Production line design apparatus, production line design system, and production line design method

A production line design system that designs a production line using an information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus including:

• a non-transitory storage medium that stores
• facility configuration information that defines a number configuration including at least one or more main facilities that perform a main work in a production line and at least one or more setup facilities that perform an auxiliary work of the main facility, and
• arrangement pattern definition information including a plurality of arrangement patterns that define a combination of a movement method of the setup facility that is adoptable and a relative positional relationship between the main facility that is adoptable and the setup facility;
• and
• a processor configured by one or more executable computer programs to perform operations comprising:
• executing, by the processor, layout candidate generation processing of generating layout information that satisfies the number configuration by combining the plurality of arrangement patterns using the facility configuration information and the arrangement pattern definition information, and
• presenting, by the processor, on a display in communication with the processor, at least one layout diagram showing at least a physical arrangement of machines corresponding to the layout information.

A production line design method for designing a production line using an information processing apparatus, the method comprising:

• storing, in a non-transitory storage medium of the information processing apparatus:
• facility configuration information that defines a number configuration including at least one or more main facilities that perform a main work in a production line and at least one or more setup facilities that perform an auxiliary work of the main facility, and
• arrangement pattern definition information including a plurality of arrangement patterns that define a combination of a movement method of the setup facility that is adoptable and a relative positional relationship between the main facility that is adoptable and the setup facility;
• and
• executing, by a processor of the information processing apparatus, layout candidate generation processing of generating layout information that satisfies the number configuration by combining the plurality of arrangement patterns using the facility configuration information and the arrangement pattern definition information, and
• presenting, by the processor of the information processing apparatus, on a display in communication with the processor, at least one two-dimensional or three-dimensional layout diagram showing a physical arrangement of facilities corresponding to the layout information.