JP3409638B2 - Production line knitting method and knitting device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for arranging a process line in a production line for assembly work to determine a process sequence.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a production line for producing a product through a plurality of steps by a flow operation, it is necessary to arrange the steps in an appropriate order according to the conditions of production equipment and the order of work between steps. As the number of processes increases, the number of process permutations, which is an array of processes, increases geometrically and various conditions intersect, so the process of creating process permutations, that is, the production line organization work, If the number is large, it takes a lot of time to do it manually. Further, in the case of manual creation, there is a problem that a human error occurs such that a product that does not satisfy the conditions in the above process organization is created.

Therefore, various methods and apparatuses for automating the knitting work of the production line have been proposed. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-206151 discloses an apparatus for prioritizing conditions in a production line knitting operation and performing process knitting.

[0004]

However, in the apparatus described in the above publication, it is only necessary to create a process sequence for each product, and for example, a mixing line in which a plurality of types of products flow on the same production line. In, no consideration is given to the relation of the process sequence among the products. Therefore, the process sequence is completely different for each product, and when looking at a certain position on the production line, the process may change completely when the flowing product changes, and if it is bad, it is possible to perform production on the same production line. In some cases it was not possible. In addition, even if production can be performed on the same production line, the worker must perform different types of work each time the product changes, which poses a heavy burden on the worker.

Further, in the case of the above-mentioned mixing line, it is necessary to assign the worker of each process and the position on the line for each product flowing through the same line, and this work also requires a lot of labor. Further, when there are a plurality of production lines, it may be possible to change the production line of the product in accordance with the production plan of the product, but in this case as well, a process sequence having no relation between the lines was adopted. In that case, there was a problem that the production line could not be changed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and makes it easy to change the production line for one product, and it is easy to distribute a plurality of products to the same production line. An object of the present invention is to provide a knitting method and a knitting apparatus for another production line.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a method for knitting a production line according to the present invention is a sequence of steps in a production line for producing a product through a plurality of steps for performing a predetermined work. A production line knitting method for creating a process sequence of:
The process related to the function is grouped for each function and
For each group, one of the processes belonging to that group
They are selected in the table step, one of the representative process permutations indicating the order before Kiyo table process, production lines for a plurality of types of products
Emissions standard step permutation and constant <br/> Me commonly used when organizing, selects the closest step permutation to the standard step permutation as a step permutation of each product to be produced, further, the same Group
Processes belonging to a group work closer to each other on the production line.
The process sequence to be selected is selected.

According to this structure, since the process sequence for each product is similar, so-called line conversion for changing the production line is facilitated. Further, if one production line is focused on, even if products of different types are used, the work contents are similar, so that line design and the burden on the worker can be reduced. In addition, some functions of the product
Since the parts that you have are created in a cohesive position, the function
The inspection with can be easily performed. In addition, the worker himself
I can understand the meaning of my work well.

Further, process data in which the attribute of the process is described is created in advance for each process, and in the process data, among the subsequent processes which are processes that can be performed only after the operation of the process, Before the work of the subsequent process, immediately subsequent process data that is a subsequent process excluding the need to perform the work of another subsequent process is included, and the production line is organized based on the immediately subsequent process data. can do. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the production line from being knitted by mistake in the context of the process.

[0010]

Further, when a plurality of process permutations for each product are selected, one process permutation of one product is arbitrarily defined as a reference process permutation, and the process permutation of other products is closest to the reference process permutation. One is selected, and a process existing at a corresponding position of the process sequence of another product but not at the corresponding position of one process sequence is interrupted as a virtual process at the corresponding position of the one process sequence. The process sequence of products can be unified. In this way, even a mixing line can be handled as a single line through which only one product flows.

Further, the production line knitting apparatus according to the present invention is a production line knitting apparatus for producing a process sequence, which is a sequence of steps in a production line for producing a product through a plurality of steps for performing a predetermined work. Yes, for each product,
It is a process data storage unit that stores a list of processes required to create the product.
Information on the group whose processes related to the function are summarized in
And the process belonging to this group for each group
Group data including information on the selected representative process
The process data storage unit that stores the data and the processes stored in the process data storage unit are arranged in the same group.
A step permutation creation unit belonging process to create a process permutations that are working in the vicinity more on the production line, one of the representative process permutations indicating the order before Kiyo table step, for a plurality of types of products
A standard process permutation storage unit that stores a standard process permutation that is commonly used to organize a production line ; a process permutation selection unit that selects the closest one of the standard process permutations from the created process permutation; have.

Further, in the process data storage unit, among the subsequent processes which are processes which can be performed only after the work of the process concerned, the work of other subsequent process is performed before the work of the subsequent process. Immediate subsequent process data that is a subsequent process excluding what needs to be performed may be included, and the process sequence creation unit may create a process sequence based on the immediate subsequent process data.

[0014]

Further, the process data storage unit includes production line basin data indicating a process and a position on the production line that is preferable for performing the work of the process, and the process sequence creation unit includes the production line The process sequence may be created based on the basin data.

Further, the process data storage unit includes position restriction data for limiting a position on a production line where a work of the process is performed with respect to a predetermined process, and the process permutation creating unit includes the position restriction data. The process sequence may be created based on

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the configuration of the first embodiment.

Process Data Storage Unit The process data storage unit 10 stores information on each process of the production line. Information of each process, in a certain process,
Immediate succeeding process that is a succeeding process excluding the need to perform the work of another succeeding process before the working of the succeeding process, which is a process that can be performed only after the working of the process. Contains data.

