Manufacturing control and capacity planning system

A method of controlling the allocation of resources to lots in accordance with goals of an organization, said method comprising the steps of:

• defining an ordered sequence of tasks needed to bring a virtual lot to completion wherein resource capabilities are specified and are associated with one another in a specified order;
• identifying a first set of said tasks in which said resources are consumed;
• identifying a second set of said tasks in which said resources are released;
• identifying attributes and capabilities of said resources which are required by said virtual lot;
• associating portions of unmortgaged future resource capabilities with one another in accordance with corresponding ones of said resource capabilities of said process flow description to generate a processing plan;
• repeating said defining and associating steps if said processing plan fails to substantially satisfy said organizational goals;
• selecting said virtual lot for processing within said organization as an actual lot;
• mortgaging said future resource capabilities identified in said processing plan;
• and
• continuously revising said mortgaged resource capabilities of said mortgaging step in response to actual events occurring within said organization.

A system for controlling the allocation of resources to lots in accordance with goals of an organization, said system comprising:

• a first memory structure for retaining process flow description data associated with virtual lots, said process flow description data specifying, for each of said virtual lots, resources associated with one another in a specified order and capabilities required of said resources by said virtual lot;
• a second memory structure for retaining data describing future mortgaged capabilities of resources;
• means, coupled to said first and second memory structures, for associating, for a specified one of said virtual lots, portions of unmortgaged future resource capabilities with one another in accordance with corresponding ones of said resource capabilities of said process flow description to generate a processing plan;
• a third memory structure for retaining data descriptive of said processing plan;
• a fourth memory structure for retaining data descriptive of future allocations of resources to actual lots;
• and
• means, coupled to said third and fourth memory structures, for converting said virtual lot into an actual lot and for controlling execution of said processing plan to bring said actual lot to completion.

A method of controlling the allocation of resources to lots in an organization in accordance with organizational goals, said method comprising the steps of:

• distinguishing resource commitments from uncommitted resource capabilities;
• identifying a virtual lot for control within said organization;
• identifying resources needed by said virtual lot;
• defining a process flow description for said virtual lot in which resources are associated with one another in a specified order and capabilities of said resources included in said process flow description are specified;
• forming a processing plan by:
• identifying a portion of said actual uncommitted resource capabilities which corresponds to said capabilities of said defining step, and
• scheduling usage of said portion in accordance with said process flow description;
• updating said actual resource commitments to reflect said processing plan if said processing plan substantially accommodates said organizational goals;
• and
• continually updating said actual resource commitments to reflect actual events occurring within said organization.

A method of controlling the allocation of resources to lots in an organization in accordance with organizational goals, said method comprising the steps of:

• distinguishing resource commitments from uncommitted resource capabilities;
• identifying a virtual lot for control within said organization;
• identifying resources needed by said virtual lot;
• identifying resources available for use within said organization;
• identifying attributes of said resources;
• identifying capability limits of said attributes;
• defining an ordered sequence of tasks needed to bring said virtual lot to completion in which resources are associated with one another in a specified order and capabilities of said resources included in said process flow description are specified;
• identifying a first set of said tasks in which said resources of said defining step are consumed;
• identifying a second set of said tasks in which said resources of said defining step are released;
• identifying attributes and capabilities of said resources which are required by said virtual lot;
• forming a processing plan by;
• identifying a portion of said actual uncommitted resource capabilities which corresponds to said capabilities of said defining step, and
• scheduling usage of said portion in accordance with said process flow description;
• updating said actual resource commitments to reflect said processing plan if said processing plan substantially accommodates said organizational goals;
• and
• continually updating said actual resource commitments to reflect actual events occurring within said organization.