JPH0816206A - Method and apparatus for determining start order - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for determining the starting order according to the situation of a production line or processing equipment. [Structure] Construction start order determination rule (1
02), the control unit (101) determines the construction order by referring to the information (105) of the work in process on the production line. [Effects] According to the present invention, the rules for determining the starting order set for each processing facility and the starting order specified by the operator can be set or changed without stopping the production line, and the production plan can be changed. It is possible to determine the starting order that can respond immediately to changes such as changes and equipment failures.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for determining the starting order of a group of objects to be processed in a production line for producing the group of objects to be processed by a plurality of processing equipment groups.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a production line in which a plurality of processing object groups are produced and processed by a plurality of processing equipment groups, the processing object group that is in process on the production line is usually temporarily stored in a receiving / paying unit having a buffering function. The work is sequentially conveyed to the processing facility and the construction is started.
As shown in JP-A-4-13548, using a rule for determining the construction order in which some evaluation items are provided in advance,
The evaluation index was calculated for each object to be processed, and the work order was calculated from the largest cumulative value. When there are a plurality of processing equipments that perform the same processing on the production line, the starting order is determined based on the rule fixed in advance for all the equipments.

[0003]

As described above, it is not possible to determine the starting order according to the characteristics of individual processing facilities by the fixed rule for all facilities, and the starting order is determined. When changing the rule, the target of the rule is all the equipment groups, so it is necessary to stop the processing of all the equipment groups on the production line before changing the rules. However, there is a problem that production efficiency may be reduced due to the inability to promptly respond to the situation.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of determining the starting sequence and a method of setting a rule according to the production situation in which the characteristics of each processing facility are fully utilized in the production line.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a work order determining apparatus according to the present invention comprises means for storing a plurality of individual rules for deciding the work order of a workpiece.
A means for setting at least one individual rule for each equipment and inputting the setting of the construction order determination rule, a means for storing the construction order determination rule set for each equipment by the input, and calculating the construction order of the workpieces It is provided with a means for storing the information on the group of objects to be processed, and a means for deciding the starting order from the starting order determination rule and the information on the objects.

[0006]

In the apparatus for determining the starting order according to the present invention, by setting the rule for determining the starting order for each processing facility, the starting order can be determined according to the characteristics of each processing facility. Further, since it is possible to set as many start order determination rules as necessary for each processing facility, it is possible to calculate a fine start order. Furthermore, when changing the setting of the start order determination rule, the rule for determining the start order is set for each processing facility, so it can be changed without stopping the production line, and the production status and processing equipment status It is possible to easily change the starting order determination rule and the starting order according to the above.

The object to be treated in the present invention means a mechanical component to be processed or assembled, or a product such as a semiconductor or a semi-finished product in which thin film formation or fine processing of a thin film is performed by applying a physicochemical phenomenon. The present invention is applicable not only to lines but also to all lines that determine the order of processing in an inspection line where inspection is performed in inspection equipment.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the construction sequence determining apparatus of the present invention. In the production line, 2 is a receiving and paying unit that can be stored when the processed product is conveyed from another process or when the processed product that has been processed by the processing facility is collected, and 4 is the processed product. Processing equipment group 3 for carrying out the processing, 3 is a transportation equipment for carrying the object to be processed between the receiving and paying unit 2 and the processing equipment group 4, and 1 is information from the receiving and paying unit 2 and the state of the processing equipment group 4. This is a start-up order determination device that determines the start-up order of the workpieces based on the start-up order determination rule for each processing facility group 4.

The procedure for setting the work order setting rule will be described with reference to FIG. When setting the start order determination rule of the processing equipment 401 of the processing equipment group 4 connected to the start order determination device 1 by a communication line or the like, the control mode of the processing equipment 401 is set locally by the control mode setting input unit 110. Change to, and set the start order determination rule. The control mode determines whether or not to issue an instruction such as a start start instruction to the equipment from the construction order determination device 1 with the communication line between the construction order determination device 1 and the processing equipment group 4 of the production line being connected. It is a control mode and is set for each facility, and there are local and remote. The local mode is a control mode in which a new process start instruction is not issued from the process sequence determining device 1, and the remote mode is a control mode in which a new process start instruction can be issued. Changes can be made regardless of the state of the group. For example, even if the control mode is changed from remote to local during processing, the processing of the object to be processed already started is continued. In addition, it does not stop the control or operation of equipment other than the equipment to be changed. The state of the control mode for each facility is stored in the control mode storage unit 109.

Next, a method for determining the construction order setting rule will be described. From some individual rules registered in advance in the individual rule storage unit 102, the worker uses the starting sequence determination rule setting input unit 107 to set the starting sequence determination rule for each processing facility, and the result is set for each processing facility. The start order determination rule storage unit 103 of FIG. In the setting of the start order determination rule, the number of individual rules to be set can be set to an arbitrary number, so that it can be set according to the situation of the processing facility group 4 or the production line. In addition, processing equipment that does not set the start order determination rule is automatically assigned a first-in first-out (starting work in the order in which it arrives on the production line) rule.

