Manufacturing execution system and method of determining production metrics for a line

A processor executable method of controlling a line in an industrial process, the line including a plurality of entities, the entities being configured to perform a plurality of jobs to advance production of one or more line outputs, the method comprising:

• generating an entity model representative of each of the entities in the line in response to user inputs defining parameters for each of the entities, each of the entities being configured to perform one of the jobs to advance the production of said one or more line outputs by producing one or more entity outputs from one or more entity inputs;
• generating a line model representative of the line in response to user inputs defining parameters for the line, the entities assigned to the line, and an ordered sequence of the assigned entities, the line model including an indication of a line position for each of the entities in the line and whether each of the entities is capable of being a bottleneck entity based on the user inputs defining the assigned entities and the ordered sequence thereof;
• associating a bottleneck identifier with one or more bottleneck entities using the line position indications and the indication of whether each of the entities is capable of being a bottleneck entity for at least one of the entities and the defined parameters for the line;
• determining a line production metric representing performance of the entire line using production data received from the field input and selectively considered for only the bottleneck entities associated with the bottleneck identifier;
• displaying the line production metric to a user of the manufacturing execution system to provide an indication of the performance of the entire line in the industrial process;
• and
• adjusting the bottleneck entities to improve the production of the line.

A manufacturing execution system configured to provide an indication of the performance of a line in an industrial process, the line including a plurality of entities, the entities being configured to perform a plurality of jobs to advance production of one or more line outputs, the manufacturing execution system comprising:

• a configuration module comprising a configuration database, the configuration module being operably connected to a configuration display and user interface adapted to receive configuration inputs from a user of the manufacturing execution system, the configuration module being configured to generate a configuration view on the configuration display and to receive the configuration inputs from the user interface, the configuration module being further configured to:
• generate an entity model representative of each of the entities in the line in response to configuration inputs entered into the user interface, each of the entities being configured to perform one of the jobs to advance the production of said one or more line outputs by producing one or more entity outputs from one or more entity inputs;
• store each of the entity models in the configuration database;
• generate a line model representative of the line in response to configuration inputs defining parameters for the line, the entities assigned to the line, an ordered sequence of the assigned entities, and one or more of the entities that are production source entities for the line, the line model including a reference to each of the entity models and an indication of a line position for each of the entities in the line and whether each of the entities is capable of being a bottleneck entity based on the user inputs defining the assigned entities and the ordered sequence thereof, the line model further including a production source entity indication indicating the entities that are the production source entities based on the user inputs defining the production source entities;
• associate a bottleneck identifier with one or more bottleneck entities using the line position indications and the indication of whether each of the entities is capable of being a bottleneck entity for at least one of the entities;
• and
• store the line model in the configuration database;
• and
• a runtime module operably connected to a runtime display, the configuration database, and a field input of the industrial process, the runtime module being configured to:
• determine a line production metric using production data for the production source entities received from the field input and considered based on the production source entity indications included in the line model and the bottleneck entities associated with the bottleneck identifier;
• and
• display the line production metric on the runtime display to provide an indication to a user of the manufacturing execution system of the performance of the line in the industrial process;
• wherein the runtime module is configured to adjust at least one of the plurality of entities to improve the production of the line.