JP7531335B2 - Work process management system - Google Patents

Description

This application relates to a work process management system.

To manage the manufacturing process of parts, a method is known that uses IC tags consisting of IC (Integrated Circuit) chips that have specific information about the product to be assembled and specific information about the parts to be assembled. When assembling parts into products, the manufacturing process is managed based on this information, but in some cases, in order to prevent manufacturing errors, multiple IC tags are attached to the assembly points of the parts, and they communicate with a server that stores the manufacturing process for the parts, making it possible to determine whether the parts to be assembled are appropriate, whether the assembly position is appropriate, or whether work such as welding is appropriate (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-310614 A

In Patent Document 1, an IC tag containing part-specific information is attached to each part, and once the assembly of the part is complete, the part must be removed and replaced with a different part. In addition, it was necessary to rewrite the part-specific information to match the part.

This application discloses technology to solve the problems described above, and aims to provide a work process management system that can assist workers in performing appropriate work in each process and accurately manage work processes such as manufacturing processes, without the need to attach IC tags to each part.

The work process management system disclosed in the present application comprises a work support system, an RFID system having an RFID reader installed at each work process and an RFID control unit that cooperates with the work support system based on a signal received by the RFID reader, and is a work process management system that manages work processes in which parts to be worked on that are mounted on a slide base are sequentially sent to the work processes, the slide base has an RFID tag, and the slide base is sequentially sent to the work processes by a roller conveyor, the RFID reader is installed on the roller conveyor at each of the work processes, the parts mounted on the slide base are assigned a serial number, and the work support system comprises a terminal installed at each work process and a terminal installed in the same work process as the RFID reader. and a work support database having data linking an ID and an RFID reader ID and a work master table corresponding to the serial number, wherein in a first work process, the ID of the RFID reader and the ID of the slide base read by the RFID reader are linked and input into the work support database, and the serial number is input into the work support database, linking the ID of the slide base and the serial number, and a work master table corresponding to the serial number is displayed on the terminal installed in the first work process, and when the work of the displayed work master table is completed, a completion signal is input from the terminal and is reflected in the work master table and stored in the work support database.

The work process management system disclosed in this application supports workers to perform appropriate work in each process without the need to attach IC tags for each task, making it possible to accurately manage work processes such as manufacturing processes.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a work process management system according to a first embodiment; 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of hardware of a work process management system according to a first embodiment; 1 is a diagram for explaining a flow of a work process using a work process management system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an execution state of a work process using the work process management system according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in a work support system database according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in a work support system database according to the first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a work process stored in a work support system database and displayed on a work terminal of a work process management system in accordance with embodiment 1; FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the work process management system according to the first embodiment.

Below, an embodiment of the work process management system disclosed in this application will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the same reference numerals in each drawing indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Embodiment 1.
The work process management system according to the first embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a work process management system according to the first embodiment. In the figure, the work process management system 10 includes a work support system 100 and an RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) system 200. The work support system 100 includes a work support system database (referred to as DB) 101 that stores data such as information on the work content performed by a worker in each work process, and a work support system terminal 102 on which the data is displayed. The RFID system 200 includes an RFID reader 201 that is arranged in each work process and reads information from an RFID tag, and an RFID control unit 210 that cooperates with the work support system 100 based on the data received by the RFID reader 201. The RFID control unit 210 includes a receiving unit 211 that receives the data received by the RFID reader 201, an input/output determination unit 212, a linking unit 213, and a work instruction unit 214.

The work process control system 10 is configured from a processor 1000 and a storage device 2000, as shown in FIG. 2, which is an example of hardware. Although the storage device is not shown, it is equipped with a volatile storage device such as a random access memory and a non-volatile auxiliary storage device such as a flash memory. Also, instead of the flash memory, an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk may be provided. The processor 1000 executes a program input from the storage device 2000. In this case, the program is input from the auxiliary storage device to the processor 1000 via the volatile storage device. Also, the processor 1000 may output data such as the results of calculations to the volatile storage device of the storage device 2000, or may store the data in the auxiliary storage device via the volatile storage device.
Each of the work support system 100 and the RFID system 200 of the work process management system 10 may have the configuration shown in FIG.

