U.S. patent application number 11/946280 was filed with the patent office on 2008-03-20 for systems and methods for process-driven bill of material.
This patent application is currently assigned to The Boeing Company. Invention is credited to Joe Anelle, Carl E. Bouffiou, Steve DuPont, Steve E. Franzen, Brad J. Harrison, Robert J. Schreiber, Jerry D. Zayic.
Application Number | 20080071650 11/946280 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36585107 |
Filed Date | 2008-03-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080071650 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Zayic; Jerry D. ; et
al. |
March 20, 2008 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROCESS-DRIVEN BILL OF MATERIAL
Abstract
The present invention is directed to systems and methods for
compiling production and planning information. In one embodiment, a
system for planning the production of a product includes at least
one database configured to store engineering information related to
the product and further configured to store process information
related to the product, and a processor coupled to the at least one
database to combine selected information from the at least one
database to generate a manufacturing planning document that defines
the product. In another embodiment, a method of generating a
manufacturing bill of material for a selected product includes
compiling a process data structure from the process information,
compiling a product data structure from the engineering
information, and generating a manufacturing bill of material by
combining the process data structure and the product data
structure.
Inventors: |
Zayic; Jerry D.; (Renton,
WA) ; Bouffiou; Carl E.; (Tacoma, WA) ;
Anelle; Joe; (St. Charles, MO) ; Schreiber; Robert
J.; (St. Louis, MO) ; DuPont; Steve; (Kent,
WA) ; Franzen; Steve E.; (St. Charles, MO) ;
Harrison; Brad J.; (Yelm, WA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LEE & HAYES PLLC
421 W RIVERSIDE AVENUE SUITE 500
SPOKANE
WA
99201
US
|
Assignee: |
The Boeing Company
Chicago
IL
|
Family ID: |
36585107 |
Appl. No.: |
11/946280 |
Filed: |
November 28, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11013311 |
Dec 15, 2004 |
7321804 |
|
|
11946280 |
Nov 28, 2007 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/29 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/06 20130101;
G06Q 10/0875 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/029 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30 |
Claims
1. A system for planning the production of a product, comprising:
at least one database configured to store engineering information
and further configured to store process information related to the
product; a processor coupled to the at least one database and
operable to combine selected engineering and process information
from the at least one database to generate a manufacturing planning
document that defines the product.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one database is
further configured to store an engineering bill of material that
defines an as-designed configuration for the product.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one database
includes at least one of a drawing tree that includes references to
engineering drawings that at least partially define a configuration
of the product, a parts list that identifies at least a portion of
the component parts that comprise the product, and a directory that
includes digital representations of component parts that at least
partially define the product.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one database
includes at least one precedence network that at least partially
defines a predetermined assembly sequence for the product.
5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an input device
operable to transfer selected information to the at least one
database.
6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a storage device
coupled to the processor that is operable to receive a processed
result from the processor.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the storage device is coupled to
a communications network that is configured to transfer the
processed result to a plurality of information requesters.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of and claims priority to
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/013,311 (Attorney Docket No.
BO1-0063US), filed on Dec. 15, 2004, which is incorporated herein
by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates generally to information technology,
and more particularly, to systems and methods for compiling
production and planning information.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Complex manufacturing projects such as the design and
manufacture of aircraft require that engineering information,
component parts and processes be successfully integrated. With
regard in particular to the production of aircraft, typically
hundreds of thousands of parts and associated processes must be
integrated according to a comprehensive plan to produce an aircraft
in accordance with the engineering information.
[0004] Engineering information typically includes engineering
drawings and parts lists that, when combined, form an engineering
product structure generally known as an Engineering Bill of
Material (EBOM). The EBOM describes how materials, components
assemblies and sub-assemblies must be combined to form the desired
product, and thus defines the as-designed configuration of the
product. A Manufacturing Bill of Material (MBOM) is generated from
the EBOM and a manufacturing process plan so that a list of parts
may be scheduled for assembly of the product on the factory floor.
