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US 6,643,556 B1Granted
Method for optimizing a supply-consumption operation
AssigneeJ. D. Edwards World Source Company
InventorsRobert G. Morenz, Edward Sitarski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides an improved method for optimizing a quantity of bins used to transfer raw material from a producer to a consumer and to keep inventory at a minimum while optimizing output in a supply and demand manufacturing operation. A method is also provided for optimizing the bin size to keep inventory at a minimum while optimizing output to enhance the economic efficiency of the manufacturing operation.
Claims28
A method for enhancing efficiency of a manufacturing operation based on variable demand and supply, comprising the steps of:
- selecting a number of bins for transferring material between a supplier and a consumer;
- determining a production rate of said supplier and a consumption rate of said consumer;
- determining a delivery time for delivering a bin from said supplier to said consumer;
- determining a signal time for notifying said supplier that said consumer requires another filled bin;
- and
- determining an amount of material to include in each bin based on a relationship between said consumption rate, said production rate, said delivery time, said signal time, and said number of bins wherein said determining an amount step is performed according to the equation:
- K=PC(S+D)/((N−1)P−C)
- where K is the amount of material to include in each bin, P is the production rate, C is the consumption rate, S is the signal time, D is the delivery time, and N is the number of bins.
5 more elements
A method for enhancing efficiency of a manufacturing operation based on a variable demand and a variable supply, comprising the steps of:
- selecting an amount of material to include in an order, said order including the transfer of material from a supplier to a consumer;
- determining a consumption rate of said consumer;
- determining a production lead time based on an amount of time between placing said order by said consumer and receiving a completed order at said consumer;
- determining a total number of orders present between said supplier and said consumer based on a relationship between said consumption rate, said production lead time, and said amount of material to be included in an order wherein said determining a total number of orders step is performed according to the equation:
- N=ceil(1+CL/K)
- where N is the number of bins, C is the consumption rate, L is the production lead time, K is the amount of material to be included in an order, and the function ceil(x) is the smallest integer greater than or equal to x.
3 more elements
A method for increasing efficiency in a flow manufacturing operation, comprising:
- determining a production rate of a supply operation;
- determining a consumption rate of a consuming operation;
- determining a signal time for the consuming operation to notify the supply operation of an order;
- determining a delivery time for the supply operation to produce and deliver said order to said consuming operation;
- and
- calculating a number of bins used to carry raw materials used in said consuming operation, each bin being associated with an order, such that the probability of said consuming operation being idle is less than a predetermined amount, said number of bins being calculated according to a relationship between said consumption rate, said production rate, said signal time, said delivery time, and an amount of raw material included in each bin wherein said calculating a number of bins step includes:
- determining a production lead time based on the following equation:
- L=S+D+(K/P)
- where L is the production lead time, S is the signal time, D is the delivery time, P is the production rate, and K is the amount of raw material included in each bin;
- and
- calculating said number of bins based on a relationship between said production lead time, said consumption rate, and said amount of raw material included in each bin.
8 more elements
A method for enhancing efficiency of an existing manufacturing operation, comprising the steps of:
- determining an actual number of bins used in transferring material between a supply operation and a consumption operation;
- determining an amount of material which is included in each bin;
- determining a production rate of said supply operation and a consumption rate of said consumption operation;
- determining a delivery time for delivering a bin from said supply operation to said consumption operation;
- determining a signal time for notifying said supply operation that said consumption operation requires another filled bin;
- calculating an optimal number of bins according to the equation:
- N=ceil(1+CL/K)
- where N is said optimal number of bins, C is said consumption rate, L is a production lead time based on said signal time, delivery time, amount of material, and production rate, K is said amount of material, and the function ceil(x) is the smallest integer greater than or equal to X;
- comparing said optimal number of bins to said actual number of bins;
- and
- adjusting at least one of said actual number of bins, said production rate, and said consumption rate based on said comparing step.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.