Immediately following process data The immediately following process will be described in detail. In FIG. 2, a system diagram of a production line including six steps is shown as an example. This figure shows the predecessor-successor relationship of the work order between each process. For example, the process K13 needs to be completed before the process K05, and the process K01 and the process K22 must be completed before the process K13. FIG. 3 shows the system diagram of FIG. 2 as a relationship between a certain process and the process immediately following it. For example, process K01
On the other hand, steps K13, K05, and K56 are the only steps that can be performed after this, of which step K0
As for 5, K56, a step K13 exists before them between them and the step K01. Therefore, process K
Immediately after 01, only the process K13 is performed. Also,
Just because a process immediately follows a process, it does not have to be placed immediately after the process on the production line. That is, it is not necessary to arrange the process K04, which is a process immediately following the process K22, immediately after the process K22, and for example, the process K01 is performed immediately after the process K22.
Is allowed, and then step K04 is allowed to be performed.
Thus, for each process, the process immediately following the process is stored in the process data storage unit 10 as process data.

Group data Further, the process data storage unit 10 stores group data. The group data is data indicating that all the processes of the production line are divided into a plurality of groups and each process belongs to which group, and is written as a group code corresponding to the group to which each process belongs. Has been. This group is set for each function of the product produced on the production line, and the functions related to the group are achieved by performing all the processes belonging to the group. If the product produced on the production line is an automobile, a braking mechanism or the like is conceivable as the above-mentioned function, and one group is formed by steps such as a step of mounting parts related to this mechanism. Then, one representative process is defined for one group, and a group representative code indicating that this process is the representative process of the group is written for this representative process.

Position restriction data Further, in the process data storage unit 10, it is possible to determine which process in the production line a process is, or which process should exist between the process and the process. The position restriction data shown is included. This is data created when the position on the production line of the equipment required to perform a certain process is already determined by the factory layout or the like. In addition, this position restriction data, by its nature, usually does not have this information in all processes, and information is added only to necessary processes.

.. basin data Further, the process data storage unit 10 stores a basin where a process belongs to on the production line, for example, whether it should be near upstream or downstream. Contains data. It is based on which part of the product the process is related to work on.
For example, in the case of work on the lower side of the product, it is preferable to place the product main body at a position higher than the worker, and by putting together such work on the production line, the product main body is placed at a high position, On the contrary, it is possible to prevent repetition of being placed in a low position.
The basin is divided into, for example, an upstream, a middle stream and a downstream, and the basin data of each process shows information to which basin this process belongs to. In addition to the case where the process belongs to one basin, the basin data may indicate the case where there are two or more basins that can belong to the process. That is,
It is preferred that some processes belong to the upstream, some processes belong to the upstream or middle stream, and further processes are not restricted by the basin, in other words, can belong to any basin. It may indicate that it is a different process.

Of the data stored in the process data storage unit 10 described above, the group data, the basin data and the position restriction data are data stored as necessary,
It is possible that some or all of these data may not be stored, especially in small production lines. When all of these data are not stored, the process sequence described below is created using only the immediately following process data.

Standard process permutation storage unit The standard process permutation storage unit 12 stores a standard permutation on the production line in which only representative processes belonging to the group data of the process data storage unit 10 are arranged. ing. When the group data is not stored, such as when the number of processes is small, a standard permutation in which all processes are arranged is stored. As will be described later, by defining this standard process, the process sequence created is not a random process sequence, but is a process sequence that is somewhat similar.

Process sequence creating unit The process sequence creating unit 14 creates a process sequence, which is the sequence order of processes on the production line, based on each data for each process stored in the process data storage unit 10 described above. To do. Figure 2
And, as shown in the tree diagram of FIG. 4, there are twelve process permutations for the production line including the processes shown in FIG. The method for obtaining this process sequence will be described below. It should be noted that the respective steps of FIG. 3 will be described here as having no group data, basin data and position restriction data described above.

..Sequence of process sequence immediately after subsequent process data
Among the steps of forming Figure 3, the first step is a step other than step stored as immediately subsequent step. For example, the process K1 stored as a process immediately following the process K01.
3 cannot be the first step, and the first step can be steps K01 and 22 (J11, J
12). Of these, the process K01 is first defined as the first process (J11). The next process is the process K not selected as the first process among the processes that can be the first process.
22 and a step K immediately after the first step K01.
You can think of thirteen. However, with respect to the process K13, since this process is also a process immediately following the process K22, it cannot be selected at a stage where the process K22 is not arranged. Therefore, the second process following the process K01 is determined as the process K22 (J21).

The third step following step K22 is step K
It is possible to consider steps K13 and K04 which are immediately subsequent to at least one of 01 and step K22. These steps are the steps K01 and K whose sequences have already been determined.
Since it is not a step immediately following the steps other than 22, any of them can be the third step (J31, J3).
2). First, the process K13 is selected as the third process (J31). The fourth process following the process K13 is considered to be the process K04 which is the third candidate but not selected, and the processes K05 and K56 which are the processes immediately following the process K13. However, step K56 cannot be selected because it is a step immediately following step K04 whose sequence has not been determined. Therefore, the fourth process candidates are processes K04 and K05 (J41, J4).
2). Of these, the step K04 is selected as the fourth step. The candidates for the fifth process subsequent to this are processes K05 and K05.
56 (J51, J52), if the process K05 is selected (J51), the sixth process becomes the process K56 (J6).
1).

As described above, the process sequence indicated by the leftmost branch of the tree diagram of FIG. 4 can be obtained. In the above description,
In the order in which there are multiple candidates (first, third, fourth, fifth), there is a branch, and the tree from FIG. 4 can be completed by sequentially obtaining branches from this branch in the same procedure. it can.

The above process sequence is created based on only the immediately following process data, but a case where it is limited by other data will be described below.

Restriction by position restriction data As described above, the position restriction data is data indicating that a certain process needs to be arranged on the production line, or from which position to which position. For example, among the steps in FIG. 3, when the step K04 needs to be the fourth to sixth steps, the branches in the tree diagram of FIG. 4 in which the step K04 is the first to third are: Not suitable.
Specifically, the process K04 is arranged at the third position (J
Branches surrounded by a broken line (32, etc.) do not satisfy this condition and cannot be adopted as the process sequence of the main production line.