Next, a method of determining the starting order will be described. First, the construction order determination rule storage unit 103 for each processing facility
The control unit referring to the information from the processed object group information storage unit 105 that holds information on the processed object (processed object No., product type / process, processing condition, etc.) based on 10
In step 1, the work order of the workpiece is calculated for each equipment. When determining the work order, the control unit 101 determines in the order set by the individual rule when setting the work order determination rule. Then, the result of the calculated start order is held in the start order storage unit 104.

Next, the operation at the time of construction will be described. When the processing equipment 401 is capable of starting construction, the construction order determination device acquires from the construction sequence storage unit 104 the information on the object to be constructed which is the construction sequence calculation result of the processing equipment, and instructing means 1
A transfer instruction of the object to be processed is issued via 08, the object to be processed is taken out from the accepting and accepting unit 2, transferred to the transfer facility 3, transferred to the processing facility 401, and processed. The object to be processed, which has been processed, is again transferred to the receiving and paying unit 2 by the transfer facility 3 and temporarily stored, and then transferred to the next step.

As an example of the individual rule of the above-mentioned embodiment, priority (normal, limited express, super limited express of the object to be processed in terms of production progress)
A method for determining the starting order will be described using rules and processing object grouping rules (groups of the same product type and process that maximize the number of objects to be processed set in advance in order to prevent setup changes) are used. . In the production line, product type 1 process 2 priority normal (processed object number 1), product type 3 process 4 priority normal (processed object number 2), product type 5 process 6 priority super express (processed object number 3), Product 3 Process 4 Priority Normal (processed item number 4), Product 1 process 2 priority limited express (processed item number 5) In the line, a processing facility 401 capable of processing type 1 process 2 and type 5 process 6 and the processing facility 4
In addition to 01, there is a processing facility 402 capable of processing 3 types of processes. The work order determination rule setting input unit 107 sets only the priority rule in the processing equipment 401, and sets the work processing order determination rule in the processing equipment 402 in the order of the processed object summary rule and the priority rule. However, the processing equipment 4
The number of processed object grouping rules of 01 is two.
Then, the control unit 101 calculates the starting order, and the result is shown in FIG. First, the determination of the starting order of the processing equipment 401 will be described. The objects that can be processed by the processing equipment 401 are the object number 1, the object number 3, and the object number 5, and the priorities of the object items are normal, super-express, and express, respectively, so priority is given. If you sort them in order,
The processed object number is 5 and the processed object number is 1, which is the starting order according to the priority rule which is the starting order determination rule of the processing equipment 401. Next, the determination of the starting order of the processing equipment 402 will be described. The objects that can be started in the processing equipment are all of the above, and the applicable objects of the object summary rule that is the first starting order determination rule among them are:
Type 1 process 2 and type 3 that have reached the number of processed objects 2
It is an object to be processed in step 4. According to the priority rule that is set next, it is determined which product process of which product process is to be started first. The order gets faster. Then, the priority rule is also applied to the determination of the start order within the group of the product type 1 process 2 and the processed product number 5 and the processed product number 1 are in this order, and the next product type 3 process 4 is similarly prioritized. The priority rule is applied, but the priority of both of the objects to be processed is normal, and therefore it cannot be determined by the priority rule. Therefore, if the start order determination rule set as described above cannot determine the start order, the first-in first-out rule is automatically applied, and in the above case, the processed object number 2 and the processed object number 4 are in order. . Then, the processed object number 3 which does not correspond to the processed object summary rule becomes the processed object to be finally started.
Although the work order of the processing equipment 401 and the processing equipment 402 is determined by the above, the common workpieces are held as the work order calculation result, but when the processing is performed by one processing equipment, the other processing is performed. Information on the object to be processed in the facility is deleted. In the above example, when the processing equipment 401 first starts the processing of the processing object number 3, the processing equipment 402 erases the information of the processing number 3 which is the fifth starting order.

Next, a method of changing the work order determination rule will be described. In this case, when the construction order determination rule of the processing equipment 401 is changed in the same manner as the construction order determination rule setting, the control unit 101 calculates the construction order of the processing equipment 401 and conveys a new processed object to the processing equipment 401. The control mode setting input unit 110 changes the control mode of the processing equipment 401 to the local mode in order to set the control state in which no work instruction is given, and the work sequence determination rule setting input unit 107 changes the work sequence determination rule. At this time, the other processing equipments 402 and 403 are controlled as usual, and the objects to be processed are sequentially started according to the starting order determination rule for each processing equipment. When the control mode of the processing equipment 401 is set to the remote mode by the control mode setting input unit 110, the control unit 101 calculates the starting order of the workpieces according to the newly set starting order setting rule of the processing equipment 401, and sequentially processes the processing equipment. An instruction to convey or start construction is issued to 401.

