Title: Work standard creation system and method, distributed client/server system, and computer program storage medium
Abstract: In a work standard creation system, a work related to each work standard is described using an operation phrase representing an operation of the work, an object phrase representing a target of the operation, and a comment phrase representing auxiliary information related to the operation and/or object and input, and the three phrase data input for each work standard are stored in a memory together with identifiers.
Patent Number: 6,996,578 Issued on 02/07/2006 to Okada, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Okada; Atsushi (Tokyo, JP);
Sawamura; Yoshinori (Kanagawa, JP);
Shiiba; Hiroyuki (Tokyo, JP);
Sawato; Tomonori (Tokyo, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
753998 |
| Filed:
|
January 3, 2001 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Jan 06, 2000[JP] | 2000-001075 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
707/104.1; 707/3; 707/4; 707/100; 700/95; 700/97; 700/100; 704/2; 704/7; 704/8; 704/10 |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
G06F 17/30 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
707/1,100,104.1
700/95,97,100,117
704/1-10
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
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| 4961148 | Oct., 1990 | Holda et al.
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| 5010486 | Apr., 1991 | Suzuki et al.
| |
| 5023800 | Jun., 1991 | Carver et al.
| |
| 5727196 | Mar., 1998 | Strauss, Jr. et al.
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| 5767848 | Jun., 1998 | Matsuzaki et al.
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| 5771043 | Jun., 1998 | Nigawara et al.
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| 5884247 | Mar., 1999 | Christy.
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| 5895465 | Apr., 1999 | Guha.
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| 5905990 | May., 1999 | Inglett.
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| 5930460 | Jul., 1999 | Noumaru et al.
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| 5980084 | Nov., 1999 | Jones et al.
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| 6163785 | Dec., 2000 | Carbonell et al.
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| 6173253 | Jan., 2001 | Abe et al.
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| 6208956 | Mar., 2001 | Motoyama.
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| 6223092 | Apr., 2001 | Miyakawa et al.
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| 6240328 | May., 2001 | LaLonde et al.
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| 6385621 | May., 2002 | Frisina.
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| 6453209 | Sep., 2002 | Hill et al.
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| 6477531 | Nov., 2002 | Sullivan et al.
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| 6490569 | Dec., 2002 | Grune et al.
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| 6493713 | Dec., 2002 | Kanno.
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| 2003/0023611 | Jan., 2003 | Benjamin et al.
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| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 196 32 499 | Mar., 1997 | DE.
| |
| 2 242 292 | Sep., 1991 | GB.
| |
| 8-305748 | Nov., 1996 | JP.
| |
Other References
He et al., "On a system of understanding illustrative diagrams in an assembly
manual", Proceeding of the 3rd international conference on Industrial and Engineering
applications of artificial intelligence and expert systems. 1990, pp. 350-356.
Driskill et al., "Interactive design, analysis, and illustration of assemblies",
Proceeding of the 1995 symposium on Interactive 3D graphics, 1995, pp. 27-34.
Translation of German Patent Office Communication for counterpart Application
No. 101 00 274.2-53 (Item AA).
German Patent Office Communication for Application No. 101 00 275.2-53 counterpart
to related application 09/753,726.
Translation of German Patent Office Communication for Application No. 101 00
275.2-53 (Item CC).
English Abstract of German Patent Publication 196 32 499 A1 (Item A).
English Abstract of Japanese Publicatioin 8-305748 (Item B).
English Translation of German Patent Publication 196 323 499 A1.
|
Primary Examiner: Wassum; Luke S
Assistant Examiner: Pham; Khanh
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Morgan & Finnegan, L.L.P.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A work standard creation system for creating a work standard data related
to an assembly work of various goods, comprising:
input display means for distinctly displaying a verb area, an object area, and
an auxillary word area in each of which where characters of a word are input,
retrieving means for retrieving verb words each having physically the character
input in the verb area and each of which is from a verb database, retrieving object
words each having physically the character input in the object area from an object
database, and retrieving auxiliary words each having physically the character input
in the auxiliary word area from an auxiliary word database;
selecting means for selecting a verb word from the retrieved verb words, selecting
an object word from the retrieved object words, and selecting an auxiliary word
from the retrieved auxiliary words; and
storage means for storing the selected verb, object and auxiliary word as a sentence
of work standard in a memory.
2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising identifier giving means
for putting a plurality of work standards together into an upper work group and
giving a group identifier to each of the groups put together.
3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the work group is classified into
one of a component group formed from a plurality of work standards, a model group
formed from a plurality of components, and a genre group formed from a plurality
of models.
4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising means for translating
an expression of at least one of the selected verb, object and auxiliary word.
5. The system according to claim 4, wherein said means for translating includes
a conversion dictionary between a word in a language used in said system and a
translated word in a language of a country where assembly is done.
6. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:
means for selecting an arbitrary work standard, and
means for attaching voice data having a content related to the work to the selected
work standard.
7. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:
means for selecting an arbitrary work standard, and
means for attaching image data having a content related to the work to the selected
work standard.
8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the image data is still image data.
9. The system according to claim 7, wherein the image data is moving image data.
10. The system according to claim 7, wherein the image data attached to the work
standard comprises a plurality of still image data or one moving image data.
11. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:
means for selecting an arbitrary work standard, and
means for attaching, to the selected work standard, first image data having a
content related to the work, voice data for explaining the work standard, and second
image data for explaining a relationship between the voice data and the first image
data.
12. The system according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying
a plurality of work standards in an order of inputs by said input display means.
13. A distributed client/server database system comprising:
a server including said storage means of claim 1, and
a plurality of clients each having said input display means, said retrieving
means, and said selecting means of claim 1.
14. The system according to claim 1, wherein contents of works are classified
in units of works, and a parameter is attached to each of the classified work contents.
15. The system according to claim 14, wherein a work and an image corresponding
to an operation content of the work are linked to a parameter linked to the work content.
16. The system according to claim 15, further comprising means for designating
a name of an operation and a value of a parameter related to the operation to search
for image data of a corresponding work.
17. A work standard creation method of creating work standard data related to
an assembly work of various goods, comprising:
an input display step of distinctly displaying a verb area, an object area, and
an auxiliary word area in each of which characters of a word are input,
a retrieving step of retrieving verb words each having physically the character
input in the verb area and each of which is from a verb database, retrieving object
words each having physically the character input in the object area from an object
database, and retrieving auxiliary words each having physically the character input
in the auxiliary word area from an auxiliary word database;
a selecting step of selecting a verb word from the retrieved verb words, selecting
an object word from the retrieved object words, selecting an auxiliary word from
the retrieved auxiliary words; and
a storage step of storing the selected verb, object and auxiliary word as a sentence
of work standard in a memory.
18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising an identifier giving
step of putting a plurality of work standards together into an upper work group
and giving a group identifier to each of the groups put together.
19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the work group is classified into
one of a component group formed from a plurality of work standards, a model group
formed from a plurality of components, and a genre group formed from a plurality
of models.
20. The method according to claim 17, further comprising a step of translating
an expression of at least one of the selected verb, object and auxiliary word.
21. The method according to claim 20, wherein, in said step of translating, a
conversion dictionary between a word in a language used in the system and a translated
word in a language of a country where assembly is done is used.
22. The method according to claim 17, further comprising:
a step of selecting an arbitrary work standard, and
a step of attaching voice data having a content related to the work to the selected
work standard.
23. The method according to claim 17, further comprising:
a step of selecting an arbitrary work standard, and
a step of attaching image data having a content related to the work to the selected
work standard.
24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the image data is still image data.
25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the image data is moving image data.
26. The method according to claim 17, further comprising:
a step of selecting an arbitrary work standard, and
a step of attaching, to the selected work standard, first image data having a
content related to the work, voice data for explaining the work standard, and second
image data for explaining relationship between the voice data and the first image
data.
27. A computer program storage medium which stores program codes of said work
standard creation method to realize said work standard creation method of claim
17 by a computer system.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a work standard creation method and system for
creating a work standard representing a work in, e.g., an assembly workshop, a
distributed client/server system, and a computer program storage medium.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
To assembly a product from parts, an enormous number of parts are required. The
larger the number of parts becomes, the more enormous and complex the works become.
Conventionally, an experienced chief of the workshop, who knows the
enormous number of complex works well, manually arranges the works, calculates
the manhour, and assigns operators in units of manhours.
However, this manual composing operation accompanies poor maintenance because
it is not only time-consuming but also difficult to correct and can be understood
only by the creator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and
has as its object to propose a work standard creation system capable of creating
data of a work standard which converts a work standard into a standard format easy
to compute.
In order to achieve the above object, a work standard creation system according
to the present invention is characterized by having the following arrangement.
More specifically, there is provided a work standard creation system (2800)
for creating a work standard data related to an assembly work of various goods
to manage the assembly work of the goods, characterized by comprising:
input means for describing (1101 to 1104 shown in FIG. 11) a
work related to each work standard using an operation phrase representing an operation
of the work, an object phrase representing a target of the operation, and a comment
phrase representing auxiliary information related to the operation and/or object
and inputting the phrase data; and
storage means (2805) for storing the three phrase data input for each
work standard in a memory together with identifiers (FIG. 2).
Thus all work standards are standardized by elements such as the operation phrase,
object phrase, and comment phrase.
When the present invention is implemented by a computer, the work standards
can be advantageously processed on the basis of identifiers (directories). Hence,
according to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the system comprises
identifier giving means for putting a plurality of work standards together into
an upper work group (FIG. 2) and giving a group identifier to each of the groups
put together.
Additionally, when the work standards are managed on the directory
basis, each work standard can be expressed by a combination suitable for each level
of the assembly stage. Hence, in the work standard creation system according to
another preferred aspect of the present invention, the work group is classified
into one of a component group formed from a plurality of work standards, a model
group formed from a plurality of components, and a genre group formed from a plurality
of models.