Immediately after creating a process sequence based on the subsequent process, if a branch that does not satisfy the position restriction data is found,
It is possible not to create a permutation after this branch. For example, the process K04 is selected as the third process subsequent to the process K01-process K22 (J32), and after it is determined that the position restriction is not satisfied as described above, the process search subsequent thereto is not performed. To do. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the time required to create the entire process sequence.

.. Basin data As described above, the basin data is data indicating at which point in a production line a process is preferably produced. For example, the production line can be roughly divided into three regions, that is, upstream, midstream and downstream. And, in the process that preferably belongs to each basin,
As shown in FIG. 3, codes T, C, and F indicating the basin are written. Note that the code G is written when it may belong to either the upstream or the middle stream, and the code X is written when it is not particularly limited.

Based on this basin code and the value of the state counter indicating how much the process sequence in the middle of preparation complies with the basin data, it is determined whether the process sequence in the middle of creation is preferable. This determination will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 described above. FIG. 5 shows whether the value of the state counter is changed (+1) or not (◯) based on the value of the state counter and the basin code at that time, and whether this branch is determined to be inappropriate ( It is a figure which shows the judgment of either of (x). The initial value of the state counter is 0.

In the tree diagram of FIG. 4, when the process K01 is selected as the first process (J11), the state counter at this time is 0, and the basin code of the process K01 is T from FIG. Do not change the value. Since the basin code of the subsequent second step K22 (J21) is also T, the value of the state counter is not changed. When the process K13 is selected as the third process (J31), the basin code of this process is C, and the value of the state counter at this time is 0, so 1 is added to the value of the state counter from FIG. On the other hand, when the process K04 is selected as the third process (J32), the basin code of this process is F and the value of the state counter is 0. Therefore, it is determined that this branch is unsuitable. Due to the restriction of the basin data, some of the branches shown in FIG. 4 are determined to be unsuitable as the process sequence of the main production line. It should be noted that, like the case of the position restriction data, the branch is not searched thereafter when it is determined to be unsuitable. In the example above,
Thirdly, the permutation after (J32) in which the process K04 is selected is not actually obtained.

As described above, in the process sequence creation unit,
Based on each data in the process data storage unit 10, a process sequence that satisfies these is created.

[0037] - Step In permutation selector step permutation selector 16, a step permutation created in step permutation generator 14 compares the standard step permutation storage unit 12, and most standard processes of steps permutations created The one close to the permutation is selected as the process permutation of the production line.

.. Selection by standard process permutation This comparison uses the group representative code (see FIG. 3),
It is performed as follows. As mentioned above, the group representative code divides multiple processes into several groups,
It is a representative of the process belonging to the group. In addition, 0 is written as a code for a process that is not a representative process and a process that does not belong to any group.

The standard process permutation defines the standard of the array of the representative process of the group, and is defined as "1-2-3" using the group code, for example. On the other hand, in the case of the leftmost branch of FIG. 4, the permutation of the representative process of the process created by the process permutation creating unit 14 is “1-3-2” as shown in FIG. 6A. This representative process permutation is also created in the other created process permutations. For example, in the process sequence shown in FIG. 6B, the representative process sequence is “1-2-3”. In this case, the process permutation shown in (b) is closer to the standard process permutation than the process permutation shown in (a) (they match in this case), so this process permutation is selected as a candidate for the process permutation of this production line. To do. If there is another process that is the same as the standard process sequence, this process is also a candidate. If there is no process permutation that has the same representative process permutation as the standard process permutation as in the above example, the process permutation closest to the standard process permutation, that is, the number of terms in the regular permutation sequence is the largest is selected as a candidate.

How to obtain the maximum ordinal sequence Here, the above-mentioned embodiment is temporarily discontinued, and the sequence having the largest number of terms in the above ordinal sequence (hereinafter referred to as the maximum ordinal sequence).
Explain how to obtain. Natural number sequence {1, 2, with 10 terms
Consider a sequence {5,1,8,2,3,6,10,7,4,9} in which 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10} are rearranged. {1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9} of this sequence
When {5,8,10,4} is moved to an appropriate position while being fixed, it becomes a natural number sequence. In this way, if some terms of the above-mentioned sequence are fixed and other terms are moved to obtain a natural number sequence, the permutation of the fixed terms is a forward permutation, and in addition to the above, {5, 8,10} {8,10} {1,
2, 3, 4} and so on. Among these, the permutation with the largest number of terms is the maximum regular permutation, and in this case, the first permutation corresponds to this. The number of permutation violations of this maximum forward permutation is 4. On the contrary, the number of observance of permutation is 6. The sum of the number of violations and the number of compliances is the number of terms in the permutation (= 10), and the compliance rate is 0.6 (= 6 /
10).

FIG. 7 shows how to obtain the maximum forward permutation.

(1) Sequence {5, 1, 8, 2, 3, 6, 1
A sequence of natural numbers equal to the number of terms of 0, 7, 4, 9} (hereinafter referred to as a sequence L) is arranged vertically.

(2) Paying attention to the first term 1 in the natural number sequence, the terms 2 to the right of 1 in the sequence L are
4, 6 to 10 are moved to the second row, and the other term is 5
Left in the first column.

(3) Paying attention to 2 which is the second term of the natural number sequence, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 which are terms located to the right of 2 in the sequence L and the natural number sequence are 3 Move to the second row and leave the other term of the second row, 8 in the second row.

(4) Paying attention to the third term 3 of the natural number sequence, the terms L 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10 located to the right of 3 in the sequence L and the natural number sequence are placed in the fourth column. Move to. Since there are no remaining terms in the third column, only 3 remains in the third column.

(5) Paying attention to the fourth term 4 of the natural number sequence, in the sequence L and the natural number sequence, the term 9 which is located to the right of 4 is moved to the fifth column, and the fourth column is moved. The other terms 6, 7, and 10 are left in the fourth column.

