Systems and methods for modeling a manufacturing assembly line

1. A method for assessing faults in a manufacturing assembly line, the manufacturing assembly line comprising a plurality of cells, each cell being configured to successively process a workpiece along the manufacturing assembly line, the method comprising operating a processor to:

receive cell data associated with at least one cell of the manufacturing assembly line, the cell data comprising, for each cell, at least one input state of that cell and a cell position of that cell within the manufacturing assembly line;

extract feature data from the cell data, the feature data comprising at least one input state and at least one a cell position of at least one cell;

determine a plurality of faults, each fault corresponding to one cell;

determine whether at least one fault of the plurality of faults comprises a defective workpiece fault;

for each defective workpiece fault,

generate a scrap workpiece cost associated with the defective workpiece fault;

determine whether the defective workpiece fault can be remedied with a cell within the plurality of cells configurable as a rework cell for remedying manufacturing faults; and

in response to determining the defective workpiece fault can be remedied with a rework cell, generate a rework workpiece cost associated with the defective workpiece fault;

apply the extracted feature data, the scrap workpiece cost, and the rework workpiece cost to a predictive model generated for predicting a production level of the manufacturing assembly line to determine a priority level for each fault and a recommendation for each defective workpiece fault, the recommendation comprising one of a rework recommendation to use the rework cell for remedying the defective workpiece fault and a scrap recommendation to discard the defective workpiece;

determine at least one high priority fault from the plurality of faults based on the priority level for each fault;

determine whether the at least one high priority fault comprises a defective workpiece fault; and

in response to determining that the at least one high priority fault comprises a defective workpiece fault, generate at least one operator alert based on the at least one high priority fault and the recommendation for the defective workpiece fault;

otherwise, generate at least one operator alert based on the at least one high priority fault.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

determining the plurality of faults comprises determining a plurality of faults for one cell; and

determining the at least one high priority fault comprises determining one high priority fault for that one cell by selecting a fault with the highest priority level from the plurality of faults for that one cell.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

determining the plurality of faults comprises determining a plurality of faults for at least two cells, each fault corresponding to one of the at least two cells;

determining the at least one high priority fault comprises determining one high priority fault for one of the at least two cells by selecting a fault with the highest priority level from the plurality of faults for the at least two cells.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the priority level for each fault comprises:

determining an input state of at least one cell upstream of a cell corresponding to that fault when that fault occurs at the corresponding cell; and

determining the priority level for that fault based on the input state.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the priority level for each fault comprises:

determining an input state of at least one cell downstream of a cell corresponding to that fault when that fault occurs at the corresponding cell; and

determining the priority level for that fault based on the input state.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the priority level for that fault is based on whether the production level meets a predetermined production quota.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the priority level for each fault comprises:

determining a defect level of the manufacturing assembly line when that fault occurs at a corresponding cell; and

determining the priority level for that fault based on the defect level.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining the priority level for that fault is further based on whether the defect level meets a predetermined production quota.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

each cell comprises at least one device configured to process the workpiece;

each fault comprises at least one device fault, each device fault corresponding to a device of a cell corresponding to that fault;

the at least one operator alert is generated further based on a device fault corresponding to the at least one high priority fault.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the plurality of faults comprises:

determining at least one input state of at least one cell; and

determining the plurality of faults based on the at least one input state.

11. A system for assessing faults in a manufacturing assembly line, the manufacturing assembly line comprising a plurality of cells, each cell being configured to successively process a workpiece along the manufacturing assembly line, the system comprising a processor configured to:

receive cell data associated with at least one cell of the manufacturing assembly line, the cell data comprising, for each cell, at least one input state of that cell and a cell position of that cell within the manufacturing assembly line;

extract feature data from the cell data, the feature data comprising at least one input state and at least one a cell position of at least one cell;

determine a plurality of faults, each fault corresponding to one cell;

determine whether at least one fault of the plurality of faults comprises a defective workpiece fault;

for each defective workpiece fault,

generate a scrap workpiece cost associated with the defective workpiece fault;

determine whether the defective workpiece fault can be remedied with a cell within the plurality of cells configurable as a rework cell for remedying manufacturing faults; and

in response to determining the defective workpiece fault can be remedied with a rework cell, generate a reworkable workpiece cost associated with the defective workpiece fault;

apply the extracted feature data, the scrap workpiece cost, and the reworkable workpiece cost to a predictive model generated for predicting a production level of the manufacturing assembly line to determine a priority level for each fault and a recommendation for each defective workpiece fault, the recommendation comprising one of a rework recommendation to use the rework cell for remedying the defective workpiece fault and a scrap recommendation to discard the defective workpiece;

determine at least one high priority fault from the plurality of faults based on the priority level for each fault;

determine whether the at least one high priority fault comprises a defective workpiece fault; and

in response to determining that the at least one high priority fault comprises a defective workpiece fault, generate at least one operator alert based on the at least one high priority fault and the recommendation for the defective workpiece fault;

otherwise, generate at least one operator alert based on the at least one high priority fault.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to:

determine a plurality of faults for one cell; and

determine one high priority fault for that one cell by selecting a fault with the highest priority level from the plurality of faults for that one cell.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to:

determine a plurality of faults for at least two cells, each fault corresponding to one of the at least two cells; and

determine one high priority fault for one of the at least two cells by selecting a fault with the highest priority level from the plurality of faults for the at least two cells.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to:

determine an input state of at least one cell upstream of a cell corresponding to that fault when that fault occurs at the corresponding cell; and

determine the priority level for that fault based on the input state.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to:

determine an input state of at least one cell downstream of a cell corresponding to that fault when that fault occurs at the corresponding cell; and

determine the priority level for that fault based on the input state.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the priority level for that fault is based on whether the production level meets a predetermined production quota.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to, for each fault:

determine a defect level of the manufacturing assembly line when that fault occurs at a corresponding cell; and

determine the priority level for that fault based on the defect level.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the priority level for that fault is based on whether the defect level meets a predetermined production quota.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein:

each cell comprises at least one device configured to process the workpiece;

each fault comprises at least one device fault, each device fault corresponding to a device of a cell corresponding to that fault;

the processor is further configured to generate the at least one operator alert based on a device fault corresponding to the at least one high priority fault.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to:

determine at least one input state of at least one cell; and

determine the plurality of faults based on the at least one input state.