Production system for garments or other products

Apparatus for controlling a transport system which conveys garments or other products in various states of manufacture between a plurality of work stations at each of which there exists a capability of performing at least one of a series of work operations which collectively result in manufacture of the product, comprising:

• first memory means for storing in terms of operation codes the series of work operations required to be performed to manufacture a given product;
• second memory means for storing in terms of operation codes the work operations in association with the work stations capable of performing the respective operations;
• and
• scheduling means connected with the first and second memory means for reading from the first memory means operation codes for the operations required to manufacture a product, for scanning the operation codes of the second memory means to locate work stations capable of performing the work operations required for manufacture and for selecting from among the located work stations the particular work stations to actually perform the work operations.

A method of controlling workflow in a production system having a plurality of work stations, each performing one or more work operations which operations result in manufacture of product from parts thereof comprising:

• assigning class codes to each of a series of work operations required to be performed at the various work stations to manufacture a number of different products, each series of operations being associated respectively with one of the products;
• storing the class codes of the series in a first memory for subsequent use in filling orders for the products;
• storing in a second memory in association with each work station the class codes for the work operations available at each station;
• reading from the first memory the series of class codes for work operations required to fill an order for a given product;
• scanning the class codes in the second memory to determine from among all of the work stations the work stations available to perform the series of work operations required to fill the order for the given product;
• and then
• scheduling the workflow between the available work stations as determined by the scanning to fill the order for the given product.

A production system for garments or other products comprising:

• a plurality of work stations having operating means for performing a series of work operations in which parts of a garment or other product are progressively manufactured, each work station being capable of performing at least one operation in the series to manufacture one or more products;
• control means including first memory means for storing a product order in terms of the series of work operations for a selected style of product, each work operation in the series being stored with a class code unique to the operation;
• second memory means for storing data defining the work operations available at each of the various work stations in the system, the available operations at a given station being defined in terms of the class codes whereby a search of the second memory for a class code reveals the stations available to perform a selected work operation;
• and
• scheduling means for searching the class codes in the second memory means to identify the work stations available to perform a given work operation in a series for a given product order, and then selecting from among the available work stations a particular work station for accomplishing the given work operation for the order.