(6) Pay attention to 5 which is the fifth term of the natural number sequence. In the sequence of numbers L and the sequence of natural numbers, the term located to the right of 5 is not in the first column, so the figure is maintained as it is.

(7) Paying attention to 6 which is the sixth term of the natural number sequence, in terms of the sequence L and the natural number sequence, items 7 and 10 located to the right of 6 are moved to the 5th column to move to the 4th column. The other term of the eye, 4 is left in the 4th column.

(8) Focusing on 7 which is the 7th term of the natural number sequence, in the sequence L and the natural number sequence, the term 9 which is located to the right of 7 is moved to the 6th column and moved to the 4th column. The other term 10 is left in the fifth column.

(9) Pay attention to 8 which is the eighth term of the natural number sequence. In the sequence of numbers L and the sequence of natural numbers, the terms located to the right of 8 are not in the first and second columns, so the figure is maintained as it is.

(10) Pay attention to 9 which is the ninth term of the natural number sequence. In the sequence of numbers L and the sequence of natural numbers, there are no terms located to the right of 9 in columns 1 to 6, so the figure is maintained as it is.

(11) 1 which is the tenth term in the natural number sequence
Focus on 0. In the number sequence L and the natural number sequence, the term positioned to the right of 10 is not in the fifth column, so the figure is maintained as it is.

The longest branch of the figure obtained by the above is
It is one of the maximum forward sequences. In the present embodiment, when searching for a representative process permutation close to the standard process permutation, the natural number sequence described above may be replaced with the standard process permutation, and the sequence L may be replaced with the representative process permutation. That is, the number of terms in the maximum positive permutation of each representative process permutation is obtained by the above-described method, and the item having the largest number of terms can be selected as the process permutation similar to the standard process permutation.

FIG. 8 shows how to find all the maximum forward permutations. In this example, the natural number sequence {1,
The number sequence {3,1,5,2,6,7,4} made by rearranging 2,3,4,5,6,7} is handled.

(1) Sequence {3, 1, 5, 2, 6, 7,
4} (hereinafter, referred to as number sequence M), the natural number sequence equal to the number of terms is described vertically.

(2) Paying attention to the first term 1 in the natural number sequence, the term 2 located to the right of 1 in the sequence M 2,
4, 5, 6, and 7 are listed in the second column. Unlike the case of FIG. 7, the first column is maintained as it is.

(3) Paying attention to the second term 2 of the natural number sequence, in terms of the sequence M and the natural number sequence, the terms 4, 6 and 7 located to the right of 2 are assigned to the first and second columns. Fill in the 2nd and 3rd columns following 2 of the above.

(4) Paying attention to 3 which is the third term of the natural number sequence, in the sequence M and the natural number sequence, items 4, 5, 6, 7 which are located to the right of 3 are placed in the second column 3 Please fill in the following form.

(5) Pay attention to 4 which is the fourth term of the natural number sequence. In the sequence of numbers M and the sequence of natural numbers, there is no term located to the right of 4, so the figure is kept as it is.

(6) Pay attention to 5 which is the fifth term of the natural number sequence. 5 exists in the second row following 1 and the second row and the first row following 3. In the number sequence M and the natural number sequence, terms 6 and 7, which are located to the right of 5, are entered in the next columns following these 5.

(7) Pay attention to 6 which is the sixth term in the natural number sequence. In the number sequence M and the natural number sequence, 7 which is a term located to the right of 6 is entered in the next column.

(8) Paying attention to 7 which is the seventh term of the natural number sequence, there is no term positioned to the right of 7 in the number sequence M and the natural number sequence, so the figure is maintained as it is. From this figure, the maximum permutation is {1, 2, 6, 7} {1, 5,
6,7} {3,5,6,7}.

In the present embodiment, when a representative process permutation close to the standard process permutation is searched for, the natural number sequence may be replaced with the standard process permutation, and the sequence M may be replaced with the representative process permutation. That is, the number of terms in the maximum positive permutation of each representative process permutation is obtained by the above-described method, and the item having the largest number of terms can be selected as the process permutation similar to the standard process permutation.

Selection by group After the process permutation similar to the standard process permutation is selected as described above, the process permutation is further selected according to the degree to which the processes belonging to each group are grouped. For example, in the case of the process permutation shown in FIG. 6B, the permutation of the group code is “0-1-1-2-3-3”.
1 ”. The number of processes other than the code 1 between the processes having the group code of 1 is 2. For other group codes, there is only one step, so the number of steps is 0. For each group code, the sum of the number of steps in between is taken, and the one with the smallest number is selected as a candidate for the step permutation. As a result, the processes belonging to the same group are arranged in the vicinity on the production line.

Flowcharts FIGS. 9 to 11 are flowcharts relating to the creation of the process sequence according to the present embodiment. First, the process sequence created so far and a list of candidates for the next process (hereinafter,
Next candidate list) is received (S100). Specifically, the candidate for the next step is a step that is not immediately after the other step and a step that is not immediately after the other step, even if the step is immediately after the other step. The process has already been completed.

Then, loop 1 is started (S10).
2). In Loop 1, as a process following the permutation list received in step S100, a process of verifying whether the next received candidate list is appropriate is performed for each next candidate list. First, it is confirmed whether one of the next candidates satisfies the restriction of the basin code (S104). That is, if the relationship between the basin code of the next candidate handled this time and the state counter up to the previous time is the relationship shown by "x" in FIG. 5, it is determined that this next candidate is unsuitable, and the process returns to step S102. . When the restriction of the basin code is satisfied, it is determined whether the next candidate has a position restriction (S106), and when the position restriction is satisfied, it is determined whether the restriction is satisfied (S108). If it is judged that the position restriction is not satisfied, the order of the permutation under consideration of the current next candidate, that is, the sequence order of the processes on the line is upstream from the most downstream of the restriction position range of the next candidate subject to the position restriction. (S110). If this condition is not met, i.e. the next candidate position under consideration is upstream of the position currently under consideration, then this permutation list is already inadequate. Therefore,
In such a case, the loop 1 is exited, the permutation list and the next candidate list received immediately before the start of the loop 1 are erased, and the process ends (S132). On the other hand, step S1
If the condition 10 is satisfied, that is, if the original position of the next candidate under consideration is downstream from the position currently under consideration, the process proceeds to step S102 to end the examination of the next candidate, and The examination of the next candidate starts.

