WO2008034938A1

WO2008034938A1 - Processing of manufacturing data

Info

Publication number: WO2008034938A1
Application number: PCT/FI2006/050406
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ari Tikka; Jeff Bradbury
Original assignee: ABB Technology AG
Current assignee: ABB Technology AG
Priority date: 2006-09-21
Filing date: 2006-09-21
Publication date: 2008-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 2009-03-21

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for processing manufacturing data in a global enterprise having a plurality of local factories. The apparatus provides a local hierarchical data structure, in which hierarchy is localized to meet the needs of a local factory, and applies a common design structure, available to plurality of local factories, to the local hierarchical data structure by maintaining the hierarchy of the local hierarchical data structure.

Description

PROCESSING OF MANUFACTURING DATA

FIELD

The invention relates to processing of a manufacturing data in a global enterprise.

BACKGROUND

Global manufacturing enterprises usually expand by buying local factories in different countries. Often the case is that those factories continue their business as usual with their own product line and this leads to many product concepts and design systems being simultaneously used in different factories of the same enterprise. The local factories often gain nothing for being part of the global business but often they only have to pay for the overhead for being part of the global operation.

In order to utilize the economics of scale and to remove overlapping R&D (Research and Development) efforts, global companies develop a single product concept and implement it worldwide. However, the problem with this approach is that it is impossible to have a single bill of materials (BOM) structure that could be used by every factory in every country, because the factories use different languages, article numbering systems, different outsourcing policies, and their local customers have different needs.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, there is provided a method of processing manufacturing data in a global enterprise having a plurality of local factories, comprising steps of providing a local hierarchical data structure, in which hierarchy is localized to meet local needs of a local factory, and applying a common design structure, available to plurality of local factories, to the local hierarchical data structure by maintaining the hierarchy of the local hierarchical data structure. In another aspect, there is provided a computer program, comprising program code means adapted to perform the method when the program is run on a computer.

In still another aspect, there is provided an apparatus for processing manufacturing data in a global enterprise having a plurality of local factories, the apparatus comprising a processing unit configured to provide a local hierarchical data structure, in which hierarchy is localized to meet local needs of a local factory, and apply a common design structure, available to plurality of local factories, to the local hierarchical data structure by maintaining the hierarchy of the local hierarchical data structure.

DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a method;

Figure 2A shows an example of a general hierarchical structure of bill of materials;

Figure 2B shows an example of a hierarchical structure of a localized bill of materials;

Figure 2C shows an example of a design structure in view of a localized bill of materials;

Figure 2D shows a localized bill of materials;

Figure 3 highlights an example of a design structure;

Figure 4 highlights an example of a local bill of material structure for receiving the design structure of Figure 3;

Figure 5 shows a combination of the design structure of Figure 3 and the localized bill of materials structure of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 shows one embodiment of an apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 shows one embodiment of a method. The method may be applied to data processing. In one embodiment, the method applies to processing of design data in view of a data template. The data template may be a data template presenting a bill of materials of a local factory. The local factory here denotes a local manufacturing entity, including one or more operationally connected manufacturing sites and a possible set of subcontractors providing services to the manufacturing sites. In a global enterprise, the factory may thus mean a manufacturing entity of a certain country. The factory may also mean a manufacturing site in a city of a country in which case there may be several local factories in a country.

Figure 1 shows, on a high level, how design information is localized to meet the needs of a local factory. On the left hand side in blocks 100 and 102, a local BOM template (B) is created by using a master data template (A). The master template is typically created once in the enterprise and localization of the master template to a local BOM template may be a monthly process, for instance. Provision of the local BOM template may be a manual process, wherein a local administrator modifies a master data template according to the process used locally. As an example, the BOM master template defines three tags, a door comprising a hinge and a handle hierarchically below the door. In a local factory, however, the door is seen as one entity and thereby the structure of the BOM master template needs to be modified to meet the local need.

The master BOM template (A) may contain a complete hierarchical BOM structure made up of all possible template tags. Each record in the template may only contain a parameter name without any value. Thus, this file may dictate all the possible template tags and their parameter names, and as it is the master file, it does not provide the parameters with values.