Next, the flow of a work process using the work process management system 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.
Fig. 3 shows an overview of the entire process from the start of work to the manufacture of a product 20, and Fig. 4 shows a part of the work process in between. In the figure, an RFID system 200, a work support system DB 101, and an access point 12 are connected via a network 11. A work support system terminal 102 is placed near a worker in a certain work process, and necessary data can be input and output between the work support system DB 101 and the terminal 102 via the access point 12. A member 20a for the product 20 is placed on a slide base 40 on which an RFID tag 30 is attached, and the slide base 40 moves on a roller conveyor 50, whereby a predetermined work is performed in each work process to manufacture a part or product 20.

In each work process, an RFID reader 201 is placed close to the roller conveyor 50 and reads the RFID tag 30 of the slide base 40 that has arrived. The RFID reader 201 constantly emits reading radio waves at regular intervals, and the reading results are sent to the RFID system 200 via the network 11. Here, the interval between the reading radio waves of the RFID reader 201 may be in the range of 100 msec to several hundreds of msec, for example, 100 msec. Depending on the state of the reading radio waves, the RFID tag 30 may be read even if the slide base 40 has not arrived at the specified work process. In order to avoid such erroneous reception, the data read by the RFID reader 201 is received by the receiver 211 of the RFID system 200, and if the condition is met, such as receiving information on the same slide base 40 continuously for a certain period of time, the input/output determination unit 212 determines that the data is "input". Here, the certain period of time is about several hundreds of msec, and is set to a time longer than the interval between read radio waves of the RFID reader 201 described above. If the interval between read radio waves of the RFID reader 201 is 100 msec, the read time may be, for example, 400 msec.

On the other hand, even after being judged as "input", the RFID reader 201 continues to emit reading radio waves to read the RFID tag 30, but if it cannot receive the reading radio waves continuously for a predetermined time, the input/output judgment unit 212 judges it as "output". In other words, if reading is performed under a condition where the reading radio waves are unstable, no information is transmitted to the work support system 100 regarding the work of the corresponding slide base 40. The predetermined time here is longer than the time judged as "input", and is about several thousand msec, for example, 2000 msec.
As shown in the figure, for example, the RFID tag 30 is installed under the slide base 40 , and the RFID reader 201 is installed on the roller conveyor 50 .

In the first work process, which marks the start of the work, the serial number attached to the member 20a is first linked to the RFID tag 30 of the slide base 40 on which the member 20a is mounted. Specifically, if the member 20a has a serial number attached thereto by a barcode or the like, that information is input from the terminal 102, the base ID of the slide base 40 is read from the RFID tag 30 of the slide base 40, and the base ID and serial number are linked and stored in the work support system DB 101.

5 and 6 are diagrams showing examples of data stored in the work support system DB 101. For example, as shown by the dashed frame in Fig. 5, it can be seen that a member 20a for a product 20 with serial number MA270 is linked (mounted) to a slide base 40 with a base ID AB01015, and the slide base 40 with a base ID AB01015 is in a first work process with an RFID antenna number AN008020. The RFID antenna number corresponds to the ID of an RFID reader.
6, the terminal 102 installed in each work process and the RFID antenna number of the RFID reader 201 are linked in advance and stored. As shown by the dashed frame in the figure, for example, it can be seen that the RFID antenna number AN008020 of the RFID reader 201 installed in the first work process is linked to the terminal ID, TB00102, of the terminal 102 installed therein.
When the slide base 40 moves, it is linked to the RFID antenna number installed in the new work process in FIG.

The work support system DB 101 has a work master table that describes work processes for each product specification of a serial number. When the work support system 100 detects that the member 20a for the product 20 with serial number MA270 has arrived at the slide base 40 with base ID AB01015 at the first work process by the RFID antenna number AN008020 of the RFID reader 201 installed at the first work process, the work support system 100 transmits the work master table of the product specifications of the product with serial number MA270 to the terminal 102 with the terminal ID TB00102 linked to the RFID antenna number AN008020 and displays it.
In other words, the work support system DB 101 is provided with data linking the RFID antenna number of the terminal 102 installed at each work process with the RFID antenna number of the RFID reader 201, and a work master table corresponding to the product specifications of the serial number, and when work begins, the base ID of the sliding base 40 and the serial number are linked and saved.