If it is determined in step S106 that the next candidate under consideration has no position restriction, or if it is determined in step S108 that the next candidate satisfies the position restriction, the process sequence currently under consideration. Is copied, and the next candidate under consideration is added to the end of this copy (S111). It is determined whether or not the number of steps in the step sequence to which this next candidate (hereinafter, referred to as additional candidate) is added is equal to the total number of steps (S11).
2) If they are equal, the process proceeds to step S114. Step S114 will be described later with reference to FIG. When it is determined in step S112 that the number of processes in the process sequence has not reached the total number of processes, it is determined whether the state counter needs to be increased (S116). This determination is made based on FIG. 5 from the relationship between the basin code of the next candidate under consideration and the value of the current state counter. For example, if the next candidate basin code currently under consideration is "T" and the value of the state counter is "1", the value of the state counter needs to be increased by one. If the state counter is to be incremented, the process proceeds to step S118, where the state counter is incremented by 1 and updated. When the processing of the state counter is completed in step S116 or S118, a copy of the next candidate list is made, and the next candidate added to the above-mentioned process sequence is removed from this copy (S120).

At step S111, the next candidate added is
It is determined whether there is an immediately following process (S122), and if there is an immediately following process, loop 2 is started (S124). In loop 2, the following process is performed for all immediately subsequent processes of the additional candidate. For one of the immediately subsequent processes of the additional next candidate, it is determined whether all the processes having this as the immediately following process are included in the process sequence under consideration (S).
126). If this condition is not satisfied, the immediately subsequent process cannot be selected as a process subsequent to the additional next candidate, so the process returns to step S124, and the next immediately subsequent process is examined. If the condition of step S126 is satisfied, it is added to the end of the next candidate list (S128), and loop 2
Exit through. Then, the process shown in this chart is called, and the next process is examined based on the changed process permutation and the next candidate list (S13).
0).

As described above, step S130 is a step having a hierarchical structure in which the process including itself is included. That is, the hierarchy deepens as the order of the process under consideration progresses. If the process of loop 1 is completed for one layer and there is no candidate to be the next process, the process of loop 1 is performed again in that layer by returning one layer. When the process of loop 1 is completed for one layer, the process sequence and the next candidate list received in step S100 are deleted for the layer (S132), and the process is terminated.

FIG. 11 shows a detailed flowchart of step S114 described above. Step S11
4, that is, the process shown in this flowchart is a process executed when one process sequence is completed. That is, it is performed when one branch of the tree as shown in FIG. 4 is completed. Then, for one completed process permutation, the permutation of the group representative code is compared with a predetermined standard process permutation to determine the similarity (S150). If the current process permutation is closer to the standard process permutation as compared with the process permutation calculated so far, the process permutation calculated up to now is deleted and the process permutation created this time is stored. (S152). On the other hand, when it is determined that the similarity with the standard process sequence is lower than before, the process sequence created this time is deleted (S154).
Furthermore, if the similarity with the standard process sequence is the same as before, it is evaluated whether the same group codes are arranged in a group as much as possible. This is also compared with the best process sequence until the last time (S15).
6). If the process sequence created this time has a better evaluation up to the previous time, the process proceeds to step S152, if the process sequence has a worse evaluation, the process proceeds to step S154, and if the same,
The process sequence created this time is stored together with the process sequence determined up to now (S158).

In this way, when one process sequence is created, comparison with the process sequence created up to the previous time is made, and processes closer to the standard process sequence and processes belonging to the same group are collected. Things are selected.

Summary of First Embodiment As described above, in this embodiment, since the process sequence similar to the standard process sequence is selected, the process sequence for each product is also similar. Therefore, even if products with different specifications flow through the production line, there is no need to significantly change the design and process organization of the production line. Also, since the process sequence in which the processes belonging to a certain group are arranged as close to each other as possible is selected, collective work is performed for each group, and functional tests and quality confirmations for each group can be easily performed. .

Second Embodiment FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. The case of creating the process sequence for one product has been described in the case of the first embodiment, but the present embodiment relates to a production line for producing a plurality of products.

Selection of process sequence of the same production line In this embodiment, the process sequence selection unit 16 selects a process sequence similar to one or a plurality of standard process sequences for each of a plurality of products. The first step is to select the process sequence for each product.
This is exactly the same as the embodiment of. In the present embodiment, since a plurality of products are produced on one production line, if the process sequence for each of these products is determined without any relation, the process sequence may vary for each product. That is, if the product is different, the process at a certain position on the production line may be different, and the workability may be deteriorated. Of course, since the process sequence of any product is similar to the standard process sequence, there is similarity in that range. However, since the standard process permutation defines the permutation of only the group representative process, there may be a considerable difference in the processes other than the representative process. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the process sequence determining unit 18 is provided so that a plurality of products produced on the same production line have similar process sequences. This will be described below.