The manufacturing process plan typically includes factory floor
planning, tool planting and scheduling, compilation of work plans
for assembly personnel, assembly plans, and other similar
activities. Accordingly, the MBOM generally defines an as-planned
configuration for the product.
[0005] The as-designed configuration and the as-planned
configuration for the product often require reconciliation before
production may occur. For example, the as-planned configuration may
require assembly of the product in a sequence not contemplated in
the as-designed configuration, or alternately, the as-planned
configuration may require the modification of a part in the
as-designed configuration in order to facilitate the installation
of the part into the final product. In addition, over the
production lifetime of the product, various production differences
may occur, including component, tooling and material substitutions,
and/or labor reallocations instituted as timesaving measures.
Consequently, considerable effort is generally required to
accurately maintain the MBOM.
[0006] Current systems and practices used to formulate the MBOM are
serially executed, and are highly fragmented. Consequently,
significant amounts of time must be devoted to formulation and/or
reconciliation of the MBOM. Further, current systems and practices
generate numerous errors that require the expenditure of still more
time to correct.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention comprises systems and methods for
compiling production and planning information. In one aspect, a
system for planning the production of a product includes at least
one database configured to store engineering information and
process information related to the product, and a processor coupled
to the at least one database to combine selected information from
the at least one database to generate a manufacturing planning
document that defines the product. In another aspect, a method of
generating a manufacturing bill of material for a selected product
includes compiling a process data structure from the process
information, compiling a product data structure from the
engineering information, and generating a manufacturing bill of
material by combining the process data structure and the product
data structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Preferred and alternate embodiments of the present invention
are described in detail below with reference to the following
drawings.
[0009] FIG. 1 is a block diagrammatic view of a production and
planning processing system according to an embodiment of the
invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagrammatic representation of a product
structure employed with the system of FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a block diagrammatic representation of a process
structure employed with the system of FIG. 1; and
[0012] FIG. 4 is a block diagrammatic view of a method for
generating a manufacturing bill of material according to still
another embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The present invention relates to systems and methods for
compiling production and planning information. Many specific
details of certain embodiments of the invention are set forth in
the following description and in FIGS. 1 through 4 to provide a
thorough understanding of such embodiments. One skilled in the art,
however, will understand that the present invention may have
additional embodiments, or that the present invention may be
practiced without several of the details described in the following
description.
[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagrammatic view of a production planning
processing system 10 according to an embodiment of the invention.
The system 11 includes a processing unit 12 that generally includes
any programmable electronic device that is operable to receive
programming instructions and input data, and to process the data
according to the programming instructions. Although a single
processing unit is shown in FIG. 1, the processing unit 12 may be
comprised of a plurality of processing units that are coupled
serially or in parallel so that each processing unit performs a
selected portion of the total computational task performed by the
processing unit 12. The system 10 also includes an engineering
information database 14 that is operable to store engineering
information of various types. For example, the engineering
information database 14 may include engineering requirements such
as drawing trees that reference engineering drawings and associated
parts lists that define the configuration of the product. In
addition, directories that include three-dimensional digital
representations of component parts may also be included in the
database 14. Other information stored in the database 14 may
include part tolerances, process specifications (e.g. surface
finish requirements, material heat treating requirements, torque
requirements and other similar information). Various analytical
reports may also be included in the database 14. For example,
reports that include stress, thermal, electromagnetic and fluid
flow studies for various product components may be present. In
addition, digital representations of the foregoing stress, thermal,
electromagnetic and fluid flow studies may also be present.
[0015] The system 10 also includes a product and process structure
database 16 that is operable to store product and process
structures generated by the processing unit 12. The product
structure and the process structure will be described in greater
detail below. Briefly and in general terms, however, the process
structure includes part, resource and planning relationships for a
selected component part or assembly. In particular, the planning
relationships may include precedence information that describes a
predetermined assembly sequence for a component part or assembly.
