IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,619,220
Granted Patent B2
US 12,619,220 · App. 18/014,745 · Granted May 5, 2026

Production management system, production management method, and non-transitory computer readable medium

Inventors: Masato Katsuki (Tokyo, JP); Keiji Sato (Tokyo, JP); Eiji Taya (Tokyo, JP); Tsutomu Niho (Tokyo, JP); Makoto Endo (Tokyo, JP); Toshiya Yamashita (Tokyo, JP); Akifumi Inomata (Tokyo, JP); Fumihiro Saito (Tokyo, JP)
Assignees: Yokogawa Manufacturing Corporation; Yokogawa Electric Corporation
G05B19/41875G05B2219/32368
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,619,220
App. No.
18/014,745
Granted
May 5, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Provided is a production management system including: an operational data acquisition unit for acquiring operational data regarding a production element in a target production process as a target among a plurality of production processes for producing a product from a material; a quality data acquisition unit for acquiring quality data indicating quality of a target product; an analysis unit for analyzing the operational and quality data to estimate an influence, caused by an upstream product, on the quality of the target product, the upstream product being a product of an upstream production process and serving as a material in the target production process; and a feedback unit for outputting, based on an analysis result, feedback data for evaluating a production element in the upstream production process based on the quality of the target product in the upstream production process.

Claims (44)

1 . A production management system comprising:

at least one processor;

an operational data acquisition unit that uses the at least one processor to acquire operational data regarding a production element in a target production process as a target among a plurality of production processes for producing a product from a material;

a quality data acquisition unit that uses the at least one processor to acquire quality data indicating quality of a target product which is a product of the target production process;

an analysis unit that uses the at least one processor to analyze the operational data and the quality data to estimate an influence, which is caused by an upstream product, on the quality of the target product, the upstream product being a product of an upstream production process which is an upstream process of the target production process and serving as a material in the target production process;

a feedback unit that uses the at least one processor to output, on a basis of an analysis result, feedback data for evaluating a production element in the upstream production process on a basis of the quality of the target product in the upstream production process;

a control information decision unit that uses the at least one processor to decide control information for controlling the production element in the target production process on the basis of the analysis result; and

a control unit that uses the at least one processor to control the production element in the target production process on a basis of the control information decided by the control information decision unit;

wherein the analysis unit uses the at least one processor to estimate the influence at least in part based on an analysis of similarity between instances of data of the acquired operational data corresponding to different lots of the target product.

2 . The production management system according to claim 1 , wherein the analysis unit uses the at least one processor to analyze a plurality of pieces of the operational data with which different pieces of the quality data are associated, to specify the upstream product that has caused deterioration in the quality of the target product.

3 . The production management system according to claim 2 , wherein the feedback unit uses the at least one processor to output information for identifying the upstream product specified by the analysis unit.

4 . The production management system according to claim 3 , wherein the feedback unit uses the at least one processor to output information for identifying a lot of the target product of which quality is estimated to no longer satisfy a predetermined standard due to the upstream product specified by the analysis unit.

5 . The production management system according to claim 3 , further comprising a lot management unit that uses the at least one processor to manage information for identifying a lot of the upstream product and information for identifying a lot of the target product in association with each other, wherein

the feedback unit uses the at least one processor to output information for identifying a lot of the upstream product corresponding to a lot of the target product of which quality is estimated to no longer satisfy a predetermined standard due to the upstream product specified by the analysis unit.

6 . The production management system according to claim 3 , wherein the feedback unit uses the at least one processor to output information indicating a yield of the target product caused by the upstream product specified by the analysis unit.

7 . The production management system according to claim 3 , wherein the quality data acquisition unit uses the at least one processor to acquire, as the quality data, an evaluation result of the quality of the target product evaluated in the target production process.

8 . The production management system according to claim 2 , wherein the feedback unit uses the at least one processor to output information for identifying a lot of the target product of which quality is estimated to no longer satisfy a predetermined standard due to the upstream product specified by the analysis unit.

9 . The production management system according to claim 2 , further comprising a lot management unit that uses the at least one processor to manage information for identifying a lot of the upstream product and information for identifying a lot of the target product in association with each other, wherein

the feedback unit uses the at least one processor to output information for identifying a lot of the upstream product corresponding to a lot of the target product of which quality is estimated to no longer satisfy a predetermined standard due to the upstream product specified by the analysis unit.