The process permutation determining unit 18 has a reference process permutation determining unit 20 for determining a reference process permutation (hereinafter referred to as a reference process permutation) for one production line.
The standard process permutation determination unit 20 selects one of the standard product selection unit 24 that selects the product most frequently produced on the production line and the process sequence of the standard product based on the production plan data 22 on the production line. Has a reference process permutation selection unit 26 for selecting as the reference process permutation. The reference process permutation selecting unit 26 defines the reference product permutation as the reference process permutation if the number of created process permutations is one for the reference product, and determines the first created process permutation as the reference process permutation if there are a plurality of process permutations. Further, the process sequence (hereinafter referred to as the dependent process sequence) of products other than the reference product (hereinafter referred to as the dependent product) is determined by the dependent process sequence selection unit 28. In determining the dependent process sequence, the process sequence most similar to the reference process sequence is selected among the process sequences of the same product, and this selection is the same as the method of selecting the process sequence most similar to the standard process sequence described above. The method of can be adopted. That is, a permutation having the maximum number of terms in the permutation whose order matches the reference process permutation is selected. This is the same as the above method of finding the maximum forward permutation,
The natural sequence may be replaced with the reference process sequence, and the sequence M may be replaced with the process sequence of the dependent product.

Unification of process sequence on the same production line In this way, one process sequence is determined for each product produced on one production line. These process permutations are very similar but not exactly the same. FIG.
(A) shows an example of the process sequence for each product,
There are differences between these. Process sequence unification unit 30
Unify these slightly different process permutations. In the process permutation unifying unit 30, as compared with the process in the process permutation of two products, a process that is not in the above-described maximum forward permutation and a process that is not in the product in another product are regarded as virtual processes in this order. The process sequence is unified as if there are processes. Virtual processes are inserted by comparing the processes in order from the top.

A specific description will be given with reference to FIGS. 13 (a) and 13 (b). First, the process sequence of the reference product and the process sequence of the first dependent product are compared. First, the maximum forward permutation of each process permutation of the reference product and the first dependent product is obtained. The method of obtaining the maximum positive permutation is as described above, and in this case, the process permutation of the reference product is treated as the above natural number sequence. In the example of FIG. 13A, the maximum permutation is K01−.
K13-K04 ... and the process violating this is K2.
It is 2. Therefore, the process K22 is handled as a virtual process. That is, step K01 and step K13
Step K22-1 is inserted between steps K13 and K04
Step K22-2 is inserted between the two. For standard products,
The process K22-1 is a process that does not actually exist, that is, a virtual process, and the process K22-2 is a virtual process in the first dependent product. The process sequence determined so far is K0
1-K22-1-K13-K22-2-K04 ...

Next, the above-mentioned process sequence K01-K22-1- determined based on the process sequence of the reference product and the first dependent product.
The process permutations of the second subordinate products are compared with K13-K22-2-K04 ... Actually, the process K2 in which the virtual process is set
Two permutations of two different positions, K01-K22 (-1)-
K13-K04 ... and K01-K13-K22 (-2) -K0
4 ... and the process permutation of the second dependent product are compared, and the permutation becomes larger, in this case, permutation K01-K22.
(-1) -K13-K04 ... Is selected. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13B, in the second dependent product, the process K
22-1 is a process that actually exists, and process K22-2 is a virtual process. Further, a process that violates the process permutation K01-K22-1-K13-K04 ... Selected as described above and the maximum forward permutation of the second dependent product is extracted. In this case, steps K04 and 05 correspond to this. These two steps K04 and K05 are created in the unified permutation shown in FIG. Then, in the second dependent product, the process K0
4 is treated as a virtual process, and the process K05 is treated as a virtual process in the standard product and the first dependent product.
As described above, it is possible to unify the process sequence of the same production line by inserting a process that is present in another product but not present in the product as a virtual process.

[0079] - the task orchestration Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to decompose step further some work, providing the task orchestration unit 32 allocates this to the actual production line. Work formation unit 32
Then, the process permutation unifying unit 30 inserts a virtual process and performs processing on the unified process permutation, thereby simplifying the calculation.

In the work analysis unit 34, the process is divided into a plurality of work elements as shown in FIG.
Working time is calculated for each product. The average work time calculation unit 36 reads out the information on the number of products produced for each product from the production plan data 22, and calculates the weighted average of the work time for each work element according to the number of produced products. Then, the work assignment unit 38 sequentially assigns the work in charge of one worker from the upstream side of the line.

.. Work assignment Work assignment is such that the maximum net work time TW is for one person's work.
As a general rule, the minimum net work time TB or more is not exceeded. Here, the net work time is the tact time T excluding the accompanying work time for carrying the parts to be attached or changing the tool, and this depends on the contents of the work. Therefore, work allocation is performed within a predetermined range as described above.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart regarding work allocation. First, one worker or 1
The maximum net work time TW and the minimum net work time TB of the work performed by the group (hereinafter, simply referred to as a worker) are set (S200). Next, it is determined whether there is an unallocated process (S202), and if there is no unallocated process, the work allocation process ends. If there is an unallocated process, the information of the process P at the front and the information of the worker j at the front are read out (S204). The information on the frontmost process P is the working time of this process P. The information of the frontmost worker j is the work time assigned to this worker so far, and this work time is 0 for a worker to whom no process has been assigned yet. Further, it is judged whether or not one or more processes are allocated to the worker j (S206), and if the processes are allocated, it is determined whether the same worker can successively perform the process P and the process before this. (S208). If continuous work is not possible, allocation to worker j is completed (S
210) and moves to step S202. Step S2
When it is determined in step 06 that the process has not been assigned to the worker j, and when it is determined in step S208 that the same worker as the previous process can work, the process P is assigned to the worker j. Is set to the relevant working time Tj (S214).

This work time Tj and the maximum net work time TW
Is compared (S216), and if the work time Tj is less than or equal to the maximum net work time TW, the process P is assigned to the worker j (S218). Then, it is judged whether or not there is a process next to the process P (S220), and if there is not, a step S21 is performed.
The processing shifts to 0 and the allocation to the worker j is completed. If there is a process next to the process P in step S220, this next process is set as a new process P (S222),
The process moves to step S208.

