JP5772041B2 - Production line management system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a management technique for smoothly operating a production line.

  The production line of the manufacturing factory sequentially processes the input object using various manufacturing machines in each manufacturing process. When classifying the types of general forms of production lines, the division type that flows objects discontinuously to various independent manufacturing machines, or the objects are continuously flowed by connecting the manufacturing machines, and the objects are conveyed There are a continuous type that has a transport unit, a storage unit for temporarily storing an object, an inspection unit for performing a performance inspection of the object, and a mixed type in which the divided type and the continuous type are mixed. is there. If the manufacturing machines and conveyors that make up the production line are collectively referred to as process units, any type of production line is a collection of multiple process units arranged in an appropriate order. And can share a method for managing the progress of the entire production line.

  For example, in a production line for producing a color filter for color separation on a substrate by a photolithography method, production including at least a process unit of each process of applying a photosensitive resin containing a color pigment, drying, pattern exposure, and development. Configure the line. When a trouble occurs in a specific process unit, an operator who is in the vicinity of the production line and recognizes the abnormality by informing the surroundings of the abnormality by flashing an indicator light or an alarm sound attached to the relevant process unit However, necessary measures have been taken from time to time, including recovery from trouble.

  When mass production of the above production line is progressing and long line operation is required with efficient staffing, troubles of each process unit etc. even when the operator is away from the production line There is a growing need to quickly grasp the operating state including abnormal situations. In addition, in order for the process manager to easily grasp the operation results of the entire production line, it has become necessary to grasp remote information on the operation state as accumulated data.

  In response to the above request, as shown in Patent Document 1, the operating state of the production line is monitored through a network, and when troubles such as failure or stop occur, e-mail to the operator or management to the process manager A management system that notifies users through the display screen of a personal computer has been proposed, enabling early detection of abnormalities in production lines and quick recovery measures. In addition, the proposal is a management system that can flow various management information including the notice information of out of parts, and can minimize the influence of trouble.

  On the other hand, even if the notification of the operating state to the related parties such as the operator and the process manager is improved as described above, depending on the type of the process unit, the degree of influence on the processes before and after the process unit in which the trouble has occurred, It is also necessary for the operator to judge each time and to give instructions to other process units. For example, in a production line for the color filter by a photolithography method, a developing machine may stop unintentionally. If the stop time is long, the object to be waited after completing pattern exposure in the previous process may be forced to wait for a long time, and it depends on the characteristics of the coated photosensitive material. An object waiting for development that has passed for a long time deviates from the optimum setting in the normal state of exposure / development conditions, which may adversely affect the pattern shape quality after development. Therefore, the developer operator strives to recover from the trouble of the developer in charge, and at the same time, accurately informs the operator of the exposure machine that there is a possibility that a defective product will occur due to a long development wait. Depending on the progress of the line, it is required to make a request such as temporarily stopping the operation of the exposure apparatus or to leave the judgment.

Japanese Patent No. 4219145

  Monitoring through the production line network and e-mail delivery, etc. has made it possible to smoothly manage the production line remotely by devising a management system, but depending on the content of the production line and the location of the trouble, The inconvenience described in the above occurs. In other words, when the influence on the quality is finally suspected due to the relationship between the process unit that caused the trouble and the processes before and after that, not only the physical possibility but also the quality of the progress other than the trouble occurrence process. Since it is necessary to ask the parties concerned to make complex judgments that take into account the progress of the entire production line involved, accurate notification as a system cannot be guaranteed, which may hinder stable and efficient production.

  The present invention is proposed in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the problem to be solved by the present invention is to monitor the operation state of the production line and detect the occurrence of trouble when the entire production line is detected. It is to provide a production line management system that clarifies the degree of influence on progress and notifies relevant parties.