A user interface for designating a work standard by an identifier is preferably
used. The work standard creation system according to a still another preferred
aspect of the present invention comprises:
a window for displaying a plurality of work standards,
selection means for selecting a desired work standard from the work standards
displayed in the window, and
an input field provided in the window to input and display a work group identifier
to be given to the selected work standard.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the system
comprises means for translating an expression of at least one of the three phrases.
Aiming at providing a user interface suitable for translation, the work standard
creation system according to still another preferred aspect is characterized in
that a display window (FIG. 32) is output, the display window having
an identifier field for inputting an identifier of a work standard as a translation target,
an expression field for displaying expressions of each phrase of the work standard, and
a field provided on an opposite side of each expression field to display a translated word.
Aiming at simplifying the data input and unifying input data, according to
the work standard creation system of still another preferred aspect, the input
means comprises:
a dictionary having words or expressions for the operation phrase, object phrase,
and comment phrase, and
means (FIGS. 9 and 10) for, in inputting expressions to the three phrases,
incremental-searching the dictionary for an expression partially having the input
word or expression.
According to still another preferred aspect of the present invention, the
system comprises a conversion dictionary between a word in a language used in the
system and a translated word in a language of a country where assembly is done.
Aiming at providing a user interface for further editing a work standard once
created, the work standard creation system according to still another preferred
aspect is characterized by further comprising:
a window for displaying a plurality of work standards,
means for selecting a desired work standard from the work standards displayed
in the window, and
editing means for editing a content of the selected work standard.
Aiming at providing a user interface for further editing a work standard once
created, the work standard creation system according to still another preferred
aspect is characterized by further comprising:
a window for displaying a plurality of work standards,
means for selecting a desired work standard from the work standards displayed
in the window, and
editing means (FIG. 20) for linking another work standard to the selected
work standard.
According to still another preferred aspect of the present invention,
the editing means edits a content of an expression,
the editing means deletes the selected work standard,
the editing means adds another work standard before or after the selected
work standard, or
the editing means exchanges an operation order of the selected work standard
with that of another work standard.
An operator can readily understand a work with a voice explanation. Hence, in
still another preferred aspect, the work standard creation system comprises:
means for selecting an arbitrary work standard, and
means (FIG. 34) for attaching voice data having a content related to the work
to the selected work standard.
An operator can readily understand a work with an image explanation. Hence, in
still another preferred aspect, the work standard creation system comprises:
means for selecting an arbitrary work standard, and
means (FIG. 25) for attaching image data having a content related to the work
to the selected work standard.
According to still another preferred aspect of the present invention, the
image data is still image data.
According to still another preferred aspect of the present invention, the
system is characterized by further comprising:
means for selecting an arbitrary work standard, and
means (FIG. 26) for attaching, to the selected work standard, first image data
having a content related to the work, voice data for explaining the work standard,
and second image data for explaining relationship between the voice data and the
first image data.
The work standards are preferably input in the order of works to make the input
operation efficient and reduce errors.
Hence, another work standard creation system according to still another preferred
aspect of the present invention comprises:
display means for displaying a plurality of work standards in an order of
inputs by the input means, and
means for reconstructing images attached to the plurality of work standards
displayed by the display means in the order of works.
Alternatively, the system may comprise:
display means for displaying a plurality of work standards in an order of
inputs by the input means, and
means for playing back the voice data attached to the plurality of work standards
displayed by the display means in the order of works.
The above object can also be achieved by a distributed client/server database
system comprising a server including the above-described storage means, and a plurality
of clients each having the input means.