In step S216, if the work time Tj exceeds the maximum net work time TW, the work time W of the process P
Is read (S224), and the difference between the work time Tj of the worker j and the work time W of the process P and the minimum net work time TB are compared. Difference between these two working times (Tj-W)
Is the working time of this worker j before allocating the process P, so if this is less than TB, the working time of this worker j will be shorter than the reference. In order to eliminate this waste, the process P is divided and divisional allocation is performed in which only some of the work elements are allocated to the worker j (S228). This divisional allocation will be described later. If the difference (Tj-W) between the two work times exceeds TB in step S226, the work time W of the process P and the maximum net work time TW are further calculated.
Are compared (S230). If the work time W of the process P is longer, the process P is not originally assigned to one worker. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S228, and the division allocation is examined. If the working time W of the process P is not longer, the process proceeds to step S210, the process P is not allocated to the worker j, and the allocation to the worker j is completed.

Division allocation The division allocation in step S228 of the flowchart of FIG. 15 will be described below. As described above, the divisional allocation is performed when the work time W of one process P is longer than the maximum net work time TW or when the work time of the worker j who intends to allocate the process P is the minimum net work time TB. It is done when it is shorter.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart regarding division allocation. First, the information of the unallocated frontmost work element p is read (S250). The work time Tj of the worker j when the work element p is assigned to the worker j is calculated (S252). This work time Tj is compared with the maximum net work time TW (S254), and the work time Tj
If is shorter, the work element p is assigned to the worker j (S256). The work element next to the process P is set as a new work element p (step S258), and the process proceeds to step S252. If the work time Tj exceeds the maximum net work time TW in step S254, the subsequent work element p is left in the process P (S260), and the divisional allocation is terminated.

-Summary of Second Embodiment As described above, in this embodiment, a process sequence similar to the standard process sequence is selected, and a similar process sequence is set between products produced on the same production line. We have selected. As a result, even in a mixing line where a plurality of types of products are produced, even if the types of products change, the work content of each individual worker does not change so much and the burden on the worker is reduced. Further, even when the production line of a certain product is changed, it is not necessary to make a great change in the design of the line.

Further, since the process permutation in which the processes belonging to a certain group are arranged as close as possible is selected, collective work is performed for each group, and it is easy to perform a functional test and quality confirmation for each group. You can

Further, by providing the virtual process, the process sequence of each product can be unified in the processing even in the mixing line, and the burden of work organization and the like can be reduced.

Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment will be described. In this embodiment,
The above embodiment is applied to an automobile assembly line. An automobile assembly line is one in which parts are sequentially assembled to a vehicle body to produce an automobile, and the order of assembly of parts and the position of assembly work are important.
That is, there are parts that cannot be assembled unless after a certain part, or parts that cannot be assembled only at a specific position on the assembly line. Therefore, the “process” in the above-described embodiment is a component assembling process in the present embodiment, and will be simply referred to as “component” in the following description. Further, the “product” in the above-described embodiment corresponds to the “vehicle type” indicating the vehicle type, specifications, etc. in the present embodiment.

17 to 19 are block diagrams showing the configuration of this embodiment.

FIG. 17 shows the configuration related to the processing up to the creation of the parts permutation. The parts information file stores parts data for each vehicle model. The part data is
For example, as in the case of FIG. 3 in the first embodiment, it includes data for identifying a part and data regarding conditions for determining the permutation of the part. FIG. 3 in the first embodiment
In the process of FIG. 3, the product number and product name of the present embodiment, the basin code of TCF classification, the group representative code of sub-group (sub-Gr) representative parts,
A subgroup (subgr) number corresponds to the group code. The TCF classification is data indicating which of the upper, middle, and lower basins of the assembly line the part belongs to. More specifically, the T section indicates front rigging, in which work is performed on parts that are mounted relatively deep inside the vehicle interior. Section C indicates the middle basin, where work is performed on parts such as suspensions that suspend the vehicle body and attach it from below. Section F indicates the rear basin, where work is done on visible parts inside and outside the room, such as seats. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, there are a G section and an X section, and the G section extends over the T section and the F section in the basin. Here, small objects such as interior lights are attached, and the X section is There is no particular restriction on the basin.

A subgroup is one function of a car, which is a product, such as running, turning, stopping, etc.
The parts related to this function are summarized for each of about 00 kinds of functions. If the work is performed collectively for each subgroup, the quality inspection for each function can be performed at or near the location, and the inspection result can be quickly fed back to the work. Further, as a result, it is possible to prevent the inspection from concentrating on a certain position of the assembly line. Further, it becomes easier for the worker to understand the meaning of his / her work, and it becomes more rewarding and attains a sense of accomplishment rather than repeating mechanical and inorganic work. One representative component is defined for each of the sub-groups, and, for example, a component such as a seat, a bumper, and a tire that has the center of its function is selected as the representative component.

Then, the parts precedence order indicating the context of the parts assembling is input. The parts precedence order is once input in the form of the parts precedence order diagram 52. Then, it is converted to the data of the succeeding part immediately after it is a part that can be assembled only after the part is assembled and there is no need to install another part between the part and the subsequent part. It In addition, for a part that needs to be assembled at a specific position on the assembly line, a position restriction file 56 that defines the position restriction is created.