As a means for solving the above problems, the invention according to claim 1, a plurality of step units that constitute the production line, and means for monitoring the operating status of the process unit, the operating state to the participant A production line management system having a means for notifying and a means for managing a production schedule, and when a trouble occurrence is detected in the process unit, the trouble occurrence is notified to a related party including the specific process unit. and, trouble extracting the plans to introduce the production object from the production schedule of the unit as factory other than the process unit that have occurred, be notified that if there are no immediate plans to introduce, is independent of the trouble that the notification Turkey Is a production line management system characterized by

  Since the present invention provides a production line management system that determines the degree of influence on other process units other than the troubled process unit by obtaining information related to the production schedule and notifies the related parties. This makes it possible to clarify the degree of influence on the progress of the entire production line when trouble occurs in this process unit, minimize losses, and contribute to efficient production.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the production line management system of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the production line management system containing the conventional monitoring mechanism. It is a flowchart which shows the notification method at the time of trouble occurrence in this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the operation | use monitoring server in this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a production line management system according to the present invention. The block of the production line 1 surrounded by a broken line includes a plurality of elements of process unit (1) 11, process unit (2) 12,... Process unit (n) 1n, and an operator for process management. In general, a computer (A) 1A using a personal computer is connected to each other and to other blocks through a network 4 such as a LAN (Local Area Network). The block of the control room 2 surrounded by another broken line includes the computer (B) 2B used mainly by the process manager to perform totalization and overall management of the system, and includes the server room 3 surrounded by the third broken line. The block includes an operation monitoring server 31 that monitors the operation state of each process unit and a production schedule management server 32 that stores information related to the production schedule, and is connected by the network 4. The network 4 is not limited to a LAN, and various lines including a public line can be used, and the connected elements can communicate with each other.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a production line management system including a conventional monitoring mechanism. The device manager manages the production line through the monitoring server. Arrows connecting the blocks represent the following exchanges between the blocks. The device administrator issues a monitoring result browsing request and various requests based on the monitoring result to the monitoring server, and receives a monitoring result notification from the monitoring server. In addition, while monitoring the production line from the monitoring server and transmitting various requests entrusted by the system administrator to the production line, the monitoring server receives status reports from the production line and stores them. Can do.

  The present invention is a further development of the production line management system including the above conventional monitoring mechanism, and uses the exchange of information with the production schedule management server 32 as shown in FIG. The situation in which this system is operated will be described in more detail with the operation monitoring server as a main component. FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the operation monitoring server 31 in the present invention.

  The operation monitoring server 31 includes a Web server, monitoring software, and a database. The monitoring software can monitor the operating status of each process unit in the production line 1, store the monitoring result in a database, and notify the computer (B) as necessary. When the computer (B) issues a monitoring result browsing request to the Web server, the monitoring result stored in the database is referred to by the Web server, and the monitoring result can be browsed on the computer (B).

  In addition, as a method for monitoring the operation status of the process unit, a method for confirming the operation status of the process unit by directly detecting power for moving each process unit is possible. Various methods such as a method for detecting the image by various sensors and a method for capturing and analyzing a motion image by a camera are possible and are not limited.

  On the other hand, the monitoring software can communicate with a separately provided production schedule management server 32, and requests various information related to the production schedule, for example, schedule and / or actual information on the time when the production target is put into each process unit. Can be pulled out. In accordance with the flow of trouble that will be described later, the monitoring software confirms the production schedule and determines the influence level, and sends the operation results corrected when the original schedule of the process unit is changed to the production schedule management server 32. Can be accumulated.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a notification method when trouble occurs in the present invention.
The operation monitoring server 31 continuously outputs a signal for maintaining the monitoring state during operation of the production line (S1), and whether any trouble occurs from any of the process units 11, 12,. Are repeatedly checked (H1). When a signal suggesting that a trouble has occurred is detected from any of the process units, the relevant party is notified (S2). In this case,
It is not necessary to be the same as the notification destination after the influence degree determination described later is added, but it may be the same, and notifications to the screens of the computers 1A and 2B, e-mails to related parties, and specific process units It can be appropriately selected according to the circumstances of the production line, such as a display body.

