage position (step 112). As a result, the delivered part data of the control device includes the storage position number of the rack 90 storing the parts stored in the storage device 21, the machine stored in the storage position stored in the storage device 23, and the delivered parts of the machine. Are associated with each other.

On the other hand, as a result of step 110, if the currently delivered part is a part previously delivered for the used machine (NO), the minicomputer 20 transports the part to the take-out conveyor 70 of the kitting station 5. (Step 118), retrieve the storage position number of the previously delivered parts of this unit, instruct this position to the system controller 24, remove the previously delivered parts from the rack 90, and remove the kit. It is transported to the additional conveyor 71 of the chemical conversion station 5 (step 114).

When the currently delivered parts and the previously delivered parts are conveyed to the kitting station 5 in this manner, the take-out conveyor 70 and the additional conveyor 71
Is activated and transported to the central kitting position K as indicated by arrows 72 and 73, respectively. At this point, the operator applies the barcode or the magnetic card attached to the component conveyed to the take-out side conveyor 70 to the barcode reader 7.
4 or a magnetic card reader 78, and inputs barcode data (or magnetic card data) to the confirmation personal computer 79 (step 120).
At this time, the input conveyor 70
Is recalled from the storage device 23, and the control device confirms whether or not the number of the part matches the number of the part which has been conveyed to the currently added conveyor 71. (Step 12
2). At this time, if the unit numbers match (YES), a buzzer (pleasant sound) indicating that the correct parts have been conveyed is issued from the confirmation personal computer 79, and the worker who confirms this performs the additional work described later. (Step 126). If the unit numbers do not match (N
O), a buzzer (uncomfortable sound) indicating an abnormality is issued, and the worker who confirms this performs predetermined abnormality processing work (step 124).

In the stacking operation of step 126, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the currently delivered part 55 on the take-out side conveyor 70 is taken out from the part bucket 56 and the previously delivered part 57 on the build-up side conveyor 71 is displayed.
Of the same machine is stored in the same component bucket 58. When this operation is completed, the operator turns on a stacking operation completion switch (not shown) (step 128). When the stacking work completion switch is turned on, the stacking conveyor 71 is activated, and the transport trolley 4 stops at the discharge end 71b of the stacking conveyor, and the stacked component buckets 58 are placed on the transport trolley 4. Is done. The empty component bucket 56 is placed on an empty bucket collection position (not shown) by an operator. Then, the stacked component buckets 58 are transported to the rack 90, and are stored again by the stacker crane 91 at the same position as the storage position where the component buckets were previously taken out.

Since the parts of the unit which has been delivered at least once in this way are collectively stored in one part bucket at the kitting station 5, the storage position number of the rack 90 is assigned to one unit. 1 for
And efficient parts management can be performed. Also, at the kitting station 5, since the previously delivered parts and the currently delivered parts can be confirmed by ear using a buzzer built in the personal computer 72 for confirmation that the parts are the same, the worker can use his / her own work. And quick work can be performed without being distracted by other devices such as a display.

Next, the shipping operation of the components stored as described above will be described with reference to FIG. When a request for parts ordering is made from an external factory, the barcode reader 28 of the personal computer 27 for parts ordering provided in the factory is connected to the host computer 22 via the minicomputer 20 via the minicomputer 20. The number of the part to be ordered, the quantity of the part, and the delivery date of the part for this machine are reported (step 200).

In response to this communication, the parts management factory starts the operation of obtaining the requested parts (step 202), and the delivered parts are delivered for each machine in the storing process described above. The host computer 22 sequentially checks the number of the parts delivered for the machine requested by the storing operation. Then, at a predetermined date before the delivery date, for example, three days before, it is confirmed whether or not all parts of the requested machine have been delivered (step 206). At this time, if all parts have been delivered (YES),
When the delivery date arrives, the parts of this machine are taken out from the rack 90, placed on the carry-in conveyor 80 of the shipping station 8 via the carrier 4 and transported as indicated by an arrow 83 to be automatically transferred from the ship conveyor 81. Will be shipped. on the other hand,
If there is a part which has not been delivered yet (NO), the fact is output from the minicomputer 20 and the worker is informed that the requested factory has a defective delivery record and a list of parts currently delivered. Is sent, and a predetermined abnormality process is performed.

In the above, the normal process until the delivered parts are shipped has been described. If it becomes necessary to specially ship the parts before the delivery date, the worker needs to set the kitting station 5 By inputting the required machine from the confirmation personal computer 72, the parts of the machine are conveyed from the rack 90 to the kitting station 5, and the worker transports the parts to the individual shipping conveyor 8 at the shipping station 8.
2 and individually shipped along the routes indicated by arrows 84 and 83.

