Successively-deciding production planning system

A successively-deciding production planning system, comprising:

• time transition controlling means for issuing a command that indicates an update time for deciding a production plan;
• production request time frame generating means for allocating, upon receipt of the issued command, a requested quantity of each type of product to each time bucket of a series of time buckets from T1 to Tn, the series of time buckets defining a production request time frame that represents a period for producing products in accordance with a product request input;
• condition storing means for describing modifiable conditions on the production quantity of each type of product;
• production designation time frame updating means for receiving the production request time frame defined by the production request time frame generating means, and for combining the received production request time frame with a previous production designation time frame representing a previous production designation and with the modifiable conditions from the condition storing means, the production designation time frame updating means including means for calculating, for each time bucket of the series of time buckets, an upper limit and a lower limit of a fluctuation range as a function of production quantities for each type of product to be produced, and means for allocating a quantity within the fluctuation range to each of the time buckets in order to generate a new production designation time frame representing a new production designation, the upper limit defining a highest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, and the lower limit defining a lowest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, the upper and lower limits for each time bucket being variable;
• part constitution information storing means for describing a subordination between part groups constituting a product;
• required material quantity calculating means for receiving the new production designation time frame from the production designation time frame updating means and collating the received time frame with the contents in the part constitution information storing means to compute a number of component parts necessary for actual production arrangement;
• part arrangement information storing means for describing part arrangement information including a lead time for purchasing parts;
• arrangement designation information generating means for generating a designation output having the number of component parts and the part arrangement information;
• and
• producing means for producing a quantity of each type of product according to the generated designation output.

A computerized production planning method for producing a plurality of types of products, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating a time frame having a series of time buckets;
• calculating, for each time bucket of the generating time frame, an upper limit and a lower limit of a fluctuation ranges as a function of production quantities for each type of product to be produced, the upper limit defining a highest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, and the lower limit defining a lowest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, the upper and lower limits for each time bucket being variable;
• allocating an acceptable quantity of each type of product to each time bucket according to the fluctuation range of the time bucket;
• and
• producing the acceptable quantity of each type of product that is allocated to at least one of the series of time buckets.

A computerized method for producing a plurality of types of products comprising the steps of:

• controlling an updating time;
• generating a time frame having a series of time buckets from T1 to Tn representing a period for producing products in accordance with product request input, activated at the updating time;
• referencing stored modifiable conditions for the production quantity of each type of product;
• receiving the production request time frame defined in the step of generating a time frame, and combining the received production request time frame with a previous production designation time frame representing a previous production designation and with the modifiable conditions, the step of receiving and combining including the steps of
• calculating, for each time bucket of the series of time buckets, an upper limit and a lower limit of a fluctuation range as a function of production quantities for each type of product to be produced, and
• allocating a quantity within the fluctuation range of each of the time buckets in order to generate a new production designation time frame representing a new production designation, the upper limit defining a highest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, and the lower limit defining a lowest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, the upper and lower limits for each time bucket being variable;
• referencing a subordination description between a plurality of part groupings of product types;
• receiving the new production designation time frame from the step of receiving, combining, and dividing and recombining, and collating the received new production designation time frame with a subordination description from the step of referencing the subordination description to compute a number of component parts necessary for an actual production arrangement;
• referencing part arrangement information including a lead time for purchasing parts;
• generating and outputting a designation output having the part arrangement information;
• and
• producing a quantity of each type of product according to the generated and outputted designation output.

A computerized production planning system for producing a quantity of products comprising:

• means for generating a time frame data structure, the time frame having a series of discrete time intervals, each time interval having a length and corresponding to a group of at least one product to be produced;
• means for changing at least one of the length and the corresponding group of a time interval of the generated time frame data structure according to new product request information, existing product request information, and preset conditions;
• means for calculating, for each time interval of the generated time frame data structure, an upper limit and a lower limit of a fluctuation range as a function of production quantities for each product in the group, the upper limit defining a highest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, and the lower limit defining a lowest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, the upper and lower limits for each time bucket being variable;
• means for allocating a quantity for each product in the group to each time interval of each time frame according to the fluctuation range;
• means for producing the quantity for each type of product in the group that is allocated to at least one time interval of at least one time frame;
• and
• means for periodically operating the means for generating, the means for changing, the means for calculating, and the means for allocating.

A computerized production planning system comprising:

• means for generating a time frame having a series of time intervals, each time interval having a length and corresponding to a group of at least one product type to be produced;
• means for storing production quantity conditions;
• means for calculating first quantities for each time interval according to the production quantity conditions, the calculated first quantities representing new product request information;
• means for changing at least one of the length and the corresponding group of a time interval according to the production quantity conditions;
• means for calculating, for each time interval of the generated time frame, an upper limit and a lower limit of a fluctuation range as a function of production quantities for each product of the corresponding group, the upper limit defining a highest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, and the lower limit defining a lowest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, the upper and lower limits for each time bucket being variable;
• means for describing subordination information for a plurality of part groupings of product types;
• means for calculating second quantities for the time intervals according to the subordination information and the first quantities, the calculated second quantities representing quantities of component parts necessary for producing each product in the corresponding group;
• means for describing part information including a lead time for purchasing parts, a required number of component parts and part arrangement information;
• means for calculating third quantities for the time intervals according to the part information and the second quantities, the calculated third quantities representing final planned production quantities;
• means for outputting a production plan including the third quantities;
• and
• means for producing at least one of the product types according to the outputted production plan.

A computerized production planning method for producing a quantity of products comprising the steps of:

• generating a time frame data structure, the time frame data structure having a series of discrete time intervals, each time interval having a length and corresponding to a group of at least one product to be produced;
• changing at least one of the length and the corresponding group of a time interval of the generated time frame data structure according to new product request information, existing product request information, and preset conditions;
• calculating, for each time bucket of the generated time frame, an upper limit and a lower limit of a fluctuation range as a function of production quantities for each type of product to be produced, the upper limit defining a highest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, and the lower limit defining a lowest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, the upper and lower limits for each time bucket being variable;
• allocating a quantity for each product in the group to each time interval of each time frame according to the fluctuation range;
• and
• producing the quantity for each product in the group that is allocated to at least one time interval of at least one time frame.

A computerized production planning method comprising:

• generating a time frame having a series of time intervals, each time interval having a length and corresponding to a group of at least one product type to be produced;
• storing production quantity conditions;
• calculating first quantities for each time interval according to the production quantity conditions;
• changing at least one of the length and the group of a time interval according to the production quantity conditions according to new product request information, existing product request information, and the stored production quantity conditions;
• calculating, for each time bucket of the generated time frame, an upper limit and a lower limit of a fluctuation range as a function of production quantities for each product in the corresponding group, the upper limit defining a highest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, and the lower limit defining a lowest quantity that is allocatable to the time bucket, the upper and lower limits for each time bucket being variable;
• describing subordination information for a plurality of part groupings of product types;
• calculating second quantities for the time intervals according to the subordination information and the first quantities, the calculated second quantities representing quantities of component parts necessary for producing each product in the corresponding group;
• describing part information including a lead time for purchasing parts, a required number of component parts and part arrangement information;
• calculating third quantities for the time intervals according to the part information and the second quantities, the calculated third quantities representing final planned production quantities;
• outputting a production plan including the third quantities;
• and
• producing at least one of the product types according to the outputted production plan.