  Next, it communicates with the production schedule management server 32 through the above-mentioned monitoring software, and requests various information related to the production schedule, for example, information on the schedule and / or actual results of the input time of the production object to each process unit. At the same time, necessary information is extracted regarding the input schedule of an object that is scheduled to flow through a process that may affect the process of the process unit where the trouble has occurred (S3).

  Next, based on necessary information extracted from various information related to the production schedule, the monitoring software can determine the degree of influence of the related process of the process unit in which the trouble has occurred (H2). For example, in a production line that manufactures color filters by a photolithography method, when a developing machine that is a process unit of a development process stops due to a trouble, in the division type production line, the process units of other processes other than the development process are Usually it continues to operate as initially planned. However, as described above, an object waiting for completion of pattern exposure to be in a waiting state for a long time of development is adversely affected in maintaining the quality of the product and should be avoided. Accordingly, when the introduction of the object into the exposure machine, which is the process unit of the exposure process related to the development process, has already started or is about to be scheduled, the contents affected by the trouble of the development machine are confirmed (S4). At the same time, the process name and product lot number are notified to the related parties (S5).

  The series of judgments and processes of H2, S4, and S5 can be performed mainly by the monitoring software by inputting items that are judgment criteria and processing standards into the monitoring software in advance. It is not limited to this. For example, it is also possible to send the trouble information of the process unit directly from the operation monitoring server 31 to the production schedule management server 32 and perform a series of judgments and processes of H2, S4 and S5 in the production schedule management server 32. is there.

  In addition, when the type of the production line is the continuous type, if a trouble occurs in a later process and the corresponding process unit stops, it is usually performed to automatically stop the previous process. For this reason, it is generally possible to avoid producing many products that cause the above-described poor quality without using the system of the present invention. Nevertheless, the function of confirming and notifying the effect of trouble is practical and useful.

  In FIG. 3, when there is no trouble, the check (H1) for that time is completed, operation confirmation (S1) is performed again at an appropriate interval, and the above flow is repeated. Even if trouble occurs, it is not a case that is not a case that causes defective quality in relation to the preceding and following processes, and even if it is a trouble in the development process mentioned in the above example, production As a result of the schedule confirmation (S3), when there is no immediate introduction schedule to the exposure machine that is the process unit of the related exposure process, the determination of the influence degree (H2) of the related process is notified at least first as a negative result. (S2) The related party is notified that it is irrelevant (S6).

  As described above, the notification method at the time of trouble occurrence in the present invention described based on the flow chart can notify the related party of the influence degree of the trouble, but in order to exert the effect of the notification, It is essential that groups and process units take appropriate action. That is, the person who received the notification directly stops the movement of the specific process, checks the recovery timing and restarts, or a specific person or a plurality of persons in the group who received the notification cooperate to The process unit that received the notification signal can automatically control the subsequent movement according to the program embedded in the process, or the person and the process unit can share it. It is possible to move.

  Therefore, the notification to the related party in the present invention is mainly to notify the person finally by the above-mentioned notification on the computer screen, the e-mail to the related person, the display body of the specific process unit, or the like. However, it is also possible to assume automatic control by signal input to the operation program of the process unit.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Production line 2 ... Management room 3 ... Server room 4 ... Network 11 ... Process unit (1)
12 ... Process unit (2)
1n ... Process unit (n)
1A computer (A)
2B ... Computer (B)
31 ... Operation monitoring server 32 ... Production schedule management server

Claims (1)

A plurality of process units constituting a production line;
And means for monitoring the operating status of the process unit,
Means for notifying the concerned party of the operating state ;
A means of managing production schedules;
A production line management system comprising:
If it detects the occurrence of trouble in the process unit, was notified of the trouble in the relationship destination included a specific process unit, plans to introduce the production object from the production schedule of the unit as factory other than the process unit in trouble to extract, if there are no immediate plans to introduce the production line management system for the notification to feature a Turkey that is independent of the trouble was the notification.

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