Although FIG. 1 shows two separate and distinct databases, it is
understood that the content of the databases 14 and 16 may be
incorporated into a single database. In a particular embodiment of
the present invention, the product and process structures may
include data structures that are created as disclosed in a
co-pending and commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No.
11/012,901, entitled "System and Method for Production Planning
Analysis Using Discrete Event Simulation", which application is
incorporated by reference herein.
[0016] With continued reference to FIG. 1, the system 10 includes
an input device 18 that is configured to properly format
information submitted to the system 10. The information provided to
the input device 18 may include any engineering and/or planning
data that is suited for storage in the database 14 and the database
16. The input device 18 thus provides a means for introducing
engineering and/or planning data to the processing unit 12 for
subsequent storage in the databases 14 and 16. Since the foregoing
engineering and/or planning data is subject to constant revision,
the input device 18 similarly provides a means for introducing
revised data or updated information to the databases 14 and 16.
[0017] The system 10 includes a storage device 20 that receives
processed information from the processing unit 12, which may
include a Manufacturing Bill of Material (MBOM) 22 that describes
the as-planned configuration for a desired product. Alternately,
the storage device 20 may also serve as an intermediate storage
location for information generated in the system 10 before the
information is transferred to one or more information requestors 24
that request a transfer of desired information by means of a
communications network 26.
[0018] The operation of the system 10 of FIG. 1 will now be
described. As discussed above, the input device 18 may be used to
transfer engineering and/or planning data to the system 10, and the
data is stored in a selected one of the databases 14 and 16. The
engineering data generally describes the configuration of a desired
product, such as a commercial or military aircraft, while the
planning data generally comprises a scheduling definition, which is
generally expressed as a precedence network. The processing unit 12
extracts required information from the database 14 and also
extracts required information from the database 16 and generates a
process structure and a product structure, respectively. The
product structure generally defines fundamental objects employed in
the assembly of the product, while the process structure generally
provides an ordering of the assembly of component parts into the
product. The product structure and the process structure will be
described in greater detail below. When the processing unit 12
generates the process structure the processing unit 12 may
advantageously access three-dimensional digital models (e.g.,
models created using the CATIA digital modeling system, or other
similar modeling systems) stored in the engineering database 16 to
determine if component part or assembly conflicts occur.
Accordingly, if such conflicts occur, the precedence information
for the affected part or assembly may be readily altered to specify
a different assembly sequence that avoids the conflict. If
differences arise that cannot be reconciled, the processing unit 12
generates an indication that the submitted data cannot be
reconciled.
[0019] The processing unit 12 may then dynamically combine the
process structure and the product structure to generate the MBOM
22. Since known methods for generating a manufacturing bill of
material generally involve a plurality of planning activities
conducted by many individual participants, the compiled bill of
material frequently includes errors and/or inaccuracies that are
often resolved informally at the production level. The MBOM 22
generated by the foregoing embodiment exhibits fewer errors than
conventional methods, and also conveniently allows differences
between engineering information and process information to be
reconciled.
[0020] FIG. 2 is a block diagrammatic representation of a product
structure 30 that may be processed by the system 10 of FIG. 1. The
product structure 30 is a data structure generated by the system 10
of FIG. 1 and may be further comprised of three interrelated
layers. A reference layer 32 includes information that defines
reusable objects that comprise the product. Accordingly, the
reference layer 32 includes a reference part description 34 that
represents a physical item that will be produced or physically
utilized in the production process. The reference part description
34 may be incorporated into the product more than one time and at
more than one location. The reference part 34 may comprise a single
part, or alternately, may be comprised of an assembly of parts, so
that the reference part description comprises a sub-assembly of the
product. The reference layer 32 may also include a reference
engineering requirement 36 that describes an engineering drawing or
parts list. As discussed more fully above, engineering data resides
on the system 10 of FIG. 1 in the engineering database 14, which
may be used to provide the reference engineering requirement 36. A
location and orientation description 38 provides a location for the
reference part 34 and a preferred direction for installing the
reference part 34. Other data 40 may include, but is not limited
to, part master and part version information. The part master
includes information for the reference part 34 that generally does
not change. For example, a part master may include a part number.