The above object can also be achieved by a work standard creation method corresponding
to each of the above-described system configurations or a computer program storage
medium for realizing the method by a computer system.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from
the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,
in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout
the figures thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a view showing the hardware configuration of an assembly standard
information management system according to an embodiment;
FIG. 2 is a view showing the relation structure of a representative model record,
process (arrangement) record, and work standard record;
FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a window in which work standard data is to be
input in the work standard system;
FIG. 4 is a view showing the linkage between master data files in the work standard system;
FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the procedure of inputting work standard data;
FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a window for inputting data to the "applied
model" field;
FIG. 7 is a view for explaining another method of inputting a model name to
an applied model field 302;
FIG. 8 is a view for explaining reference input of data related to a part;
FIG. 9 is a view for explaining incremental search input of data related to
a work;
FIG. 10 is a view for explaining incremental search input of data related to
a work;
FIG. 11 is a view for explaining a window in which data related to a work is
to be input;
FIG. 12 is a view for explaining reference input in inputting work data;
FIG. 13 is a view for explaining the reference input function in inputting "verb"
in the work procedure;
FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the control procedure in inputting data on the
basis of the work procedure input window shown in FIG. 11;
FIG. 15 is a view for explaining an example of a plurality of input work procedures;
FIG. 16 is an explanatory view of the reference input function in inputting
a note;
FIG. 17 is an explanatory view of the reference input function in inputting
a note;
FIG. 18 is an explanatory view of various menus for editing the work procedure itself;
FIG. 19 is a view for explaining operation of exchanging two work procedures;
FIG. 20 is a view for explaining operation of exchanging two work procedures;
FIG. 21 is an explanatory view of a menu for storing a created work;
FIG. 22 is a view showing a menu window for opening a work to be edited in editing
the work standard;
FIG. 23 is a view for explaining a plurality of works opened by the menu shown
in FIG. 22;
FIG. 24 is a view for explaining a menu window for executing an image editing function;
FIG. 25 is a view for explaining an input field to which an image to be attached
is to be loaded;
FIG. 26 is a view showing an image attached to the work standard data;
FIG. 27 is a view showing a menu window for selecting a tool to edit an image;
FIG. 28 is a view for explaining positioning of a translation subsystem in the
work standard creation system;
FIG. 29 is a view for explaining a start menu for starting translation;
FIG. 30 is a view showing a window for selecting a work standard to be translated;
FIG. 31 is a view for explaining a state wherein the work standard to be translated
and an English equivalent are displayed on opposite sides;
FIG. 32 is a view for explaining a state wherein the work standard to be translated
and an English equivalent are displayed on opposite sides;
FIG. 33 is a view for explaining a menu window for activating playback of voice
data attached to the work standard;
FIG. 34 is a view for explaining a menu window for activating voice data recording;
FIG. 35 is a view showing the storage positions of files in a work standard
creation system 2800 and translation system 2803;
FIG. 36 is a view for explaining the file structure of a standard manhour setting
system 2801 of the embodiment in the form of blocks;
FIG. 37 is a view for explaining the data structure of a manhour setting file 3601;
FIG. 38 is a view for explaining the data structure of a standard data file 2804;
FIG. 39 is a view showing the directory structure in the standard data file 2804;
FIG. 40 is a view for explaining three routes of manhour setting in the standard
manhour setting system 2801;
FIG. 41 is a view for explaining the outline of data load in the standard manhour
setting system 2801;
FIG. 42 is a view for explaining the first route for setting the manhour on
the basis of data from a standard material data file;
FIG. 43 is a view for explaining the second route for setting the manhour on
the basis of data from an operation pattern data file;
FIG. 44 is a view showing a manhour setting file 3601;
FIG. 45 is a view for explaining the initial menu window of the standard manhour
setting system 2801;
FIG. 46 is a view for explaining the window structure for defining the data
range to be loaded in the standard manhour setting system 2801;
FIG. 47 is a view showing the list of work data defined by the window shown
in FIG. 46;
FIG. 48 is a view for explaining the data load window;
FIG. 49 is a view for explaining that arbitrary works can be grouped by arbitrarily
changing the hierarchical structure of directories in the standard manhour setting
system 2801;
FIG. 50 is a view for explaining the file structure of the standard manhour
setting system 2801;
FIG. 51 is a flow chart for explaining the control procedure of the standard
manhour setting system 2801;
FIG. 52 is a view for explaining a user interface window for selecting a "product"
as a manhour setting target;
FIG. 53 is a view for explaining another user interface window for selecting
a "product" as a manhour setting target;
FIG. 54 is a view for explaining the "model" selection window;
FIG. 55 is a view for explaining the dialog for selecting a "work" to be edited;
FIG. 56 is a view for explaining a work loaded by selection in FIG. 55;
FIG. 57 is a view for explaining the analysis material editing window;
FIG. 58 is a view for explaining a user interface window for selecting a work
to be analyzed;
FIG. 59 is a view for explaining a user interface window for displaying representative
WFs (Work Factors) that can be selected by the user;
FIG. 60 is a view showing a user interface window so as to explain the manhour
definition of PU (pick up) operation;
FIG. 61 is a view showing a user interface window so as to explain the manhour
definition of TURN (direction changing) operation;
FIG. 62 is a view for explaining a window for inquiring the change reason for
the manhour of a specific work;
FIG. 63 is a view showing a window for displaying the change reason for the manhour;
FIG. 64 is a view for explaining the basic operation of a work assignment system 2802;
FIG. 65 is a view for explaining the file structure of the work assignment system 2802;
