System and method for a demand driven lean production control system

1. A system of providing a production control framework, comprising:

a computer at one or more work centers of one or more entities that produce a plurality of parts, the computer comprising:

a user interface comprising one or more tasks for each of the plurality of parts, a job queue comprising an order in which to produce the one or more tasks, a production history comprising a start time and a completion time for each of the one or more tasks, an indication whether each task of the one or more tasks comprises authorization in order to authorize production, one or more control buttons, one or more part-specific demand authorization signals generated when a demand is received at the one or more entities, one or more work center-specific material authorization signals signifying a producing work center and a consuming work center, one or more site-specific material authorization signals, and one or more pull-based production control signals.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user interface further comprises a days-of-cover field and a balance-on-hand field associated with each of the one or more tasks.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

one or more tasks currently authorized by the computer and wherein the user interface indicates at least one task of the one or more tasks that is not currently authorized by the computer comprises authorization in order to produce at least one part of the plurality of parts when the computer receives at least one of the one or more demand authorization signals and the one or more tasks currently authorized by the computer do not satisfy the demand.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the user interface comprises a work center-specific material authorization signal filter and indicates at least one task of the one or more tasks comprises authorization in order to produce at least one part of the plurality of parts when the at least one of the plurality of parts requires at least one of the one or more work center-specific material authorization signals, the work-center specific material authorization signal filter is deactivated, and at least one of the one or more pull-based production control signals is generated for the at least one of the plurality of parts; or

when the at least one of the plurality of parts requires at least one of the one or more work center-specific material authorization signals, the work-center specific material authorization signal filter is activated, a number of the one or more work center-specific material authorization signals are available and the number of the one or more work-specific material authorization signals is greater than a predetermined number of work-center specific material authorization signals required for a pack of the plurality of parts, and at least one of the one or more pull-based production control signals is generated for the least one of the plurality of parts.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the user interface indicates at least one task of the one or more tasks comprises authorization in order to produce at least one part of the plurality of parts when none of the one or more demand authorization signals nor any of the one or more of the work center-specific material authorization signals have been associated with the at least one part of the plurality of parts and when at least one of the one or more pull-based production control signals is generated for the at least one part and completion of all of the one or more currently authorized tasks for the plurality of parts would not use all of the one or more pull-based production control signals generated for the plurality of parts.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising:

one or more stage one work centers authorizing one or more tasks for one or more initial parts associated with a number of the one or more site-specific material authorization signals at the one or more stage one work centers wherein the plurality of parts comprise approximately an equal number of the one or more initial parts when the number of one or more of the site-specific material authorization signals associated with the one or more initial parts equals a pack quantity multiplied by a trigger quantity.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the indication comprises a pull-based production control signals field that indicates whether required pull-based production control signals are present to complete the authorization, a work center-specific material authorization signal field that indicates whether required work center-specific material authorization signals are present to complete the authorization, and a site-specific material authorization signal field that indicates a number of site-specific material authorization signals that are needed for authorization of each of the one or more tasks.

8. A method of providing a production control frame work, comprising:

displaying, with a user interface on a computer at one or more work centers of one or more entities that produce a plurality of parts, one or more tasks for each of the plurality of parts, a job queue comprising an order in which to produce the one or more tasks, a production history comprising a start time and a completion time for each of the one or more tasks, an indication whether each task of the one or more tasks comprises authorization in order to authorize production, one or more control buttons, one or more part-specific demand authorization signals generated when a demand is received at the one or more entities, one or more work center-specific material authorization signals signifying a producing work center and a consuming work center, one or more site-specific material authorization signals, and one or more pull-based production control signals; and

recording, in a storage medium of the computer, the start time and the completion time of each of the one or more tasks.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising displaying, on the user interface, a days of cover and a balance on hand associated with each of the one or more tasks.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the one or more tasks is currently authorized by the computer and the user interface indicates at least one task of the one or more tasks that is not currently authorized by the computer comprises authorization in order to produce at least one part of the plurality of parts when the computer receives at least one of the one or more demand authorization signals and the one or more tasks currently authorized by the computer do not satisfy the demand.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the user interface comprises a work center-specific material authorization signal filter and indicates at least one task of the one or more tasks comprises authorization in order to produce at least one part of the plurality of parts when the at least one of the plurality of parts requires at least one of the one or more work center-specific material authorization signals, the work-center specific material authorization signal filter is deactivated, and at least one of the one or more pull-based production control signals is generated for the at least one of the plurality of parts; or