The local master BOM template file is shown as (B) in Figure 1. It contains all the BOM structure information via the use of template tags and the order of the template tag information within the file. Each parameter used with a template tag contains a value. By way of example, a record in the Local Master BOM template file could look like this:

< PNAME="Transformer_Tested|Nameplate_DIM_LG" PVALUE=" ITrans- former_Tested|Nameplate_DIM_LG!" /> This record indicates that the value to be used in the local BOM file for the length dimension of the nameplate is found in the Trans- former_τested|Namepiate_DiM_LG parameter in the data coming from a design to be localized. There are two parameters where the local Master BOM Template file may have fixed values. These are the LEVEL and SEQNO parameters, which indicate the horizontal and vertical position, respectively of the tag/component in the local hierarchical structure.

On the right hand side of Figure 1 , design data is imported 104 and converted to a flat file (C) 106. The design data includes data of a common design that may be available to a plurality of factories of an enterprise. The design data may include parameter quantities and other parameters, such as component dimensions, for instance.

In 108, the local BOM template and the design data are combined so as to provide a local BOM upon the design (D), which may be called a local output file. When combining the data in the common design and the local data structure, the hierarchical structure of the local data template is maintained. Application of the design data to the local BOM template may be frequent process and may be performed on a daily basis, for instance.

Figure 1 refers to files (A to D) which may be in a flat file format, for instance. The flat file format herein refers to data files wherein different data entities, such as records, are separated from each other by a known separating element. In one embodiment, the flat file may a text file wherein records are arranged one after another. The records may follow each other vertically or horizontally, for instance. The separating element may be a carriage return or a semicolon, for instance. The concept file is to be interpreted broadly here and it may also denote a database table, for instance.

In some embodiments, a record includes a parameter name and a corresponding value:

PNAME="Transformer_Tested|Nameplate_DIM_WD" PVALUE="110" / In other embodiments, a record may only include a parameter name.

The sequence of the records in the files may determine a hierarchical local BOM structure. In an embodiment, the hierarchy is implemented by placing all children of a parent template tag below the parent tag in the file and above any subsequent tag on the same level as the parent. In addition to the order of records, files may include parameters which indicate a component's position in the structure. In an embodiment, a parameter indicating the vertical position (level) and a parameter indicating the horizontal position (sequence) of the component is provided.

A tag here refers to a part which can be found in a manufacturing product and, thereby, in a hierarchical BOM structure. Each part or tag may have several parameters, such as length or amount. All parameter names may start with the relevant template tag name and within the file there may be a record for each parameter. No order is specified for the parameters within a set of template tag records for a specified tag; however, all the records associated with a particular tag may be subsequent records within the file. In addition, a record may be provided at the beginning and end of all records for a particular tag name; these parameter names may be the tag name followed by "_START" or "_END". Thus, if for example 50 parameters are associated with a template tag, 52 records are provided which start off with that tag name.

In the following, the hierarchical modification process of Figure 1 is explained with reference to Figures 2A to 2B.

Figure 2A shows a hierarchical master BOM template which may be used by local factories as a starting point when creating their own BOM structures. The master template identifies all possible parts that can be found in a BOM. Each box in Figure 2A is identified by a unique template tag in the corresponding file disclosing the structure of the BOM. In the corresponding file, all children of a parent template tag are listed before listing a subsequent tag on the same level. In Figure 2A, tags 200 and 202 are on the same level. Thus, in the file corresponding to the structure of Figure 2A, all children of tag 200 are provided before tag 202. Furthermore, in the BOM master template, each record may only contain a parameter name, and no corresponding value is provided. The file only provides all the possible template tags and their parameter names. As an exception, a value for parameters called LEVEL and SEQNO (sequence number) is provided. LEVEL discloses the vertical position of a tag, and SEQNO indicates the horizontal position of a tag in the hierarchical structure. For instance, tag 200 could include a parameter called SEQNO, which has a value 1 , whereas tag 202 could have a corresponding parameter SEQNO having a value 2. Both tags could have a value 1 for a LEVEL parameter if the highest level is given a value 0.

Figure 2B highlights a local BOM structure, used in a local factory, for instance. In the corresponding file, each parameter used with the template tags contains a value. Two parameters are provided which have fixed values. These are LEVEL, defining the vertical position of the tag in the structure, and SEQNO, defining the horizontal position of the tag in the structure.