FIG. 66 is a view for schematically explaining the work composition in the standard
manhour setting system 2801;
FIG. 67 is a view for explaining a window for displaying original data of simple
division or parallel division in the standard manhour setting system 2801;
FIG. 68 is a view for explaining the work contents of stations divided by simple division;
FIG. 69 is a view for explaining a user interface window in further editing
the workshop divided by simple division;
FIG. 70 is a view for explaining a user interface window for defining the parallel
operation between works in parallel division;
FIG. 71 is a view for explaining a plurality of composition plans created by
parallel division;
FIG. 72 is a view for explaining a user interface window in further editing
composition plan 1 created by parallel division;
FIG. 73 is a view for explaining a user interface window in further editing
composition plan 2 created by parallel division;
FIG. 74 is a view for explaining a user interface window for defining a load
target in loading data from the standard manhour setting system 2801 in
the work assignment system 2802;
FIG. 75 is a view for explaining the reason why the data load range can be changed
and defined in various ways in the work assignment system 2802;
FIG. 76 is a view for explaining a user interface window in opening an existing
file in a composition table file 6400;
FIG. 77 is a view for explaining a state wherein the work data loaded in the
memory of the work assignment system 2802 are displayed for each "target model";
FIG. 78 is a view for explaining a user interface window in adding a work in
the standard manhour setting system 2801;
FIG. 79 is a flow chart for explaining the control procedure of simple division
by the work assignment system 2802;
FIG. 80 is a view for explaining the states of five stations divided by simple
division by the work assignment system 2802;
FIG. 81 is a view for explaining work division in the stations in the work assignment
system 2802;
FIG. 82 is a view showing a state wherein a work having a large manhour is assigned
to station 2 to be parallel-operated in the workshop having five stations
so as to explain work assignment;
FIG. 83 is a view for explaining the work division result in the stations in
the work assignment system 2802;
FIG. 84 is a view for explaining a user interface window for station division
in the work assignment system 2802;
FIG. 85 is a view for explaining a user interface window for adding or inserting
a station in the work assignment system 2802;
FIG. 86 is a view for explaining a method of displaying a station to which a
work having a large manhour is assigned by the work assignment system 2802;
FIG. 87 is a view for explaining an authentication window for authenticating
a user who will compose works;
FIG. 88 is a block diagram for explaining the overall arrangement of a system
according to a modification in which each subsystem has a standalone structure;
FIG. 89 is a view for explaining a state wherein operations of each of a plurality
of works, and images and parameters corresponding to the respective operations
are related to each other and stored;
FIG. 90 is a view showing images (images representing a continuous operation)
continuously generated by designating parameters in accordance with the method
shown in FIG. 89;
FIG. 91 is a view showing a dialog box for inputting a component symbol in relation
to FIG. 39;
FIG. 92 is a view showing a user interface window for grouping a plurality of
works in composing works;
FIG. 93 is a view showing a user interface window for grouping a plurality of
works in composing works;
FIG. 94 is a view showing a user interface window for grouping a plurality of
works in composing works;
FIG. 95 is a flow chart for explaining a control procedure for work assignment
as a modification to FIG. 79, i.e., a composition control procedure that the number
of stations assigned works preferentially should not exceed the number of stations N
ST;
FIG. 96 is a flow chart for explaining a control procedure for work assignment
as another modification to FIG. 79, i.e., a composition control procedure for preferentially
averaging the manhours of works assigned to stations; and
FIG. 97 is a view showing the state of parallel-operated station 2 in
the workshop of the example shown in FIG. 85.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a printer manufacturing
process will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The overall system to be described in this embodiment is called an "assembly
standard information management system". As shown in FIG. 28, this assembly standard
information management system comprises three subsystems:
work standard creation subsystem 2800,
standard manhour setting subsystem 2801, and
work assignment subsystem 2802
In the following explanation, these subsystems will be referred to as the work
standard creation system 2800, standard manhour setting system 2801,
and work assignment system 2802, respectively, for the descriptive convenience.
The work standard creation system
2800 creates (defines) a work standard
(work standard data) for the standard manhour setting subsystem
2801 and
work assignment subsystem
2802. In the work standard creation system
2800,
the user is required to understand, for each work to be executed in the manufacturing
process, a "verb" representing an operation of the work, an "object" that describes
the target of the work, and some "comments" and also have knowledge for the manufacturing
process enough to sequentially describe the flow of the series of works.
The standard manhour setting system
2801 determines the standard manhour
for the work standard created by the work standard creation system
2800.
The work assignment system
2802 determines composition (work composition)
using the work standard created by the work standard creation system
2800.
<Overall Arrangement>
FIG. 1 shows the hardware configuration of the assembly standard information
management system. As shown in FIG. 1, this assembly standard information management
system has a plurality of clients and one server (or a plurality of servers). The
computer system of each client (to be referred to as a client system hereinafter)
has, e.g.,
OS: Windows95/98,
DB connection software: ODBC driver for Oracle,
communication network software: SQL-Net for Oracle,
work standard creation system application program,
standard manhour setting system application program, and
work assignment system application program.
On the other hand, the server-side computer has a system configuration comprised of
OS: Windows-NT server, and
database: Oracle WorkGroup Server
On the assembly standard information management system constructed by a plurality
of clients and one or a plurality of servers, three application programs or the
"work standard creation system
2800", "standard manhour setting system
2801",
and "work assignment system
2802" simultaneously or independently run in
the so-called client/server environment.