10 . The production management system according to claim 2 , wherein the feedback unit uses the at least one processor to output information indicating a yield of the target product caused by the upstream product specified by the analysis unit.

11 . The production management system according to claim 2 , wherein the quality data acquisition unit uses the at least one processor to acquire, as the quality data, an evaluation result of the quality of the target product evaluated in the target production process.

12 . The production management system according to claim 2 , wherein the quality data acquisition unit uses the at least one processor to acquire, as the quality data, feedback data for evaluating the production element in the target production process on a basis of quality of a downstream product in the target production process, the feedback data being output from a production management system configured to manage a downstream production process of producing the downstream product by using the target product as a material.

13 . The production management system according to claim 2 , wherein the analysis unit is further uses the at least one processor to estimate an influence, which is caused by an operation in the target production process, on the quality of the target product.

14 . The production management system according to claim 1 , wherein the quality data acquisition unit uses the at least one processor to acquire, as the quality data, an evaluation result of the quality of the target product evaluated in the target production process.

15 . The production management system according to claim 1 , wherein the quality data acquisition unit uses the at least one processor to acquire, as the quality data, feedback data for evaluating the production element in the target production process on a basis of quality of a downstream product in the target production process, the feedback data being output from a production management system configured to manage a downstream production process of producing the downstream product by using the target product as a material.

16 . The production management system according to claim 1 , wherein the analysis unit further uses the at least one processor to estimate an influence, which is caused by an operation in the target production process, on the quality of the target product.

17 . The production management system according to claim 1 , wherein

the analysis of similarity includes using a Mahalanobis distance in determining the similarity of operational data between the lots.

18 . A production management method comprising:

acquiring operational data regarding a production element in a target production process as a target among a plurality of production processes for producing a product from a material;

acquiring quality data indicating quality of a target product which is a product of the target production process;

analyzing the operational data and the quality data to estimate an influence, which is caused by an upstream product, on the quality of the target product, the upstream product being a product of an upstream production process which is an upstream process of the target production process and serving as a material in the target production process;

outputting, on a basis of an analysis result, feedback data for evaluating a production element in the upstream production process on a basis of the quality of the target product in the upstream production process;

deciding control information for controlling the production element in the target production process on the basis of the analysis result; and

controlling the production element in the target production process on a basis of the decided control information;

wherein the analyzing includes estimating the influence at least in part based on an analysis of similarity between instances of data of the acquired operational data corresponding to different lots of the target product.

19 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having recorded thereon a production management program that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to function as:

an operational data acquisition unit configured to acquire operational data regarding a production element in a target production process as a target among a plurality of production processes for producing a product from a material;

a quality data acquisition unit configured to acquire quality data indicating quality of a target product which is a product of the target production process;

an analysis unit configured to analyze the operational data and the quality data to estimate an influence, which is caused by an upstream product, on the quality of the target product, the upstream product being a product of an upstream production process which is an upstream process of the target production process and serving as a material in the target production process;

a feedback unit configured to output, on a basis of an analysis result, feedback data for evaluating a production element in the upstream production process on a basis of the quality of the target product in the upstream production process;

a control information decision unit configured to decide control information for controlling the production element in the target production process on the basis of the analysis result; and

a control unit configured to control the production element in the target production process on a basis of the control information decided by the control information decision unit;

wherein the analysis unit uses the at least one processor to estimate the influence at least in part based on an analysis of similarity between instances of data of the acquired operational data corresponding to different lots of the target product.

Assignments (4)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 26, 2023
From: YOKOGAWA SOLUTION SERVICE CORPORATION
To: YOKOGAWA ELECTRIC CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 065950/0700 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 26, 2023
From: YOKOGAWA SOLUTION SERVICE CORPORATION
To: YOKOGAWA ELECTRIC CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 065950/0674 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 6, 2023
From: ENDO, MAKOTO
To: YOKOGAWA MANUFACTURING CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 062290/0083 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 6, 2023
From: KATSUKI, MASATO; SATO, KEIJI; TAYA, EIJI; NIHO, TSUTOMU; YAMASHITA, TOSHIYA; INOMATA, AKIFUMI; SAITO, FUMIHIRO
To: YOKOGAWA SOLUTION SERVICE CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 062290/0024 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2020-152340 · Sep 10, 2020 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230280730A1 · Sep 7, 2023
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