Method of optimizing a serial manufacturing system

Patent 5229948 Issued on July 20, 1993. Estimated Expiration Date:

November 3, 2010. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.

Abstract Claims Description Full Text

Patent References

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Inventors

Assignee

Ford Motor Company

Application

No. 611215 filed on 11/03/1990

US Classes:

700/99, Resource allocation702/179, Statistical measurement703/2, MODELING BY MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION705/11Job performance analysis

Examiners

Primary: Smith, Jerry
Assistant: Brown, Thomas W.

Attorney, Agent or Firm

Malleck; Joseph W., May; Roger L.

International Class

G06F 015/46

Abstract

A method of optimizing a multi-stage serial manufacturing system which includes: (a) providing a quantitative state-space model of said serial manufacturing system that describes processing in terms of sensitivity information and performance in terms of part production and storage/retrieval, said description using process switches in the form of buffer status indicators that express coupling between stages; (b) sensing new sensitivity information that results from simulating said manufacturing system with said model using estimated system performance information; and (c) adjusting said performance information by iteratively using said new sensitivity information in an optimization algorithm, said adjustment being carried out simultaneously with the simulation of step (b).

Other References

Solberg, J. J., "A Mathematical Model of Computerized Manufacturing Systems", Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Production Research, Tokyo, Japan, Aug., 1977
Stecke, K. E., "Production Planning Problems for Flexible Manufacturing Systems", PHD Thesis, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1981
Gershwin, S. B., "An Efficient Decomposition Method for the Approximate Evaluation of Production Lines With Finite Storage Space", Proceedings of 23rd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Las Vegas, Nevada, Dec., 1984
Buzacott, J. A., "Automatic Transfer Lines with Buffer Stocks", The International Journal of Production Research, vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 183-200, 196