Current computer hardware capable of realizing the general client/server
environment can be applied to each of the internal hardware configurations of the
server and clients of the assembly standard information management system, and
a detailed description thereof will be omitted in this embodiment.
<Work Standard Creation System
2800>
The work standard creation system
2800 defines/creates master data to
be used by the standard manhour setting system
2801 and work assignment
system
2802.
A "work standard" represents a certain work unit in the manufacturing process.
One work process (to be referred to as a process hereinafter) is formed from a
plurality of work standards (or one work standard in some cases). To manufacture
products of a model, a plurality of processes are defined for the products of the
model, and one or a plurality of work standards are defined for each process, as
shown in FIG.
2.
Referring to FIG. 2, process
1, process
2, . . . , process
N are defined for a representative model A. A plurality of "work standards" can
be defined for each process. Each work standard is input through an input window
(either from the client terminal or the server terminal) as shown in FIG.
3.
As will be described later, in this embodiment, the basic work unit is called
a "work standard" that is the base of work in the assembly process. However, the
"assembly standard information management system" of this embodiment is finally
a system for managing assembly of products in the factory and therefore is preferably
capable of management not at the work standard level but at the product level.
As will be described later, one work is assigned one identifier (or directory).
Sets of a plurality of work standards are classified using a hierarchical structure
including "target model", "representative model" as the upper level thereof, and
"genre" as the further upper level (e.g., a genre such as "printer" or "camera").
More specifically, the CRT window (display window) of the terminal displays menus:
"create" menu, and
master maintenance
When the user selects the "create" menu in this display window, a dialog box
for inputting the name of "representative model" and the name of "process" appears
on the screen of the display unit. In this window, the user inputs the name of
"representative model" and the name of "process". For example, assume that the
input name of "representative model" is "BJC-4200", and the input name of "process"
for the model "BJC-4200" is "total assembly". The application program will create
a record "total assembly" under a record "BJC-4200" and create a plurality of work
standard records under the record "total assembly".
The main menu of the application program includes "work standard", "edit", .
. . , and the pull-down menu of the "work standard" menu includes "file new (N)".
The input window shown in FIG. 3 is displayed when the "file new (N)" is selected.
That is, this application program allows the user to define a certain work of the
representative model "BJC-4200" through the input window shown in FIG.
3.
The user inputs the name of the work in a "work name" field
312.
In addition to the "work name" field
312, a window
300 shown in
FIG. 3 has
a field 302 to which the name of an "applied model" is to be input,
an input field related to parts to be used in this "work" ("part number"
field 303, "part name" field 304, and "quantity" field 305),
an input field related to tools to be used in this "work" ("tool/treatment
device/auxiliary material" field 306, "quantity" field 307, and "check
etc." field 308),
a field related to work standards as characteristic input items of this
application program ("number" field 309, "work standard" field 310,
and "note" field 313), and
a field 311 to which information related to a later revision/change
of this "work" is input.
FIG. 4 shows files opened by this application program, which form a master data
file group. Each master file will be described later.
FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the input procedure for the input window
shown in FIG.
3.
First, an input to the "applied model" field
302 is done in step S
100
shown in FIG.
5.
The input in this step can be done in two ways: a direct input method by which
the user directly inputs data to the field using a keyboard, and a menu input method
by which an icon
301 is clicked to display a window with the list of a plurality
of candidate names of the "applied models", as shown in FIG. 6, the user selects
one of the displayed candidate names using a mouse or the like, and the selected
name is input to the field
302. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the names
of a plurality of "applied models" selected in the window shown in FIG. 6 are input
to the field
302.
In step S
200, the user inputs a desired note to the note column through
the keyboard.
In step S
300, the user inputs data related to parts or tools to a predetermined
field through the keyboard while moving the cursor to an arbitrary position in
the field using the mouse.
A part number pairs with a part name. When one of them is input, a part data
master
file
40 (FIG. 4) is searched (so-called incremental search) using the input
character sequence as a keyword, so all pairs of part numbers and part names having
that keyword are displayed, as shown in FIG.
8. The user selects a pair
from the displayed candidates, so the selected pair data is output to a predetermined field.
The method of incremental search used for the above search will be described
with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
In the incremental search, search is executed using characters input until the
current time as a keyword to display candidates searched at the current time, and
every time one more character is input, the candidates that have already been searched
are narrowed down to only those matching the character sequence including the added character.
In the example shown in FIG. 9, when "GE" ("
##CHR1##
(GENZOU: developing)"
are displayed in the output field as candidates, as shown in FIG.
10. That
is, the candidates shown in FIG. 10 are narrowed down from those shown in FIG.
9. Note, that English translations corresponding to each of the Japanese
candidates are described, for easy understanding, in parentheses after the Japanese
candidates in FIGS. 9 and 10.
The description will be continued referring back to the flow chart shown in FIG.
5.
In step S
400, pieces of information related to tools and the like are
input
to the fields
306,
307, and
308. For this data input as well,
the direct input using the keyboard and the method of searching from the master
file (tool file
60) are prepared, like the input in step S
300.
