Constraint-based production planning and scheduling
View Patent ↗The present invention is a constraint-based planning tool that specifically addresses the needs of complex discrete and process industries by providing a computationally efficient method and system for fulfillment of customer orders in a supply chain. By comprehensively synchronizing and optimizing the flow of materials through the enterprise, the present invention creates a feasible plan for manufacturing operations that simultaneously optimizes both material and capacity constraints by planning and scheduling multiple customer orders, planning for use the various resources located in remote locations needed to fulfill such orders, and scheduling the used resources for replenishment at appropriate times so that the resources meet the needs of the orders.
1. A computer-implemented method for deriving at least one plan for scheduling a use of at least one available human and non-human resource to satisfy one or more demands for goods or services comprising the steps of:
describing an environment which models and represents the at least one available human and non-human resources and at least one alternative methodology for utilizing said at least one available human and non-human resources;
describing each of said at least one available human and non-human resources and a capacity of each of said at least one available human and non-human resources;
forecasting production requirements for a plurality of demands within a common production process;
describing at least one production schedule which describes the use and limitations on use of at least one of said at least one available human and non-human resources from a point beyond said common production process;
generating, by a priority module, a priority for each said at least one non-human resource;
defining each demand within said plurality of demands from said point beyond said common production process as one or more orders where each of the orders has one or more line items;
scheduling said orders according to a set of possible plans based upon the environment and said priorities, wherein said set of possible plans includes a plurality of possible plans; and
evaluating, by a computer and through the use of dynamic prioritization, and based on common part station information and not common part station information, each possible plan of said set of possible plans for the purpose of at least one of accepting the plan because it is desired to be implemented and rejecting the plan and initiating steps for creating a new plan.
2. A system for deriving at least one plan for scheduling a use of at least one available human and non-human resource to satisfy one or more demands for goods or services comprising:
means for describing an environment which models the at least one available human and non-human resources and at least one alternative methodology for utilizing said at least one available human and non-human resources;
means for describing each of said at least one available human and non-human resources and a capacity of each of said at least one available human and non-human resources;
means for forecasting production requirements for demands within a common production process;
means for describing at least one production schedule which describes the use and limitations on use of at least one of said at least one available human and non-human resources from a point beyond said common production process;
means for defining each of said demands from said point beyond said common production process as one or more orders where each of the orders has one or more line items;
means for scheduling said orders according to a set of possible plans based upon the environment, wherein said set of possible plans includes a plurality of possible plans; and
means for evaluating, by a computer and through the use of dynamic prioritization, and based on common part station information and not common part station information, each possible plan of said set of possible plans for the purpose of at least one of accepting the plan because it is desired to be implemented and rejecting the plan and initiating steps for creating a new plan.
3. A system for deriving at least one plan for scheduling a use of available resources to satisfy one or more demands for goods or services comprising:
a module for describing an environment which models the available resources and alternative ways to utilize said resources;
a module for describing each of said available resources and a capacity of each of said available resources;
a module for forecasting production requirements for demands within said common production process;
a module for describing at least one production schedule which describes the use and limitations on use of some of said available resources from a point beyond said common production process;
a module for defining each of said demands from said point beyond said common production process as one or more orders where each of the orders has one or more line items;
a module for scheduling said orders according to a set of possible plans based upon the environment, wherein said set of possible plans includes a plurality of plans; and
a module for evaluating, by a computer and through the use of dynamic prioritization, and based on common part station information and not common part station information, each possible plan of said set of possible plans for the purpose of either (a) accepting the plan because it is desired to be implemented, or (b) rejecting the plan and initiating steps for creating a new plan.
4. A non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a machine to perform the steps of deriving at least one plan for scheduling a use of available resources to satisfy one or more demands for goods or services, comprising the steps of:
describing an environment which models the available resources and alternative ways to utilize said resources;
describing each of said available resources and a capacity of each of said available resources;
forecasting production requirements for demands within said common production process;
describing at least one production schedule which describes the use and limitations on use of some of said available resources from a point beyond said common production process;
defining each of said demands from said point beyond said common production process as one or more orders where each of the orders has one or more line items;
generating a priority for each said at least one non-human resource;
scheduling said orders according to a first possible plan based upon the environment included in a set including a plurality of possible plans based upon the environment and a comparison of said priorities; and
evaluating, through the use of dynamic prioritization, and based on common part station information and not common part station information, each possible plan of said set of possible plans for the purpose of either (a) accepting the plan because it is desired to be implemented, or (b) rejecting the plan and initiating steps for creating a new plan.