Then, as in the above embodiment, the TCF
Parts permutation candidates are calculated based on conditions such as division, sub-Gr, and position restriction. Further, among the vehicle models produced on the same assembly line, one having a predetermined condition, for example, a large number of vehicles produced, is defined as a reference vehicle model. When a plurality of vehicle part permutation candidates are calculated, one is determined under a predetermined condition. For vehicle types other than the reference vehicle type, the calculated plurality of parts permutations are candidates, and the parts permutation candidate file 58 is created together with the parts permutation of the reference vehicle type.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing the structure of a process for creating the parts permutation candidates and for unifying the parts permutation of the vehicle models produced on the same assembly line.
With respect to vehicle types other than the reference vehicle type of the parts permutation item file 58, the one closest to the parts permutation of the reference vehicle type among the plurality of parts permutations is determined as the parts permutation of the vehicle type, and the selected vehicle type file 60 is created. In this selection, as in the above-described embodiment, the one having the maximum number of terms in the permutation in the same order as the permutation of the parts of the reference vehicle type is selected. Then, a parts permutation file 62 in which one part permutation is described for a vehicle model manufactured on one assembly line is created. The parts permutation for each vehicle model is unified by inserting virtual parts in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment, and the vehicle model unified parts file 64 is created. In the figure, the parts with hatched circles are the parts that are actually assembled, and the parts with white circles are inserted to unify the parts permutation, and are actually assembled. Shows a virtual part without.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the construction of a process for dividing work on the assembly line based on the unified parts permutation. Disassemble each part mounting process of the unified part sequence into more detailed work elements. For example, in the process of assembling the electric seat, the work elements include the work of aligning the electric seat at a predetermined mounting position, the work of tightening the bolt, the work of connecting the coupler of the harness, and the like. Further, the work of tightening the bolts may become a work element for each one, and
The parts assembled with the book bolts will have four working elements just by tightening the bolts.

Further, the work time of the work element is written for each vehicle type, and the unified work element permutation file 66 is created for each vehicle type. The production number of each vehicle type in this file is input to create a vehicle type production number file 68. From these unified work element permutation file 66 and vehicle model production quantity file 68, the weighted average of the work time of each work element is calculated.
Then, the work delimiter file 70 is created by sequentially allocating each work element to a work group in which a worker or a plurality of people work together in order from the top of the permutation. This allocation is performed in the same manner as the work allocation of the second embodiment. Finally, the work position of each worker on the assembly line is determined, and the placement file 72 is created.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a precedence order between steps.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a format of process data.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of calculation of a process sequence.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing restrictions by basin data.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of restrictions by a group representative code.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram regarding a method of finding one of the maximum regular permutations.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram related to a method of finding all maximum permutations.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing of the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing of the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a configuration block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram related to a method of unifying process sequence.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram related to calculation of work time for each work element.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart relating to work allocation processing.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart relating to work allocation processing.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a flow of processing according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing the flow of processing according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the flow of processing according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 process data storage unit, 12 standard process sequence storage unit,
14 process permutation creating unit, 16 process permutation selecting unit, 18
Process sequence determination unit, 30 process sequence unification unit, 32 work organization unit.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-5-123945 (JP, A) JP-A-9-62742 (JP, A) JP-A-6-206151 (JP, A) JP-A-4- 205062 (JP, A) JP 7-160779 (JP, A) JP 8-6629 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G05B 19/418 B62D 65 / 00 G06F 17/60

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A production line knitting method for creating a process sequence, which is an order in which a process is arranged, in a production line for manufacturing a product through a plurality of processes for performing a predetermined operation, wherein the process includes a plurality of products. For each function
Processes are grouped and the group
One of the steps belonging to the flop are selected representative process, one of the representative process permutations indicating the order before Kiyo table process,
Common in organizing production lines for multiple types of products
Defined as a standard step permutation used, selects the closest step permutation to the standard step permutation as a step permutation of each product to be produced, further steps belonging to the same group is the production line on
A method for organizing a production line , which selects a process sequence to be worked closer to . 2. The production line knitting method according to claim 1, wherein process data in which the attributes of the process are described is created in advance for each process, and the process data includes the post-operation of the process. If there is a succeeding process that cannot be performed unless it is a succeeding process, the immediately following succeeding process data that is a succeeding process excluding those that need to perform the work of another succeeding process is included, A production line knitting method in which process knitting is performed based on the immediately following process data. 3. A knitting method of a production line according to claim 1 or 2, if the process permutations of each of the products is more selected, and optionally the reference step permutation one step permutation of one product For the process sequence of other products, select one that is closest to the reference process sequence, and the process that does not exist in the corresponding position of the process sequence of one product but exists in the corresponding position of the process sequence of another product. Is interrupted as a virtual process at a corresponding position of the one process sequence, and the process sequence of each product is unified, and a production line knitting method. 4. A production line knitting device for producing a process sequence, which is an arrangement sequence of processes, in a production line for producing a product through a plurality of steps for performing a predetermined work, and producing the product for each product. a process data storage unit for storing a list of steps necessary to have further products
For each of the multiple functions of
Group information and the relevant group for each group
Information on the representative process selected from the processes belonging to
The process data storage unit for storing the group data including the process and the process stored in the process data storage unit are arranged to be the same.
Processes belonging to one group are closer to each other on the production line
A step permutation creation unit that creates a process permutations that are working in, one of the representative process permutations indicating the order before Kiyo table process,
Common in organizing production lines for multiple types of products
And the standard step permutation storage unit for storing a standard step permutation used, organizing unit production line with the steps permutation selector which selects the closest match to the standard step permutation from the created process permutations. 5. The production line knitting apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein in the process data storage unit, among the subsequent processes which are processes that can be performed only after the process is performed, the subsequent process is performed. Before the work of the process, immediately subsequent process data that is a subsequent process excluding the need to perform the work of other subsequent processes is included, and the process sequence creation unit creates a process sequence based on the immediately following subsequent component data. A production line knitting device to be created. 6. The production line knitting apparatus according to claim 4 or 5 , wherein the process data storage section indicates a process and a position on the production line that is preferable for performing the work of the process. A production line organization device that includes data, wherein the process sequence creation unit creates a process sequence based on the production line basin data. 7. The production line knitting apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6 , wherein the process data storage unit stores a position on the production line for performing a work of the process with respect to a predetermined process. A production line knitting device that includes limited position restriction data, and the process sequence creating unit creates a process sequence based on the position restriction data.