In step S
500, the user inputs details of a work standard for the work
to
be defined. The data input for definition of a work standard is the gist of the
data input in the work standard creation system
2800, and a dedicated input
window as shown in FIG. 11 is prepared. Details of step S
500 are included
in the control procedure shown in FIG.
14.
When the user double-clicks on an arbitrary part of the "work standard" field
310, the input window shown in FIG. 11 is displayed. When a work standard
has already been input to the double-clicked position, i.e., when the user double-clicks
on a portion where the name of an already input "work standard" is displayed, details
of the already input work standard are displayed in the window shown in FIG.
11.
As shown in FIG. 11, one "work standard" comprises
a "comment 1" field 1101,
an "object" field 1102,
a "comment 2" field 1103, and
a "verb" field 1104.
"Operation" that defines one work is defined by the "verb" field 1104,
and the target of the "operation" is defined by the "object" field 1102.
The subject of the operation in the "verb" field 1104 is an operator. Hence,
who is the operator need not be explicit.
"Comment 1" describes a comment about the "object". "Comment 2" describes
a comment about the "verb". For example, if
"comment 1"="at wwww position",
"object"="xxxx",
"comment 2"="become yyyy",
"verb"="do zzzz"
are input, the user understands when the work standard is displayed that the
operator should execute a work of "doing zzzz such that xxxx at wwww position becomes
yyyy". Hence, appropriate and simple information must be input to the fields
1101
to
1104 assuming the above understanding by the operator. In other words,
standardization is impossible if the user arbitrarily inputs data to the fields
1101 to
1104. To avoid this, the work standard creation system
2800
prepares in advance a standard database
70 already input in relation to
"comment 1", a standard database
80 already input in relation to "object",
a standard database
90 already input in relation to "comment 2", and a standard
database
100 already input in relation to "verb", as shown in FIG.
4.
Additionally, when the user is going to input the respective items related to the
work standard, the above-described incremental search method for the master databases
corresponding to items that the user will input allows the user to execute reference
input of already input data. Hence, defined standard terms can be input to the
fields
1101 to
1104 regardless of the user.
The reference input operation related to the work standard will be described
here with reference to FIG.
11 and the like.
Referring to FIG. 11, a field
1105 is divided into a reference instruction
field
1105a and a work standard display field
1105b. "00*"
is always displayed in the reference instruction field
1105a. The
user who requires the reference input should double-click on the field
1105a.
An explanation will be done below by exemplifying a data input to the "comment
1" field
1101.
First, the user selects the field
1101 to notify the system that the
user requires the data input of comment 1.
When the user double-clicks on "00*" in the field
1105a, the fields
1101 to
1104 shown in FIG. 11 disappear, and instead, a field
1201
in which a keyword for search of a reference item can be input and a field
1202
in which a plurality of reference item candidates are to be displayed are displayed,
as shown in FIG.
12.
For example, as shown in FIG. 13, assume that the input to the "comment 1" field
1101, "object" field
1102, and "comment 2" field
1103 is ended,
and data "
##CHR2##
(IDOUSASERU: move)" is to be input to the "verb" field
1104 next. In this case, the user selects the "verb" field
1104 in
the input window shown in FIG.
11 and double-clicks on "00*" in the field
1105a. Then, the window changes to that shown in FIG.
13.
The user does not know the standard verb for the operation "
##CHR3##
(DOU: move)". In the example shown in FIG. 13, verbs
"
##CHR4##
(IDOUSASERU: move)",
"
##CHR5##
(OUFUKUDOUSASASERU: reciprocally move), and
"
##CHR6##
(UGOKASU: move)
are stored in the database
100. These words are searched for the displayed
in the field
1202. The user selects "
##CHR7##
(IDOUSASERU: move)"
is displayed in the field
1104.
The reference input is used for the input to all the fields
1101 to
1104
(steps S
506 to S
512 in FIG.
14).
A plurality of work standards are displayed in the field
1105 except the
field
1105a. FIG. 15 shows that four work standards (procedures 01
to 04) are input.
Each of the work standards can be assigned a note, as shown in FIG.
16.
A note is input to a field
1106. The reference input function can also
be
used for the input of a note. More specifically, when the user wants to add a note
to the already defined work standard 01 (displayed in the field
1105b),
the user selects the field
1105b using the mouse and then selects
the field
1106 using the mouse. If the user individually requires the reference
input, the user double-clicks on "00*" in the field
1105a. Then,
a field
1107 changes to a keyword input field
1601 and reference
item display field
1602, as shown in FIG.
16. For example, when the
user wants to refer to a note including a word "
##CHR8##
(CHUI: note)"
in the field
1602, as shown in FIG.
16. When the user selects a desired
note using the mouse and presses the ENTER key, the note is displayed in the field
1107, as shown in FIG.
17.
In this system, an input data editing function is prepared as processing in step
S
514 (FIG.