when the at least one of the plurality of parts requires at least one of the one or more work center-specific material authorization signals, the work-center specific material authorization signal filter is activated, a number of the one or more work center-specific material authorization signals are available and the number of the one or more work-specific material authorization signals is greater than a predetermined number of work-center specific material authorization signals required for a pack of the plurality of parts, and at least one of the one or more pull-based production control signals is generated for the least one of the plurality of parts.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the user interface indicates at least one task of the one or more tasks comprises authorization in order to produce at least one part of the plurality of parts when none of the one or more demand authorization signals nor any of the one or more of the work center-specific material authorization signals have been associated with the at least one part of the plurality of parts and when at least one of the one or more pull-based production control signals is generated for the at least one part and completion of all of the one or more currently authorized tasks for the plurality of parts would not use all of the one or more pull-based production control signals generated for the plurality of parts.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

authorizing by the computer one or more tasks for one or more initial parts associated with a number of the one or more site-specific material authorization signals at one or more stage one work centers wherein the plurality of parts comprise approximately an equal number of the one or more initial parts when the number of one or more of the site-specific material authorization signals associated with the one or more initial parts equals a pack quantity multiplied by a trigger quantity.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the indication comprises a pull-based production control signals field that indicates whether required pull-based production control signals are present to complete the authorization, a work center-specific material authorization signal field that indicates whether required work center-specific material authorization signals are present to complete the authorization, and a site-specific material authorization signal field that indicates a number of site-specific material authorization signals that are needed for authorization of each of the one or more tasks.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodied with software for providing a production control framework, the software when executed using one or more computers is configured to:

display one or more tasks for each of a plurality of parts, a job queue comprising an order in which to produce one or more tasks, a production history comprising a start time and a completion time for each of the one or more tasks, an indication whether each task of the one or more tasks comprises authorization in order to authorize production, one or more control buttons, one or more part-specific demand authorization signals generated when a demand is received at the one or more entities that produce the plurality of parts, one or more work center-specific material authorization signals signifying a producing work center and a consuming work center, one or more site-specific material authorization signals, and one or more pull-based production control signals; and

record the start time and the completion time of each of the one or more tasks.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the software if further configured to:

display a days of cover and a balance on hand associated with each of the one or more tasks.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the software is further configured to:

indicate at least one task of the one or more tasks in order to produce at least one part of the plurality of parts when at least one of the one or more demand authorization signals is received.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the software is further configured to:

indicate at least one task of the one or more tasks comprises authorization in order to produce at least one part of the plurality of parts when the at least one of the plurality of parts requires at least one of the one or more work center-specific material authorization signals, the work-center specific material authorization signal filter is deactivated, and at least one of the one or more pull-based production control signals is generated for the at least one of the plurality of parts; or

when the at least one of the plurality of parts requires at least one of the one or more work center-specific material authorization signals, the work-center specific material authorization signal filter is activated, a number of the one or more work center-specific material authorization signals are available and the number of the one or more work-specific material authorization signals is greater than a predetermined number of work-center specific material authorization signals required for a pack of the plurality of parts, and at least one of the one or more pull-based production control signals is generated for the least one of the plurality of parts.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the software is further configured to:

indicate at least one task of the one or more tasks comprises authorization in order to produce at least one part of the plurality of parts when none of the one or more demand authorization signals nor any of the one or more of the work center-specific material authorization signals have been associated with the at least one part of the plurality of parts and when at least one of the one or more pull-based production control signals is generated for the at least one part and completion of all of the one or more currently authorized tasks for the plurality of parts would not use all of the one or more pull-based production control signals generated for the plurality of parts.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the software is further configured to:

authorize one or more tasks for one or more initial parts associated with a number of the one or more site-specific material authorization signals at one or more stage one work centers wherein the plurality of parts comprise approximately an equal number of the one or more initial parts when the number of one or more of the site-specific material authorization signals associated with the one or more initial parts equals a pack quantity multiplied by a trigger quantity.