Figure 2C highlights an overlap of a common design structure and the local BOM template. The template tags used by the common design are highlighted with "x". Not all template tags of the local BOM template are used for each design. In addition to tags, the common design may also provide the local data template with one or more parameter values per each tag.

Figure 2D shows the final result, where the local BOM template and the design information have been combined, and surplus template tags, that is tags whose total quantity in the design file is zero, have been removed. The result is the BOM needed by the local factory for implementing the design.

In the following, the BOM transformation corresponding to Figures 2C and 2D is illustrated by way of another example. The BOM transformation process can be thought of as taking the information contained for all parts in a hierarchical BOM design structure (including the total quantities of the parts) and then "flattening" the structure into a flat file only including a list of all parts. Then, in the transformation, the parts can be rearranged and put into a structure different from the original one.

Figure 3 shows a structure of a global design as a combination of a hierarchical presentation and data presentation. In an embodiment, the designs may be used in all factories of an enterprise. The designs may be stored in a central computer and loaded from the central computer to a local factory, for instance, or the computer of the local factory may have a plurality of designs stored locally.

Figure 3 shows that the BOM of a design is made up of template tags Tag_A to Tag_F. These tags have information (called parameters) associated with them to provide the specific details of the components of a particular design. In the example of Figure 3, parameters "part number" (PN), "quantity per parent" (QTY), "the total quantity" (TOTQTY), "level" (LEVEL) of the tag and "sequence number" (SEQNO) are provided. The level indicates the horizontal level from up to down, and the sequence number indicates the position from left to right. A total quantity may be calculated by using the amount information on the higher levels. For instance, the total number of Tag_E's is 24, which is obtained by multiplying the number of Tag_B's (2) in Tag_A and the number of Tag_E's (12) in Tag_B.

The data contents of the structure in Figure 3 is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Design data in flat file format

It can be seen that the hierarchical structure is provided by giving all the parameters of the children before a next parent on the same level. Thus, data of Tag_B and all its children are provided before data related to Tag_C, for instance. This means that for any part on a particular level, its parent is the first part above it that has a level number which is one less than that current part. For example, Tag_E (level = 2) has a parent that is Tag_B (level = 1).

Figure 4 shows the local version of the BOM structure which has moved the position of Tag_E, removed the assembly indicated by Tag_B, and added a new tag, Tag_G. These changes have been made to meet the manufacturing needs of the local site.

The structure of the local BOM template may be presented as a flat file or as a database table as shown in the following Table 2.

Table 2. Local BOM template in flat file format

In Table 2, the parameters in the left column refer to the final result (i.e. the parameters in the local BOM), while the values in the right hand column refer to the source of information, i.e. the data in the design. It can be seen that the level and sequence number data both have fixed values, whereas the other data is read from the design data.

To complete the transformation, the values of the parameters from Table 1 are inserted into Table 2, the result being shown in Table 3. It can be seen that the sequence of records in Table 2 corresponding to Figure 4 determines the final BOM structure and that the sequence of the records in the design structure of Figure 3 and Table 1 is of no consequence to the final result. Thus, the design data could basically be anything, as long as sufficient information in view of the local BOM template is provided.

Table 3. Final BOM structure

It can be seen that such data, which did not have a fixed value in the local BOM (level, sequence number), is read from the design data.

Figure 5 shows the final result diagrammatically. The quantity-per ("QTY") on each level is calculated by taking the child total quantity and dividing by the parent total quantity. For example, the quantity-per ("QTY") of Tag_F to give Tag_D is Tag_F_TOTQTY divided by Tag_D_TOTQTY, that is 1.

Figure 6 shows one embodiment of an apparatus 600 according to the invention. The apparatus includes an editor 602, which the local administrator may use when editing the BOM master template to a local BOM template. The apparatus comprises a reading module 604 for reading the local BOM template data file. The apparatus further comprises a reading module 606 for reading design data file. Furthermore, the apparatus comprises a value assignment unit 608 for assigning and computing values from the design data to the local BOM data file. Furthermore, the apparatus may comprise an output module 610 for outputting the formed local BOM data file to an external system. Although Figure 6 discloses the apparatus as one entity, the shown units and functionalities may also be distributed to more than one computer, for instance.