14).
In this editing function, to individually change a character in data representing
work contents, the number of the work standard to be changed is selected in the
field
1107, and the work standard is double-clicked. Then, the data of "comment
1", "object", "comment 2", and "verb" assigned to the procedure are displayed in
the fields
1101 to
1104, respectively, and a note corresponding to
the procedure is displayed in the field
1106. The user individually corrects
the data in each field.
A method of editing one unit of the work standard will be described next with
reference
to FIG.
18. Editing each unit of the work standard means an operation of
deleting one work standard, an operation of setting the same work standard to another
sequential position, or an operation of setting (inserting) a "free" work standard
between two arbitrary work standards adjacent to each other.
A menu
1802 shown in FIG. 18 is opened, for example, when the right mouse
button of the client is clicked.
In this menu
1802, editing functions including
cut, copy, paste, add, delete, and
undo, revise (change), revise (delete) are set.
To "delete" a work standard, the target work standard is selected, and the "delete"
menu is selected. To copy the contents of a work standard, the "copy" menu is selected.
To paste work standard data copied in the work memory to a desired sequential position,
the sequential position is selected, and the "paste" menu is selected. With this
"paste" operation, the contents of the work standard at the paste position are
popped down.
To set a free work standard to the position of sequence 01, procedure 01 is selected
in FIG. 18, and the "add" menu is selected. In the example shown in FIG. 18, work
standards 01 to 03 sequentially move to procedure positions 02 to 04, and a free
procedure is set to procedure position 01.
These various editing functions for "work", which are prepared in the work
standard creation system
2800, are commonly used as editing functions in
the standard manhour setting system
2801 or work assignment system
2802
to be described later. The mouse operation for these editing functions is also
common. The operation is simplified by this common scheme.
A function of changing the order of a plurality of already input work standards
will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 to
20.
Assume that three procedures or works:
01: confirm 100V system
02: wind AV cord
03: set CRG holder
are currently set as work standards, as shown in FIG. 18, and the user wants
to exchange procedure 01 with procedure 02. In this case, the user selects procedure
01 and selects the "cut" menu. With the series of operations, the contents of procedure
01 are saved in the work memory, and the contents of procedures 02 and 03 are sequentially
shifted to procedures 01 and 02, as shown in FIG. 20. Next, the operator
selects the procedure to be exchanged (procedure 02 in the example shown in FIG.
20) and selects the "paste" menu. As shown in FIG. 19, the contents of all procedures
from procedure position 02 are sequentially popped down to the lower procedures,
and simultaneously, the contents of original procedure 01, which are saved in the
work memory, are pasted to procedure position 02.
With the above operation, the input or editing in steps S
502 to S
514
in FIG. 14 is ended. The user presses an OK button
1108 to indicate that
the input of work method is ended.
When the OK button
1108 is pressed, the window returns to the window
shown in FIG.
3. In the window shown in FIG. 3, especially, the plurality
of set work standards would be displayed in the field
310, and the note
would be displayed in the field
313.
The user gives a "work name" as a standard work to the plurality of work standards
set in the field
310. That is, the user inputs the work name to the field
312.
When setting of one standard work is ended, the user selects "save" in the menu
shown in FIG.
21.
<Editing of Work Contents> . . . Work Standard Creation System
2800
To edit work contents, "open" in the "work standard" menu is selected (FIG.
22),
and the work standard to be edited is selected using the mouse (FIG.
23).
When an OK icon
2301 is clicked, the selected work is displayed (e.g., as
shown in FIG.
3). Editing is done through almost the same window as in the input.
<Input of Graphic Data> . . . Work Standard Creation System
2800
The assembly information management system can display a process set by the work
assignment system
2802 at the site of work (client side). For example, when
window display shown in FIG. 3 is done at the site of work, the operator can see
the display and confirm the work contents, notes, tools, and parts at a glance.
In this system, an image can be attached to each work standard in addition to the
above character information for the work.
FIG. 24 shows a window for inputting graphic data. This window is displayed
when the user selects the "illustration" menu (menu on the right side of the "edit"
menu") in executing the application program of the work standard creation system
2800, and a graphic pattern displayed in accordance with the selection operation
can be edited. The image file to be edited is created in advance by a presentation
application program PowerPoint (available from Microsoft) or Canvas and stored
as a graphic file
120.
When the user selects the "display" submenu in the "illustration" menu, an illustration
display column
2500 (FIG. 25) is displayed. The user inputs the name of
a file to be attached to a "file name" field
2501 in the display column
2500. In accordance with the input, the system searches for the file whose
name is input to the "file name" field
2501 and displays it in the column
2500. In the example shown in FIG. 26, an image file "so-09.wmf" is displayed
at a position corresponding to the illustration display column
2500 shown
in FIG. 25 as the result of user's file name input operation.
To edit the image, the authoring tool for editing is selected, and then, the
"edit"
menu is clicked, as shown in FIG.
27. After the end of