Further, the control unit 1 is based on the construction order determination rule.
It is possible not only to calculate the starting order by 01, but also to set the starting order of the workpieces to be started. The work-in-process information of the payment / receipt unit 2 is displayed on the display unit 106 from the processed object group information storage unit 105, and the start order of the processed objects is set one by one from the start order determination rule setting input unit 107 according to the operator's judgment. By storing this information in the work order storage unit 104, the control unit 101 does not calculate the work order and the conveyed work is started in the input work order. Further, as described above, not only is the object to be processed set by the starting order determination rule setting input unit 107, but the operator also starts the information for grouping the objects such as the type and process of the objects to be processed. It is also possible to set a normal start order determination rule such as the priority rule of the workpiece, which is specified by the order determination rule setting input unit 107, and a start order that can answer irregular requests from workers can be determined. Becomes

In addition, the start order stored in the start order storage unit 104, which is calculated by the start order determining apparatus 1 and stored in the start order storage unit 104, is added, deleted, or rearranged by the start order determination rule setting input unit 107. And so on.

FIG. 3 is a diagram in which the construction order determining device is connected to the production progress management device 5. The above-mentioned starting order determination rule and the setting of the starting order of the workpieces are not only input by the operator, but also a production progress management apparatus that manages the situation of another production line connected to the apparatus of the present invention by a communication cable or the like. It is possible to make settings and changes according to instructions from 5, etc.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in the present invention, the transportation facility may be an operator. In this case, when a transfer instruction is given, the display unit 106 displays the object to be processed from the start order storage unit 104 for each facility, and the instruction unit 108 informs the operator by a buzzer that there is a transfer instruction and displays the object to be processed. Will be transported.

As in the embodiment of FIG. 1, not only is the start order determined between the receiving and paying unit 2 and the processing equipment group 4, but the present invention is the starting order between the processing equipment groups 4 or the starting work between the receiving and paying units 2. The situation where the order is determined is also possible as described above.

[0021]

According to the present invention, by setting the construction order determination rule for each processing equipment, the processing corresponding to the construction method peculiar to each processing equipment becomes possible. Further, by setting as many start order determination rules as necessary, the start order suitable for the production situation can be determined. Further, by setting the start-up order determination rule for each processing facility, the start-up order determination rule can be changed without stopping the production line, and it is possible to immediately respond to a change such as a change in the production plan or equipment failure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a starting sequence determination device for an object to be processed and a facility group of a production line according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a work order determination rule of a workpiece and its result in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an apparatus for deciding a starting order of objects to be processed, an equipment group of a production line, and a production progress management apparatus in another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a work order deciding device for a processed object and a facility group of a production line where an operator conveys the processed object in still another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Start-up order determination device, 101 ... Control part, 102 ... Start-up order determination rule storage part, 103 ... Start-up order determination rule setting storage part, 104 ... Start-up order storage part, 105 ... Processed object group information storage part, 106 ... Display unit 107 ... Construction order determination rule setting input unit, 108 ... Instructing unit, 109 ... Control mode storage unit, 110 ... Control mode setting input unit, 2 ... Payment unit, 3 ... Transport facility, 4 ... Processing facility group.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. In a production line in which a group of processing objects is produced by a plurality of processing equipment groups, a plurality of individual rules are set in advance for determining the starting order of the processing objects, and at least one of them is defined. The starting order determination is characterized by selecting one of the individual rules and setting the starting order determination rule for each facility, and determining the starting order from the information of the workpiece group in accordance with the contents of the starting order determination rule. Method. 2. A production line for producing a group of objects to be processed by a plurality of processing equipment groups, and means for storing a plurality of individual rules predetermined for determining the order of starting the objects to be processed, Input means for selecting at least one individual rule stored in the individual rule storage means to set the construction order determination rule for each facility, and the construction sequence determination rule set for each equipment by the construction sequence determination rule setting input means And a means for storing the information of the processing object group necessary for calculating the construction order according to the construction order determination rule for each facility stored by the construction order determination rule storage means, and the processing object. A starting order deciding device, comprising means for deciding a starting order that conforms to the contents of the starting order decision rule from group information. 3. The start order determining apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for storing a result of the start order determination in accordance with the start order determination. 4. The start order deciding device according to claim 2, further comprising means for displaying a setting status of the start order determining rule or a start order determining result in accordance with the start order determination. 5. Whether or not to issue a start instruction in accordance with the start order determination rule or the start order specified by an operator by connecting the equipment group and the start order determining device in the production line through a communication line or the like. 3. The start-up sequence determining apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a means for storing a current control mode in each processing facility in a control mode defining each processing facility, and a means for switching the control mode.