In one embodiment, the apparatus in Figure 6 is implemented by software, wherein blocks 600 to 610 denote software code portions or routines. The software code portions may interact with each other via interfaces, which may be implemented with suitable interface technologies, such as a message interface, a method interface, a sub-routine call interface, a block interface, or any means enabling communication between functional sub-units. The software may be executed on a processor of a computer 600.

The processor may comprise a working memory (RAM), a central processing unit (CPU), and a system clock. The CPU may comprise a set of registers, an arithmetic logic unit, and a control unit. The control unit is controlled by a sequence of program instructions transferred to the CPU from the RAM. The control unit may contain a number of microinstructions for basic operations. The program instructions may be coded by a programming language, which may be a high-level programming language, such as C, Java, etc., or a low-level programming language, such as a machine language, or an assembler. The processor may also have an operating system, which may provide a computer program written with the program instructions with system services. An embodiment provides a computer program comprising program instructions for causing a processor to perform a method as disclosed in conjunction with Figures 1 to 5.

The computer program may be in a source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of a carrier, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. Such carriers include a record medium, a computer memory, a read-only memory, an electrical carrier signal, a telecommunications signal, and a software distribution package, for example. Depending on the processing power needed, the computer program may be executed in a single processor, or it may be distributed amongst a number of processors.

It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The invention and its embodiments are not limited to the examples described above but may vary within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of processing manufacturing data in a global enterprise having a plurality of local factories, comprising: providing a local hierarchical data structure, in which hierarchy is localized to meet local needs of a local factory; applying a common design structure, available to a plurality of local factories, to the local hierarchical data structure by maintaining the hierarchy of the local hierarchical data structure.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the local hierarchical data structure comprises one or more parent components and one or more child components associated to each parent component.

3. A method according to claim 2, further comprising: providing a local data file corresponding to the hierarchical local data structure, in which local data file all child components of a parent component are provided before provision of another component at a same level of hierarchy as said parent component.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the local data file includes, as parameters per each component, a component tag, a total number of components in the structure and a level of component in the hierarchical data structure.

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein each parameter and a value associated with the parameter are provided as own records in the local data file.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein a design data file is provided corresponding to the common design structure, the design data file providing a component tag and total number of components as parameters.

7. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the design structure is applied to the local data structure by importing a total quantity of components of the design data file to the local data file by using a component tag as a common identifier to both the design data file and the local data file.

8. A method according to any preceding claim, further comprising: calculating, in the local data file, a child per parent quantity by dividing a total quantity of a child by a total quantity of a parent.

9. A computer program, comprising program code means adapted to perform any one of the previous method claims when the program is run on a computer.

10. An apparatus for processing manufacturing data in a global enterprise having a plurality of local factories, the apparatus comprising a processing unit configured to: provide a local hierarchical data structure, in which hierarchy is localized to meet local needs of a local factory; apply a common design structure, available to a plurality of local factories, to the local hierarchical data structure by maintaining the hierarchy of the local hierarchical data structure.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the local hierarchical data structure comprises one or more parent components and one or more child components associated to each parent component.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11 , the processing unit configured to: provide a local data file corresponding to the hierarchical local data structure, in which local data file all child components of a parent component are provided before provision of another component at a same level of hierarchy as said parent component.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the local data file includes, as parameters per each component, a component tag, total number of components in the structure and a level of component in the hierarchical data structure.

14. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein each parameter and a value associated with the parameter are provided as own records in the local data file.

15. An apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein a design data file is provided corresponding to the common design structure, the design data file providing a component tag and total number of components as parameters.

16. An apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the processing unit is configured to apply the design structure to the local data structure by importing a total quantity of components of the design data file to the local data file by using a component tag as a common identifier to both the design data file and the local data file.

1 7. An apparatus according to any of the claims 10 to 16, wherein the processing unit is configured to apply the design structure to the local data structure by importing a total quantity of components of the design data file to the local data file by using a component tag as a common identifier to both the design data file and the local data file.

18. An apparatus according to any of the claims 10 to 17, the processing unit being configured to: calculate, in the local data file, child per parent quantity by dividing a total quantity of a child by a total quantity of a parent.