Although the above-described processes all show the process of storing unique parts relating to one car, there are common parts common to various machines among the parts constituting the car. As for such common parts, it is desirable to select only necessary common parts similarly to the parts unique to the machine and store them for each machine. Such an operation is called a common component stacking operation, and the operation will be described below.

The work of accumulating the common parts is periodically performed by an operator, and is performed by a personal computer 79 for confirmation.
An instruction to perform this operation is transmitted to the control device. When this operation is started, the host computer 22 searches for a machine to perform the common parts accumulation operation. In this case, the ones for which the delivery of dedicated parts has been completed and are in a waiting state for shipment are made the highest priority units.

When the operator instructs the retrieved unit to carry out the work of adding common parts, the host computer 22 searches for the storage position where the parts of the unit are stored, takes it out of the rack 90, and retrieves it from the rack 90. 5
Is conveyed to the additional conveyor 71. Next, all the common parts necessary for this machine are searched, the storage positions where these common parts are stored are searched, and the common parts are sequentially taken out from the rack 90 and conveyed to the take-out side conveyor 70 of the kit making station 5. The dedicated parts and common parts of the unit collected in the kitting station 5 in this manner are subjected to the same operation as the above-described stacking operation in step 126, and then are collected into one parts bucket, and the dedicated parts described above are collected. It is returned to the storage position where it was stored, and the work of adding common parts is completed.

As described above, the parts management system of the present embodiment classifies the delivered parts into those having a delivery record once for each unit and those that have not been delivered. In the kit station 5, the same units are combined into one unit, and at the same time, the delivery results are managed for each unit, so that efficient storage is possible.
Quick shipping work can be realized.

In addition, in the stacking operation in step 126 of the present embodiment, the worker places the empty component bucket 56 on an empty bucket collecting position (not shown).
As shown in the figure, an empty bucket collection conveyor 50 is provided adjacent to the track of the transport vehicle 4, and the empty part buckets 56 are arranged in the take-out side conveyor 7 in the same manner as the increased part buckets 58.
0, and may be conveyed to the empty bucket collecting conveyer 50 by the conveyance cart 4 by the conveyer 4.

In the present embodiment, the production unit is a unit of a product (unit of a machine). However, the production unit can be variously changed and applied according to a production system, such as a unit of several products.

[0029]

As described above, the parts management system of the present invention classifies delivered parts into those that have been delivered once for each product production unit and those that have not been delivered. For some, put them together in the same production unit at the kitting station,
Efficient storage can be performed because delivery performance management is performed for each production unit. When all the parts are ready,
Since one kit is prepared for each production unit, quick shipping work can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a component management system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a control device of the component management system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a kit station according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a component storage operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a component storage operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a component shipping operation of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Receiving station 4 Conveyor truck 5 Kit station 7 Parts storage station 8 Shipping station 70 Pick-up side conveyor 71 Stacking side conveyor 20 Minicomputer 22 Host computer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-61-257802 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65G 1/00-1/20 G06F 17 / 60

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A receiving conveyer to which parts are delivered, an automatic warehouse having a plurality of storage positions for storing the delivered parts, a shipping conveyer for shipping parts, and a transport vehicle for circulating between these three elements. A parts management system that sequentially stores and manages delivered parts, comprising: a kitting station provided adjacent to a track of the transport vehicle, wherein at least two conveyors of a take-out conveyor and a stacking side conveyor are adjacent to each other; A part discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the part received from the conveyor is the first one delivered for the production unit of the product used, and a part if the part discriminated by the part discriminating means is the first delivered part Is transported directly to the automated warehouse by the transport trolley. A transport sorting means for transporting the parts to the delivery conveyor by the transport cart, and three pieces of information of a production unit name of the product used, a type of the parts, and a storage position of the parts in the automatic warehouse, the parts being transported to the automatic warehouse. A part storage means for storing as a set, and a part having the same production unit name of the same used product stored in the part storage means from the production unit name of the used product of the part determined as the second or subsequent delivery part by the part determination means Calculating the storage position in which the parts are stored, taking out the parts from the automatic warehouse, and transporting the parts to the loading side conveyor of the kitting station by a transport trolley, the loading part conveyor of the kitting station, After each part conveyed to the stacking side conveyor is put together in a box and packed together, Component management system, wherein the component storage means and a part re-storage means for storing again the storage position storage.