RESOURCE SCHEDULING METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR USE WITH COMPUTER DIRECTED ASSEMBLY AND MANUFACTURE

1 . A computer-implemented method of determining a manufacturing capacity for a product created using a computer directed assembly system, the method comprising:

requesting a manufacturing capacity over a production time interval for assembling the product, wherein the product is assembled using a sequence of assembly instructions from the computer directed assembly system;

identifying a set of assemblers available during the production time interval that have been trained and have performed the sequence of assembly instructions associated with assembling the product while using the computer directed assembly system;

projecting an individual capacity for each assembler in the set of assemblers to perform the sequence of assembly instructions during the production time interval using historical assembly performance data for each assembler stored in an assembly record database; and

generating the manufacturing capacity by aggregating the projected individual capacity for each assembler to perform the sequence of assembly instructions over the production time interval.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

scheduling the identified set of assemblers during the production time interval once the set of assemblers has secured sufficient supplies and equipment to perform up to the manufacturing capacity.

3 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

reducing the set of assemblers for a project until the reduced set of assemblers has sufficient supplies and equipment to perform up to the manufacturing capacity.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the computer directed assembly system stores detailed performance information in the assembly record database for each assembly instruction performed by an assembler when training and performing each of the assembly instructions.

5 . A computer program product for determining a manufacturing capacity for a product created using a computer directed assembly system, tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, comprising instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to:

request a manufacturing capacity over a production time interval for assembling the product, wherein the product is assembled using a sequence of assembly instructions from the computer directed assembly system;

identify a set of assemblers available during the production time interval that have been trained and have performed the sequence of assembly instructions associated with assembling the product while using the computer directed assembly system;

project an individual capacity for each assembler in the set of assemblers to perform the sequence of assembly instructions during the production time interval using historical assembly performance data for each assembler stored in an assembly record database; and

generate the manufacturing capacity by aggregating the projected individual capacity for each assembler to perform the sequence of assembly instructions over the production time interval.

6 . The computer program product of claim 5 further comprising instructions that when executed, cause a programmable processor to:

schedule the identified set of assemblers during the production time interval once the set of assemblers has secured sufficient supplies and equipment to perform up to the manufacturing capacity.

7 . The computer program product of claim 5 further comprising instructions that when executed, cause a programmable processor to:

reduce the set of assemblers for a project until the reduced set of assemblers has sufficient supplies and equipment to perform up to the manufacturing capacity.

8 . The computer program product of claim 5 wherein the computer directed assembly system stores detailed performance information in the assembly record database for each assembly instruction performed by an assembler when training and performing each of the assembly instructions.

9 . An apparatus for determining a manufacturing capacity for a product created using a computer directed assembly system, the apparatus comprising:

a processor capable of executing instructions; and

a memory holding instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:

request a manufacturing capacity over a production time interval for assembling the product, wherein the product is assembled using a sequence of assembly instructions from the computer directed assembly system;

identify a set of assemblers available during the production time interval that have been trained and have performed the sequence of assembly instructions associated with assembling the product while using the computer directed assembly system;

project an individual capacity for each assembler in the set of assemblers to perform the sequence of assembly instructions during the production time interval using historical assembly performance data for each assembler stored in an assembly record database; and

generate the manufacturing capacity by aggregating the projected individual capacity for each assembler to perform the sequence of assembly instructions over the production time interval.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising instructions that when executed by the processors, causes the processor to:

schedule the identified set of assemblers during the production time interval once the set of assemblers has secured sufficient supplies and equipment to perform up to the manufacturing capacity.

11 . The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising instructions that when executed by the processors, causes the processor to:

reduce the set of assemblers for a project until the reduced set of assemblers has sufficient supplies and equipment to perform up to the manufacturing capacity.

12 . The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the computer directed assembly system stores detailed performance information in the assembly record database for each assembly instruction performed by an assembler when training and performing each of the assembly instructions.