The other data 40 may also include a part version that is used to
discriminate the reference part 34 from earlier versions. A loft
and master definition file may also be included in the other data
40. The loft and master definition file defines a shape of the
reference part 34.
[0021] The product definition 30 further includes a product layer
42 that describes an end product definition. Accordingly, the
product layer 42 includes a product definition 44 that provides the
engineering definition for the reference part 34. The engineering
definition includes, for example, component parts, products, and
engineering requirements. The product layer 42 also includes
analysis data 46 that includes various reports documenting stress,
thermal, fluid and electrical analyses. As discussed above, this
information may also be stored in the engineering database 16 of
FIG. 1.
[0022] The product definition 30 further includes an instance layer
48 that generally defines the usage of the reference part 34 in the
product. The instance 50 accordingly defines the location and
orientation of the reference part 34 on a product. The instance 50
is generally location-specific and cannot therefore apply to a
different location on the product. The instance layer 48 also
includes an engineering requirement callout 52 that defines one or
more particular requirements that must be met in the reference part
34. An applicability expression 54 may also be present that defines
when the use of the reference part 34 is valid for the product.
[0023] FIG. 3 is a block diagrammatic representation of a process
structure 60 that may be processed by the system 10 of FIG. 1. The
product structure 30 (FIG. 2) is also a data structure that is
generated by the system 10 of FIG. 1. The process structure 60 may
be further comprised of three inter-related layers. A factory layer
62 generally provides information regarding the facilities
available at a selected factory 64, and may include information
that defines a factory floor layout, tooling and fixtures available
at the selected factory 64, as well as other location-specific
information. A control code layer 66 provides information regarding
specific physical work areas that are present in the selected
factory 64. Accordingly, each area control code (ACC) 68 includes
precedence information that describes how the product must be
assembled within the selected factory 64. The ACC 68 thus controls
a workflow in the selected factory 64. The process structure 60
also includes a process layer 70 that includes one or more process
plans 72. The process plans 72 may include a precedence network
that orders the operations that must be performed to accomplish the
various tasks required to assemble the product.
[0024] FIG. 4 is a block diagrammatic view of a method 80 for
generating a manufacturing bill of material according to still
another embodiment of the invention. At block 82, process related
information and engineering information is provided to the system
10 of FIG. 1 through the input device 18, and stored in the
respective databases. At block 84, a process structure as shown in
detail in FIG. 3 is compiled from the information stored in the
process structure database 14, and provides scheduling and planning
definition for the product. The compilation process additionally
reviews the submitted data to verify that the submitted information
is internally consistent. If the submitted information is not
internally consistent, or is incomplete, an error indication is
provided so that the submitted information may be corrected. At
block 86, a product structure, as shown in FIG. 2 is compiled from
information stored in the engineering database 16. Again, during
the compilation process, if the information is not internally
consistent, or is incomplete, an error indication is generated so
that the submitted information may be corrected.
[0025] At step 88, the process structure and the product structure
are combined to generate the manufacturing bill of material (MBOM)
that defines an as-planned configuration for the product. The
resulting MBOM is checked at block 90 to verify that the process
structure and the product structure are properly reconciled in the
MBOM. If discrepancies exist, an error message is generated at
block 92 to indicate that proper reconciliation was not achieved. A
discrepancy would exist, for example, if the MBOM specified that
two or more tasks were performed simultaneously, when the physical
tasks must be performed successively. After the error message is
generated at block 92, the method 80 returns to block 82.
Otherwise, if no discrepancies are detected at block 90, the MBOM
is stored at block 94, where it may be retrieved by information
requesters 24 through the communications network 26, as shown in
FIG. 1.
[0026] While preferred and alternate embodiments of the invention
have been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes
can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited
by the disclosure of these preferred and alternate embodiments.
Instead, the invention should be determined entirely by reference
to the claims that follow.
* * * * *