7 is an example of the work contents displayed on the terminal 102. The work contents to be performed in the first work process are shown in a bold frame, and each time each work is completed, the completion of the work is input from the terminal 102, and the input information is stored in the work support system DB 101 from the access point 12 via the network 11. When all the work in the first work process is completed, the worker sends the slide base 40 to the next process. When the slide base 40 is sent to the next process, the RFID reader 201, which always emits reading radio waves at regular intervals, is no longer able to read the RFID tag 30 of the slide base 40, and the display on the terminal 102 is terminated, judging that the RFID reader 201 is "output". It is also possible to terminate the display by completing a specific work set in the terminal 102 or the work support system DB 101.
In addition, the movement of the slide base 40 may not be performed by an operator, and the roller conveyor 50 may be operated automatically after receiving a notification that the work is complete.

Next, the flow from the second work step onwards will be described.
In the second work process, the RFID reader 201 also constantly emits reading radio waves at regular intervals to read the RFID tag 30 of the slide base 40 that has arrived, and the reading result is sent to the RFID system 200 via the network 11 .

For the slide base 40 that is determined to have arrived, it is determined from the data stored in the work support system DB 101 and the base ID of the slide base 40 that it is an intermediate product 20b being manufactured for serial number MA270 and which work process (here, the second work process) it has arrived at, and the work support system 100 transmits a work master table of the product specifications for serial number MA270 to the terminal 102 of the second work process and displays it. At this time, the work content after completion of the first work process is displayed as the work content to be performed in the second work process. That is, the work content is displayed by the work master table reflecting the completion signal of the first work process. In the second work process, the completion of work is input from the terminal each time work is completed, and when all work in the second work process is completed, the slide base 40 is sent to the next process. That is, the work master table is linked to the base ID, and the work completion signal for each work process is reflected in the work support system DB 101 in response to the base ID, and progress is saved.

In the second work process and subsequent work processes, when the final work in the work master table sent from the work support system 100 is completed and the product 20 is completed, the link between the base ID of the slide base 40 on which the completed product 20 is mounted and the product number is released.

Next, the operation of the work process control system 10 will be described with reference to FIG.
8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the work process management system 10 according to embodiment 1. First, in step S101, the serial number given to the component 20a is transmitted from the terminal 102 to the work support system DB 101.
In step S102, the base ID of the sliding base 40 is read by the RFID reader 201 from the RFID tag 30 of the sliding base 40, and is transmitted to the receiving unit 211. When the received base ID is determined to be "input" by the input/output determining unit 212, the base ID of the sliding base 40 and the RFID antenna number of the RFID reader 201 are linked by the linking unit 213, and transmitted to the work support system DB 101. In the first work process, the base ID of the sliding base 40 and the manufacturing number are linked.

The RFID antenna number of the RFID reader 201 in the same work process is linked to the terminal 102 in advance. Therefore, in step S103, when a work instruction for that work process is sent to the terminal 102 by the work instruction unit 214, the work master table corresponding to the product specifications of the serial number input from the terminal 102 is extracted from the work support system DB 101 and displayed on the terminal 102.

In step S104, the work is carried out in accordance with the work master table displayed on the terminal 102, and in step S105, completion is input to the terminal 102 for each work in each process.
In step S106, if the task completion transmitted in step S105 is not the final step of product completion (NO in step S106), in step S107, it is confirmed whether the slide base 40 has moved to the next task step. If the slide base 40 has not moved (NO in step S107), the process returns to step S103 in order to carry out the remaining tasks in the same task step, and the task displayed on the terminal 102 is executed. After the task is completed, completion is input to the terminal 102 (steps S104, S105). As a result, the task progress is stored in the task support system DB 101.

When the first work process is completed, in step S107, the slide base 40 moves to the next work process (YES in step S107), and in step S108, the RFID reader 201 arranged in the second work process reads the base ID of the slide base 40 from the RFID tag 30 of the slide base 40 and transmits it to the receiving unit 211. When the received base ID is judged as "input" by the input/output judgment unit 212, the linking unit 213 links the base ID of the slide base 40 to the RFID antenna number of the RFID reader 201 of the second work process, and transmits it to the work support system DB 101.

Incidentally, from the first work process onwards, the RFID reader 201 of the next work process reads the base ID of the slide base 40 from the RFID tag 30 of the slide base 40, but the base ID of the slide base 40 and the manufacturing number are already linked and stored in the work support system DB 101. The RFID antenna number of the RFID reader 201 that reads this base ID is also linked in advance to the terminal 102 in the same work process. Furthermore, the work support system DB 101 stores a work master table in which the completion information of the previous work process has been updated and linked to the base ID. Therefore, in step S103 from the second time onwards, the work content following the end of the previous work process is displayed in the work master table.

