System and method for processing data relating to conditions in a manufacturing process

A system for processing data relating to conditions in a manufacturing process, said data being relateable to one of a plurality of data types, said system comprising:

• a data type relation module adapted to receive a first data item of said data and a second data item of said data and to relate said first data item to a first data type of said plurality of data types and said second data item to a second data type of said plurality of data types;
• a first data type module adapted to receive said first data item from said data type relation module, to associate said first data item with (i) a first time marker, (ii) a source in said manufacturing process and (iii) an identifier, said value of said identifier to be one of a set of a plurality values relating to a condition of said conditions, said set being expandable during operation of said manufacturing process, said first data type module further adapted to process said set when expanded;
• a second data type module adapted to receive said second data item from said data type relation module and to associate a second data item with a second time marker and a source in said manufacturing process;
• a database adapted to communicate with said first data type module and said second data type module and to store said first data item and said second data item;
• and
• an output module connected to said database adapted to receive a request and to associate said value of said identifier associated with said first data item with said second data item if:
• said first time marker associated with said first data item corresponds to said second time marker associated with said second data item;
• and
• said source associated with said first data item corresponds to said source associated with said second data item,
• wherein said value of said identifier indicates one of:
• a) identity of an article processed during a first time interval indicated by said first time marker;
• and
• b) a status of said manufacturing process during said first time interval indicated by said first time marker.

A system for processing data relating to conditions in a manufacturing process, said data being relateable to a plurality of data types including an identifier data type, an accumulator data type, an event data type and an incident data type, each data type of said plurality of data types including an association with a time marker and a source in said manufacturing process, said system comprising:

• a data type relation module adapted to receive said data and to process said data into one data type of said plurality of data types;
• an identifier data type module adapted to receive said data from said data type relation module if said data is related to said identifier data type, to associate a value of an identifier associated with said identifier data type with one value of a plurality values in a set relating a selection of said conditions to said identifier date type, to allow expansion of said set during operation of said manufacturing process, to process said set when expanded and to prepare said data for storage;
• an accumulator data type module adapted to receive said data from said data type relation module if said data is related to said accumulator data type and to prepare said data for storage;
• an event data type module adapted to receive said data item from said data type relation module if said data is related to said event data type and to prepare said data for storage;
• and
• an incident data type module adapted to receive said data item from said data type relation module if said data is related to said incident data type and to prepare said data for storage;
• a data processing module adapted to receive said data for storage from each of said identifier, accumulator, event and incident data type modules and for generating a request to store said data for storage;
• a database adapted to receive said request and to store said data for storage related to said request in a data structure;
• and
• an output module adapted to receive a query relating to identifying data associated with said identifier data type and to process said query by associating a value of an identifier associated with said identifying data with a second data item, said second data item being one of said accumulator, event and incident data types, if:
• a time marker associated with said identifying data corresponds to a time marker associated with said second data item;
• and
• a source associated with said identifying data corresponds to a source associated with said second data item,
• wherein said value of said identifier indicates one of:
• a) an identity of an article processed during an identifying time interval associated with a time marker related to said identifying data;
• and
• b) a status of said manufacturing process during said identifying time interval.