Production control system and method

A production control method for interfacing an automated material handling system to at least one manufacture workcell having processing equipment therein for performing processing jobs on provided material comprising the steps of:

• forming an addressable library of program modules with each module defining a sequence of operations that are to be performed by at least one piece of processing equipment within a manufacturing workcell;
• generating process scripts for addressing selected program modules;
• selecting program modules for performing the desired processing operations on the provided material in accordance with formed job descriptions and said process scripts wherein at least on of said scripts includes a step of calling at least one other script;
• programming each piece of processing equipment to be responsive to the sequence of processing operations defined by the selected program modules;
• executing said process scripts for causing the flow and processing of material to and through each workstation to be in accordance with the formed job descriptions and executing process scripts;
• and
• event tracking the processing operations of the processing equipment within a workcell for providing an indication of the performance of an operation in the defined sequence of processing operations being performed on the material.

A production control method for interfacing an automated material handling system to at least one manufacture workcell having processing equipment therein for performing processing jobs on provided material comprising the steps of:

• forming an addressable library of program modules with each module defining a sequence of operations that are to be performed by at least one piece of processing equipment within a manufacturing workcell;
• selecting program modules for performing the desired processing operations on the provided material in accordance with formed job descriptions and process scripts;
• programming each piece of processing equipment to be responsive to the sequence of operations defined by the selected program modules;
• executing said process scripts and controlling the flow of material to and through each workstation in accordance with the formed job descriptions and executed process scripts;
• event tracking the processing operations of the processing equipment within a workcell for signalling the performance of an operation in the defined sequence of processing operations being performed on the material;
• and
• forming a capability table for each manufacturing workcell for verification of the capability of performing a scripted task.

A production control method for interfacing an automated material handling system to at least one manufacture workcell having processing equipment therein for performing processing jobs on provided material comprising the steps of:

• forming an addressable library of program modules with each module defining a sequence of operations that are to be performed by at least one piece of processing equipment within a manufacturing workcell;
• generating process scripts for addressing selected program modules;
• embedding operator selectable operations in said generated process scripts to provide the ability to tailor operations by operator interaction;
• selecting program modules for performing the desired processing operations on the provided material in accordance with formed job descriptions and said process scripts;
• programming each piece of processing equipment to be responsive to the sequence of processing operations defined by the selected program modules;
• executing said process scripts for causing the flow and processing of material to and through each workstation to be in accordance with the formed job descriptions and executing process scripts;
• and
• event tracking the processing operations of the processing equipment within a workcell for providing an indication of the performance of an operation in the defined sequence of processing operations being performed on the material.

A production control method for interfacing an automated material handling system to at least one manufacture workcell having processing equipment therein for performing processing jobs on provided material comprising the steps of:

• forming an addressable library of program modules with each module defining a sequence of operations that are to be performed by at least one piece of processing equipment within a manufacturing workcell;
• generating process scripts for addressing selected program modules;
• selecting program modules for performing the desired processing operations on the provided material in accordance with formed job descriptions and said process scripts;
• programming each piece of processing equipment to be responsive to the sequence of processing operations defined by the selected program modules;
• using parameters in a process script where the parameters are defined during processing run time;
• executing said process scripts for causing the flow and processing of material to and through each workstation to be in accordance with the formed job descriptions and executing process scripts;
• and
• event tracking the processing operations of the processing equipment within a workcell for providing an indication of the performance of an operation in the defined sequence of processing operations being performed on the material.

A computer based production control method for interfacing signal responsive machinery to manufacturing systems to automatically perform process operations on provided materials comprising the steps of:

• forming an addressable library of software based process scripts each defining a process that is to be performed on provided materials;
• forming an addressable library of program files each having lines of computer code for generating signals to be applied to the signal responsive machinery for causing a specific machine operation in response to a portion of a compiled script;
• compiling a script for addressing select process scripts and program files;
• verifying the compiling of said script;
• deleting said compiled script when no longer needed;
• and
• causing said signal responsive machinery to automatically perform process operations on provided materials in response to the compiled script.

A computer based production control method for interfacing signal responsive machinery to manufacturing systems to automatically perform process operations on materials provided by an automated material handling system comprising the steps of:

• forming a library of software based process scripts each defining a process that is to be performed on provided materials;
• forming a library of program files each having lines of computer code for generating signals to be applied to the signal responsive machinery for causing a specific machine operation in response to a portion of a compiled script;
• compiling a script incorporating select process scripts and program files;
• causing said responsive machinery to automatically perform process operations on provided materials in response to the complied script;
• providing handshaking communications with the automated material handling system to synchronize process operations;
• and
• generating a report representing the status of process operations based on said provided data.

A production control system for interfacing an automated material handling system to at least one manufacture workcell having processing equipment therein for performing processing jobs on provided material comprising:

• an addressable library means having a plurality of program modules with each module defining a sequence of operations that are to be performed by at least one piece of processing equipment within a manufacturing workcell;
• means for generating process scripts;
• selecting means for selecting program modules for performing the desired processing operations on the provided material in accordance with formed job descriptions and said generated process scripts;
• means for programming each piece of processing equipment to be responsive to the sequence of processing operations defined by the selected program modules;
• means for causing the flow and processing of material to and through each workstation to be in accordance with the formed job descriptions and process scripts;
• means for event tracking the processing operations of the processing equipment within a workcell for providing an indication of the performance of an operation in the defined sequence of processing operations being performed on the material;
• and
• means for tracking the work in process within a workcell to provide data representative of the operations being performed on the material.

A computer based production control system for interfacing signal responsive machinery to manufacturing systems to automatically perform process operations on provided materials comprising:

• means for forming a library of software based process scripts each defining a process that be performed on provided materials;
• means for forming a library of program files each having lines of computer code for generating signals to be applied to the signal responsive machinery for causing a specific machine operation in response to a portion of a compiled script;
• and
• means for compiling a script incorporating select process scripts and program files;
• means for verifying the compiling of said script;
• means for causing said responsive machinery to automatically perform process operations on provided materials in response to the script from said means for compiling;
• and
• means for deleting said compiled script when no longer needed.

A computer based production control system for interfacing signal responsive machinery to manufacturing systems to automatically perform process operations on materials provided by an automated material handling system comprising:

• means for forming a library of software based process scripts each defining a process that is to be performed on provided materials;
• means for forming a library of program files each having lines of computer code for generating signals to be applied to the signal responsive machinery for causing a specific machine operation in response to a portion of a compiled script;
• means for compiling a script incorporating select process scripts and program files;
• means for causing said responsive machinery to automatically perform process operations on provided materials in response to the script from said means for compiling;
• means for providing handshaking communications with the automated material handling system to synchronize process operations;
• means for translating machine information to manufacturing computer system language to provide data on the process operations;
• and
• means for generating a report representing the status of process operations based on said provided data.