Steps S103 to S107 are repeated until all work processes shown in the work master table are completed. In step S106, when all work processes shown in the work master table are completed, such as when the product is completed (YES in step S106), the link between the serial number and the base ID stored in the work support system DB 101 is released in step S109.
This makes it possible to reuse the base ID of the slide base 40.

In the above, product manufacturing is given as an example of a work process, but it is not limited to a manufacturing process and may be a part of a process in product manufacturing.

In the above description, in each work process, all the work in the work master table displayed on the terminal 102 is completed before being sent to the next process, but the slide base 40 may be sent to the next process without completing all the work in the displayed work master table. Normally, the next step is advanced to by completing the designated work. However, even if the designated work is cancelled by manual operation or the slide base 40 advances to the next step without completing the work that was scheduled to be performed, "Complete" is entered each time a task is completed, so that the continuation of the previous step is displayed on the terminal 102 of the next worker in the work process, making it possible to change the work arrangements.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, first, in the work process, the serial number and the base ID of the slide base are linked and stored in the work support system DB before the work starts, so that it is not necessary to replace the RFID tag and rewrite the information every time the work starts. In addition, since the work support terminal and the antenna number of the RFID reader in each work process are linked and stored in the work support system DB, when the slide base arrives at each process, the work master table stored in the work support system DB can be displayed on the terminal for the work process. This allows the worker to perform appropriate work in each process. In addition, since the progress of the work is managed based on the work master table, the start work of the next worker is made clear, and it is possible to provide a work process management system that can accurately manage the work process. This system can also handle a production method in which the work allocation of workers changes for each product.

Although the present application describes various exemplary embodiments and examples, the various features, aspects, and functions described in one or more embodiments are not limited to application to a particular embodiment, but may be applied to the embodiments alone or in various combinations.
Therefore, countless modifications not exemplified are assumed within the scope of the technology disclosed in the present specification, including, for example, modifying, adding, or omitting at least one component, and further, extracting at least one component and combining it with a component of another embodiment.

10: Work process management system, 11: Network, 12: Access point, 20: Product, 20a: Part, 20b: Intermediate item, 30: RFID tag, 40: Slide base, 50: Roller conveyor, 100: Work support system, 101: Work support system database, 102: Terminal, 200: RFID system, 201: RFID reader, 210: RFID control unit, 211: Receiving unit, 212: Input/output determination unit, 213: Linking unit, 214: Work instruction unit, 1000: Processor, 2000: Storage device.

Claims (3)

A work support system;
A work process management system that includes an RFID system having an RFID reader installed at each work process and an RFID control unit that cooperates with the work support system based on a signal received by the RFID reader, and manages a work process in which parts to be worked on that are mounted on a slide base are sequentially sent to the work process,
the slide base has an RFID tag, the slide base is sequentially sent to work processes by a roller conveyor, the RFID reader is installed adjacent to the roller conveyor in each of the work processes, and a serial number is assigned to the part mounted on the slide base,
The work support system includes:
Terminals installed at each work process,
a work support database having data linking an ID of the terminal installed in the same work process as the RFID reader with an ID of the RFID reader and a work master table corresponding to the serial number,
In a first work step, the ID of the RFID reader and the ID of the slide base read by the RFID reader are linked and inputted into the work support database, and the serial number is inputted into the work support database, and the ID of the slide base and the serial number are linked,
a work master table corresponding to the serial number is displayed on the terminal installed in the first work process;
A work process management system characterized in that when a task in the displayed work master table is completed, a completion signal is input from the terminal, and the completion signal is reflected in the work master table and stored in the work support database. The work process management system according to claim 1, characterized in that in a second work process after the first work process, the ID of the RFID reader of the second work process and the ID of the slide base read by the RFID reader are linked and entered into the work support database, the work master table reflecting the work progress of the first work process is displayed on the terminal installed in the second work process, and when the work of the displayed work master table is completed, a completion signal is input from the terminal, and the completion signal is reflected in the work master table and stored in the work support database. The work process management system according to claim 2, characterized in that when all work in the work master table corresponding to the serial number is completed, the link between the ID of the slide base and the serial number is released.

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