Intelligent computer integrated maintenance system and method

Abstract

An intelligent computer integrated maintenance system and method includes an electronically stored parts manual which contains a hierarchical listing of all parts in production machines, and a maintenance operations computer controller which includes a maintenance schedule management subsystem, an engineering change control subsystem, a parts manual management subsystem and a spares inventory management subsystem. The maintenance schedule management subsystem obtains a schedule of actual and planned production, and groups maintenance activities in order to minimize lost production time. The engineering change control subsystem integrates engineering change activities with maintenance activities to maximize production time. The automated parts manual is also updated to account for engineering changes. The spare parts inventory management subsystem orders spare parts based on predicted maintenance rather than on prescribed inventory levels. Production efficiency is thereby maximized, as is the use of available maintenance manpower. Engineering changes are easily accommodated and spare parts inventory is kept to a minimum.

Claims

That which is claimed is:

1. A computer integrated maintenance system for use with a computer integrated manufacturing system, the computer integrated manufacturing system including a computer controller for controlling a plurality of production complexes each of which includes a plurality of production machines, the manufacturing system computer controller including an electronically stored master schedule file having therein a schedule of actual production and planned production for the plurality of complexes, the manufacturing system computer controller controlling the plurality of production machines based upon the planned production in the master schedule file; said computer integrated maintenance system comprising:

an electronically stored parts manual, containing a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in the plurality of production complexes; and,

maintenance operations computer controlling means, communicatively connected to said electronically stored parts manual and adapted to be communicatively connected to the master schedule file, comprising:

first means for obtaining a schedule of actual production and planned production for the plurality of complexes from the master schedule file;

second means for identifying parts in the hierarchical listing to be maintained during a predetermined time period, and a corresponding maintenance time during the predetermined time period for each identified part, based upon the obtained schedule;

third means for reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, based upon the hierarchical listing of parts in the electronically stored parts manual, to reduce lost production time for each of the plurality of complexes;

fourth means for generating a revised schedule of planned production based upon the reassigned maintenance times for the identified parts; and

fifth means for communicating the revised schedule of planned production to the master schedule file;

whereby the plurality of complexes are controlled based upon the revised schedule of planned production to allow for maintenance activities while maximizing production.

2. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said third means comprises;

means for determining when a complex is inactive, based upon the obtained schedule; and,

means for reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for at least some of the identified parts to the time when the complex including the a least some of the identified parts is inactive.

3. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said third means comprises means for grouping at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in a complex, to reduce lost production time for that complex.

4. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 3 wherein said third means further comprises means for identifying a critical part to be maintained in a complex and a corresponding critical maintenance time, and means for reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for other parts in the complex to the critical maintenance time.

5. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said third means further comprises means for determining manpower needed to perform maintenance according to the reassigned maintenance times, and means for further reassigning the reassigned maintenance times to permit maintenance to be performed with available manpower.

6. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an end of life indicator for selected ones of the production machines, the end of life indicator indicating that the associated production machine is scheduled to be replaced or modified; and wherein said third means comprises means for eliminating the corresponding maintenance for parts in machines having an associated end of life indicator, to thereby reduce lost production time.

7. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further contains means for identifying the type of maintenance for a part to be one of time dependent maintenance or usage dependent maintenance; and wherein said second means comprises means for identifying parts to be maintained and a corresponding maintenance time for identified parts having usage dependent maintenance, based upon the obtained schedule.

8. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said second means further comprises means for accepting a user selection of said predetermined time period.

9. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further contains an image file, including a corresponding image for parts in the hierarchical listing.

10. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said hierarchical listing comprises a complete bill of materials for each complex.

11. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said electronically stored parts manual identifies each of the parts as being one of a consumable, replaceable, generic or non-stocked part.

12. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an associated part number for each of the parts.

13. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 12 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes a replacement part number for selected ones of the parts.

14. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 12 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an industry standard part number for selected ones of the parts.

15. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said electronically stored parts manual comprises a plurality of electronically stored parts manuals, a respective one of which contains a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in a respective one of said plurality of complexes.

16. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said maintenance operations computer controller further comprises:

sixth means for generating a list of the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts.

17. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 16 wherein said sixth means further comprises means for generating a list of corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts to be available for the corresponding maintenance times.

18. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 16 wherein said sixth means further comprises means for generating orders for the identified parts.

19. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 17 wherein said sixth means further comprises means for generating orders for the identified parts.

20. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1:

wherein the manufacturing system computer controller further includes an engineering change file having therein a schedule of engineering changes to be made on the production machines;

wherein said maintenance operations computer controller is further adapted to be communicatively connected to the engineering change file;

wherein said first means further obtains a schedule of engineering changes from the engineering change file; and,

wherein said second means further comprises means for identifying the parts to be maintained and the corresponding maintenance time based upon the obtained schedule of actual production and planned production and based upon the obtained schedule of engineering changes.

21. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said third means further comprises:

means for accepting an indication that unplanned maintenance is performed on a broken part at a predetermined time; and

means for reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in the same complex as the first part, to correspond to said predetermined time;

whereby at least some planned maintenance is rescheduled to occur during unplanned maintenance.

22. A computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system for controlling manufacturing and maintenance of a plurality of production complexes each of which includes a plurality of production machines, said computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system comprising:

an electronically stored master schedule file having therein a schedule of actual production and planned production for the plurality of complexes;

means for controlling the plurality of production machines based upon the schedule of planned production in the master schedule file;

an electronically stored parts manual, containing a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in the plurality of production complexes;

first means, communicatively connected to said master schedule file, for obtaining a schedule of actual production and planned production for the plurality of complexes from the master schedule file;

second means, communicatively connected to said first means and said electronically stored parts manual, for identifying parts in the hierarchical listing to be maintained during a predetermined time period, and a corresponding maintenance time during the predetermined time period for each identified part, based upon the obtained schedule;

third means, communicatively connected to said second means, for reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, based upon the hierarchical listing of parts in the electronically stored parts manual, to reduce lost production time for each of the plurality of complexes;

fourth means, communicatively connected to said third means, for generating a revised schedule of planned production based upon the reassigned maintenance times for the identified parts; and

fifth means, communicatively connected to said fourth means and said master schedule file, for communicating the revised schedule of planned production to the master schedule file;

whereby the plurality of complexes are controlled based upon the revised schedule of planned production to allow for maintenance activities while maximizing production.

23. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 wherein said third means comprises;

means for determining when a complex is inactive, based upon the obtained schedule; and,

means for reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for at least some of the identified parts to the time when the complex including the at least some of the identified parts is inactive.

24. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 wherein said third means comprises means for grouping at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in a complex, to reduce lost production time for that complex.

25. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 24 wherein said third means further comprises means for identifying a critical part to be maintained in a complex and a corresponding critical maintenance time, and means for reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for other parts in the complex to the critical maintenance time.

26. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 wherein said third means further comprises means for determining manpower needed to perform maintenance according to the reassigned maintenance times, and means for further reassigning the reassigned maintenance times to permit maintenance to be performed with available manpower.

27. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an end of life indicator for selected ones of the production machines, the end of life indicator indicating that the associated production machine is scheduled to be replaced or modified; and wherein said third means comprises means for eliminating the corresponding maintenance for parts in machines having an associated end of life indicator, to thereby reduce lost production time.

28. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further contains means for identifying the type of maintenance for a part to be one of time dependent maintenance or usage dependent maintenance; and wherein said second means comprises means for identifying parts to be maintained and a corresponding maintenance time for identified parts having usage dependent maintenance, based upon the obtained schedule.

29. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 wherein said second means further comprises means for accepting a user selection of said predetermined time period.

30. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further contains an image file, including a corresponding image for parts in the hierarchical listing.

31. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 wherein said hierarchical listing comprises a complete bill of materials for each complex.

32. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 wherein said electronically stored parts manual identifies each of the parts as being one of a consumable, replaceable, generic or non-stocked part.

33. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an associated part number for each of the parts.

34. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 33 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes a replacement part number for selected ones of the parts.

35. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 33 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an industry standard part number for selected ones of the parts.

36. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 wherein said electronically stored parts manual comprises a plurality of electronically stored parts manuals, a respective one of which contains a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in a respective one of said plurality of complexes.

37. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 further comprising:

sixth means, communicatively connected to said third means, for generating a list of the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts.

38. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 37 wherein said sixth means further comprises means for generating a list of corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts to be available for the corresponding maintenance times.

39. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 37 wherein said sixth means further comprises means for generating orders for the identified parts.

40. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 38 wherein said sixth means further comprises means for generating orders for the identified parts.

41. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 22 further comprising:

an engineering change file having therein a schedule of engineering changes to be made on the production machines;

said first means being communicatively connected to said engineering change control file to obtain a schedule of engineering changes from the engineering change file; and,

said second means further comprising means for identifying the parts to be maintained and the corresponding maintenance time based upon the obtained schedule of actual production and planned production and based upon the obtained schedule of engineering changes.

42. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 1 wherein said third means further comprises:

means for accepting an indication that unplanned maintenance is performed on a first part at a predetermined time; and

means for reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in the same complex as the first part, to correspond to said predetermined time;

whereby at least some planned maintenance is rescheduled to occur during unplanned maintenance.

43. A computer integrated maintenance method for use with a computer integrated manufacturing system, the computer integrated manufacturing system including a computer controller for controlling a plurality of production complexes each of which includes a plurality of production machines, the manufacturing system computer controller including an electronically stored master schedule file having therein a schedule of actual production and planned production for the plurality of complexes, the manufacturing system computer controller controlling the plurality of production machines based upon the planned production in the master schedule file; said computer integrated maintenance method being practiced on a maintenance operations computer controller and comprising the steps of:

generating an electronically stored parts manual, containing a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in the plurality of production complexes;

obtaining a schedule of actual production and planned production for the plurality of complexes from the master schedule file;

identifying parts in the hierarchical listing to be maintained during a predetermined time period, and a corresponding maintenance time during the predetermined time period for each identified part, based upon the obtained schedule;

reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, based upon the hierarchical listing of parts in the electronically stored parts manual, to reduce lost production time for each of the plurality of complexes;

generating a revised schedule of planned production based upon the reassigned maintenance times for the identified parts; and

communicating the revised schedule of planned production to the master schedule file;

whereby the plurality of complexes are controlled based upon the revised schedule of planned production to allow for maintenance activities while maximizing production.

44. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said reassigning step comprises the steps of:

determining when a complex is inactive, based upon the obtained schedule; and,

reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for at least some of the identified parts to the time when the complex including the at least some of the identified parts is inactive.

45. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said reassigning step comprises the step of grouping at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in a complex, to reduce lost production time for that complex.

46. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 45 wherein said reassigning step further comprises the steps of:

identifying a critical part to be maintained in a complex and a corresponding critical maintenance time; and

reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for other parts in the complex to the critical maintenance time.

47. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said reassigning step further comprises the steps of:

determining manpower needed to perform maintenance according to the reassigned maintenance times; and

further reassigning the reassigned maintenance times to permit maintenance to be performed with available manpower.

48. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an end of life indicator for selected ones of the production machines, the end of life indicator indicating that the associated production machine is scheduled to be replaced or modified; and wherein said reassigning step comprises the step of eliminating the corresponding maintenance for parts in machines having an associated end of life indicator, to thereby reduce lost production time.

49. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further contains means for identifying the type of maintenance for a part to be one of time dependent maintenance or usage dependent maintenance; and wherein said identifying step comprises the step of identifying parts to be maintained and a corresponding maintenance time for identified parts having usage dependent maintenance, based upon the obtained schedule.

50. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said identifying step further comprises the step of accepting a user selection of said predetermined time period.

51. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual containing an image file, including a corresponding image for parts in the hierarchical listing.

52. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said hierarchical listing comprises a complete bill of materials for each complex.

53. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual which identifies each of the parts as being one of a consumable, replaceable, generic or non-stocked part.

54. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual including an associated part number for each of the parts.

55. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 54 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual including a replacement part number for selected ones of the parts.

56. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 54 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual including an industry standard part number for selected ones of the parts.

57. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating a plurality of electronically stored parts manuals, a respective one of which contains a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in a respective one of said plurality of complexes.

58. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 further comprising the step of:

generating a list of the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts.

59. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 58 wherein said list generating step further comprises the step of generating a list of corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts to be available for the corresponding maintenance times.

60. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 58 wherein said list generating step further comprises the step of generating orders for the identified parts.

61. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 59 wherein said list generating step further comprises the step of generating orders for the identified parts.

62. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43:

wherein the manufacturing system computer controller further includes an engineering change file having therein a schedule of engineering changes to be made on the production machines;

wherein said schedule obtaining step further comprises the step of obtaining a schedule of engineering changes from the engineering change file; and,

wherein said identifying step further comprises the step of identifying the parts to be maintained and the corresponding maintenance time based upon the obtained schedule of actual production and planned production and based upon the obtained schedule of engineering changes.

63. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 43 wherein said reassigning step further comprises the steps of:

accepting an indication that unplanned maintenance is performed on a first part at a predetermined time; and

reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in the same complex as the first part, to correspond to said predetermined time;

whereby at least some planned maintenance is rescheduled to occur during unplanned maintenance.

64. A compute integrated manufacturing and maintenance method for controlling manufacturing and maintenance of a plurality of production complexes each of which includes a plurality of production machines, the computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method comprising the steps of:

generating an electronically stored master schedule file having therein a schedule of actual production and planned production for the plurality of complexes;

controlling the plurality of production machines based upon the planned production in the master schedule file;

generating an electronically stored parts manual, containing a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in the plurality of production complexes;

obtaining a schedule of actual production and planned production for the plurality of complexes from the master schedule file;

identifying parts in the hierarchical listing to be maintained during a predetermined time period, and a corresponding maintenance time during the predetermined time period for each identified part, based upon the obtained schedule;

reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, based upon the hierarchical listing of parts in the electronically stored parts manual, to reduce lost production time for each of the plurality of complexes;

generating a revised schedule of planned production based upon the reassigned maintenance times for the identified parts; and

communicating the revised schedule of planned production to the master schedule file;

whereby the plurality of complexes are controlled based upon the revised schedule of planned production to allow for maintenance activities while maximizing production.

65. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 wherein said reassigning step comprises the steps of;

determining when a complex is inactive, based upon the obtained schedule; and,

reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for at least some of the identified parts to the time when the complex including the at least some of the identified parts is inactive.

66. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 wherein said reassigning step comprises the step of grouping at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in a complex, to reduce lost production time for that complex.

67. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 66 wherein said reassigning step further comprises the steps of identifying a critical part to be maintained in a complex and a corresponding critical maintenance time, and reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for other parts in the complex to the critical maintenance time.

68. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 wherein said reassigning step further comprises the steps of determining manpower needed to perform maintenance according to the reassigned maintenance times, and further reassigning the reassigned maintenance times to permit maintenance to be performed with available manpower.

69. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an end of life indicator for selected ones of the production machines, the end of life indicator indicating that the associated production machine is scheduled to be replaced or modified; and wherein said reassigning step comprises the step of eliminating the corresponding maintenance for parts in machines having an associated end of life indicator, to thereby reduce lost production time.

70. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further contains means for identifying the type of maintenance for a part to be one of time dependent maintenance or usage dependent maintenance; and wherein said identifying step comprises the step of identifying parts to be maintained and a corresponding maintenance time for identified parts having usage dependent maintenance, based upon the obtained schedule.

71. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 wherein said identifying step further comprises the step of accepting a user selection of said predetermined time period.

72. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual further containing an image file, including a corresponding image for parts in the hierarchical listing.

73. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 wherein said hierarchical listing comprises a complete bill of materials for each complex.

74. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 64 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual identifies each of the parts as being one of a consumable, replaceable, generic or non-stocked part.

75. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual which includes an associated part number for each of the parts.

76. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 75 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of electronically stored parts manual which includes a replacement part number for selected ones of the parts.

77. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 75 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of electronically stored parts manual which includes an industry standard part number for selected ones of the parts.

78. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating a plurality of electronically stored parts manuals, a respective one of which contains a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in a respective one of said plurality of complexes.

79. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 further comprising the step of:

generating a list of the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts.

80. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 79 wherein said list generating step further comprises the step of generating a list of corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts to be available for the corresponding maintenance times.

81. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of 79 wherein said list generating step further comprises the step of generating orders for the identified parts.

82. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 80 wherein said list generating step further comprises the step of generating orders for the identified parts.

83. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 further comprising the step of:

generating an engineering change file having therein a schedule of engineering changes to be made on the production machines; and

obtaining a schedule of engineering changes from the engineering change file; and,

wherein said identifying step further comprises the step of identifying the parts to be maintained and the corresponding maintenance time based upon the obtained schedule of actual production and planned production and based upon the obtained schedule of engineering changes.

84. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance method of claim 64 wherein said reassigning step further comprises the steps of

accepting an indication that unplanned maintenance is performed on a first part at a predetermined time; and

reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in the same complex as the first part, to correspond to said predetermined time;

whereby at least some planned maintenance is rescheduled to occur during unplanned maintenance.

85. A computer integrated maintenance system for use with a computer integrated manufacturing system, the computer integrated manufacturing system including a computer controller for controlling a plurality of production complexes each of which includes a plurality of production machines, the manufacturing system computer controller including an electronically stored master schedule file having therein a schedule of actual production and planned production for the plurality of complexes, the manufacturing system computer controller controlling the plurality of production machines based upon the planned production in the master schedule file, said computer integrated maintenance system comprising:

an electronically stored parts manual, containing a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in the plurality of production complexes;

maintenance operations computer controlling means, adapted to be communicatively connected to the manufacturing system computer controller, and communicatively connected to the electronically stored parts manual, said maintenance operations computer controlling means comprising:

maintenance schedule management means, for identifying parts in the hierarchical listing to be maintained during a predetermined time period based upon the planned production in the master schedule file, and for scheduling maintenance activities for the identified parts to reduce disruption of production;

engineering change control management means, for integrating engineering change control activities into the scheduled maintenance activities;

parts manual management means, for updating the hierarchical listing in response to maintenance activities and engineering change control activities; and,

spares inventory management means, for generating requirements to order replacement parts for the identified parts to be available for use in the scheduled maintenance activities.

86. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 85 wherein said maintenance schedule management means further comprises:

means for accepting an indication that unplanned maintenance will be performed during said predetermined time period; and,

means for scheduling maintenance activities for the identified parts based upon the planned production in the master schedule file and the indication of unplanned maintenance, to reduce disruption of production.

87. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 85 wherein said maintenance schedule management means identifies parts to be maintained during the predetermined time period based upon one of projected use or the elapsed time since last replacement.

88. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 85 wherein said maintenance schedule management means minimizes disruption of production by scheduling non-critical maintenance in a predetermined complex to occur concurrently with critical maintenance in the predetermined complex.

89. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 85 wherein said maintenance schedule management means further comprises means for scheduling maintenance activities for the identified parts to allow scheduled maintenance activities to be performed using predetermined manpower levels.

90. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 85 wherein said hierarchical listing of parts in said electronically stored parts manual comprises a plurality of parts levels from a lowest level to a highest level, and wherein each part in the lowest level is identified as being one of a consumable part which is consumed by the production process, a replaceable part which has an extended life but is subject to wear or failure, a generic part which is a common part used in large numbers on many of the production machines, and a non-stocked part which does not normally require replacement.

91. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 85 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an associated part number for each of the parts.

92. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 91 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes a replacement part number for selected ones of the parts.

93. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 91 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an industry standard part number for selected ones of the parts.

94. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 85 wherein said electronically stored parts manual comprises a plurality of electronically stored parts manuals, a respective one of which contains a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in a respective one of said plurality of complexes.

95. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 85 wherein said engineering change control management means comprises means for integrating engineering change control activities into the scheduled maintenance activities based upon one of a specified engineering control implementation date, consumption of spare parts, or a specified maintenance activity.

96. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 85 wherein said maintenance schedule management means further comprises means for generating a daily maintenance schedule to identify maintenance activities to be performed each day to reduce disruption of production.

97. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 85 further comprising:

an electronically stored spares inventory file for identifying generic parts used in said plurality of production machines and replaceable parts used in said plurality of production machines; and

said spares inventory management means further comprising means for generating requirements to order a generic part when an inventory quantity falls below a predetermined quantity and for identifying requirements to order a replacement part to be available for use in the scheduled maintenance activities.

98. A computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system for controlling manufacturing and maintenance of a plurality of production complexes each of which includes a plurality of production machines, said computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system comprising:

an electronically stored master schedule file having therein a schedule of actual production and planned production for the plurality of complexes;

means for controlling the plurality of production machines based upon the planned production in the master schedule file;

an electronically stored parts manual, containing a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in the plurality of production complexes;

maintenance schedule management means, for identifying parts in the hierarchical listing to be maintained during a predetermined time period based upon the planned production in the master schedule file, and for scheduling maintenance activities for the identified parts to reduce disruption of production;

engineering change control management means, for integrating engineering change control activities into the scheduled maintenance activities;

parts manual management means, for updating the hierarchical listing in response to maintenance activities and engineering change control activities; and,

spares inventory management means, for generating requirements to order replacement parts for the identified parts to be available for use in the scheduled maintenance activities.

99. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 98 wherein said maintenance schedule management means further comprises:

means for accepting an indication that unplanned maintenance will be performed during said predetermined time period; and,

means for scheduling maintenance activities for the identified parts based upon the planned production in the master schedule file and the indication of unplanned maintenance, to minimize disruption of production.

100. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 98 wherein said maintenance schedule management means identifies parts to be maintained during the predetermined time period based upon projected use or the elapsed time since last replacement.

101. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 98 wherein said maintenance schedule management means minimizes disruption of production by scheduling non-critical maintenance in a predetermined complex to occur concurrently with critical maintenance in the predetermined complex.

102. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 98 wherein said maintenance schedule management means further comprises means for scheduling maintenance activities for the identified parts to allow scheduled maintenance activities to be performed using predetermined manpower levels.

103. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 98 wherein said hierarchical listing of parts in said electronically stored parts manual comprises a plurality of parts levels from a lowest level to a highest level, and wherein each part in the lowest level is identified as being one of a consumable part which is consumed by the production process, a replaceable part which has an extended life but is subject to wear or failure, a generic part which is a common part used in large numbers on many of the production machines, and a non-stocked part which does not normally require replacement.

104. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 98 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an associated part number for each of the parts.

105. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 104 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes a replacement part number for selected ones of the parts.

106. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 104 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an industry standard part number for selected ones of the parts.

107. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 98 wherein said electronically stored parts manual comprises a plurality of electronically stored parts manuals, a respective one of which contains a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in a respective one of said plurality of complexes.

108. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 98 wherein said engineering change control management means comprises means for integrating engineering change control activities into the scheduled maintenance activities based upon one of a specified engineering control implementation date, consumption of spare parts, or a specified maintenance activity.

109. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 98 wherein said maintenance schedule management means further comprises means for generating a daily maintenance schedule to identify maintenance activities to be performed each day to reduce disruption of production.

110. The computer integrated manufacturing and maintenance system of claim 98 further comprising:

an electronically stored spares inventory file for identifying generic parts used in said plurality of production machines and replaceable parts used in said plurality of production machines; and

said spares inventory management means further comprising means for generating requirements to order a generic part when an inventory quantity falls below a predetermined quantity and for identifying requirements to order a replacement part to be available for use in the scheduled maintenance activities.

111. A computer integrated maintenance system for a complex including a plurality of machines used to perform a primary function and which also require maintenance; said computer integrated maintenance system comprising:

an electronically stored parts manual, containing a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of machines in the complex; and,

maintenance operations computer controlling means, communicatively connected to said electronically stored parts manual comprising:

first means for obtaining a schedule of actual and planned use for the plurality of machines;

second means for identifying parts in the hierarchical listing to be maintained during a predetermined time period, and a corresponding maintenance time during the predetermined time period for each identified part, based upon the obtained schedule;

third means for reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, based upon the hierarchical listing of parts in the electronically stored parts manual, to reduce lost use time for the complex; and

fourth means for generating a revised schedule of planned use based upon the reassigned maintenance times for the identified parts;

whereby use of the complex may be controlled based upon the revised schedule of planned use to allow for maintenance activities.

112. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said third means comprises;

means for determining when a machine is inactive, based upon the obtained schedule; and,

means for reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for at least some of the identified parts to the time when the machine including the at least some of the identified parts is inactive.

113. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said third means comprises means for grouping at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in a machine, to reduce lost use time for that machine.

114. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 113 wherein said third means further comprises means for identifying a critical part to be maintained in a machine and a corresponding critical maintenance time, and means for reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for other parts in the machine to the critical maintenance time.

115. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said third means further comprises means for determining manpower needed to perform maintenance according to the reassigned maintenance times, and means for further reassigning the reassigned maintenance times to permit maintenance to be performed with available manpower.

116. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an end of life indicator for selected ones of the machines, the end of life indicator indicating that the associated machine is scheduled to be replaced or modified; and wherein said third means comprises means for eliminating the corresponding maintenance for parts in machines having an associated end of life indicator, to thereby reduce lost use time.

117. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further contains means for identifying the type of maintenance for a part to be one of time dependent maintenance or usage dependent maintenance; and wherein said second means comprises means for identifying parts to be maintained and a corresponding maintenance time for identified parts having usage dependent maintenance, based upon the obtained schedule.

118. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said second means further comprises means for accepting a user selection of said predetermined time period.

119. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further contains an image file, including a corresponding image for parts in the hierarchical listing.

120. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said hierarchical listing comprises a complete bill of materials for each machine.

121. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said electronically stored parts manual identifies each of the parts as being one of a consumable, replaceable, generic or non-stocked part.

122. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an associated part number for each of the parts.

123. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 122 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes a replacement part number for selected one of the parts.

124. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 122 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an industry standard part number for selected ones of the parts.

125. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said electronically stored parts manual comprises a plurality of electronically stored parts manuals, a respective one of which contains a hierarchical listing of parts in a respective one of the machines.

126. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said maintenance operations computer controller further comprises:

fifth means for generating a list of the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts.

127. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 126 wherein said fifth means further comprises means for generating a list of corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts to be available for the corresponding maintenance times.

128. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 126 wherein said fifth means further comprises means for generating orders for the identified parts.

129. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 127 wherein said fifth means further comprises means for generating orders for the identified parts.

130. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 further comprising an engineering change file having therein a schedule of engineering changes to be made on the machines;

wherein said maintenance operations computer controller is communicatively connected to the engineering change file;

wherein said first means further obtains a schedule of engineering changes from the engineering change file; and,

wherein said second means further comprises means for identifying the parts to be maintained and the corresponding maintenance time based upon the obtained schedule of actual and planned use and based upon the obtained schedule of engineering changes.

131. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 111 wherein said third means further comprises:

means for accepting an indication that unplanned maintenance is performed on a broken part at a predetermined time; and

means for reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in the same machine as the first part, to correspond to said predetermined time;

whereby at least some planned maintenance is rescheduled to occur during unplanned maintenance.

132. A computer integrated maintenance method for a complex including a plurality of machines used to perform a primary function and which also require maintenance; said computer integrated maintenance method being practiced on a maintenance operations computer controller and comprising the steps of:

generating an electronically stored parts manual, containing a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of machines in the complex;

obtaining a schedule of actual and planned use for the plurality of machines;

identifying parts in the hierarchical listing to be maintained during a predetermined time period, and a corresponding maintenance time during the predetermined time period for each identified part, based upon the obtained schedule;

reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, based upon the hierarchical listing of parts in the electronically stored parts manual, to reduce lost use time for complex; and

generating a revised schedule of planned use based upon the reassigned maintenance times for the identified parts;

whereby use of the complex may be controlled based upon the revised schedule of planned use to allow for maintenance activities.

133. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said reassigning step comprises the steps of:

determining when a machine is inactive, based upon the obtained schedule; and,

reassigning the corresponding maintenance times for at least some of the identified parts to the time when the machine including the at least some of the identified parts is inactive.

134. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said reassigning step comprises the step of grouping at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in a machine, to reduce lost use time for that machine.

135. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 134 wherein said reassigning step further comprises the steps of:

identifying a critical part to be maintained in a machine and a corresponding critical maintenance time; and

reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for other parts in the machine to the critical maintenance time.

136. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said reassigning step further comprises the steps of:

determining manpower needed to perform maintenance according to the reassigned maintenance times; and

further reassigning the reassigned maintenance times to permit maintenance to be performed with available manpower.

137. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an end of life indicator for selected ones of the machines, the end of life indicator indicating that the associated machine is scheduled to be replaced or modified; and wherein said reassigning step comprises the step of eliminating the corresponding maintenance for parts in machines having an associated end of life indicator, to thereby reduce lost use time.

138. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further contains means for identifying the type of maintenance for a part to be one of time dependent maintenance or usage dependent maintenance; and wherein said identifying step comprises the step of identifying parts to be maintained and a corresponding maintenance time for identified parts having usage dependent maintenance, based upon the obtained schedule.

139. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said identifying step further comprises the step of accepting a user selection of said predetermined time period.

140. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual containing an image file, including a corresponding image for parts in the hierarchical listing.

141. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said hierarchical listing comprises a complete bill of materials for each machine.

142. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual which identifies each of the parts as being one of a consumable, replaceable, generic or non-stocked part.

143. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual including an associated part number for each of the parts.

144. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 143 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual including a replacement part number for selected ones of the parts.

145. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 143 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating an electronically stored parts manual including an industry standard part number for selected ones of the parts.

146. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said generating step further comprises the step of generating a plurality of electronically stored parts manuals, a respective one of which contains a hierarchical listing of parts in a respective one of the machines.

147. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 further comprising the step of:

generating a list of the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts.

148. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 147 wherein said list generating step further comprises the step of generating a list of corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts, to facilitate ordering of the identified parts to be available for the corresponding maintenance times.

149. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 147 wherein said list generating step further comprises the step of generating orders for the identified parts.

150. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 148 wherein said list generating step further comprises the step of generating orders for the identified parts.

151. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 further comprising the step of obtaining an engineering change file having therein a schedule of engineering changes to be made on the machines;

wherein said schedule obtaining step further comprises the step of obtaining a schedule of engineering changes from the engineering change file; and,

wherein said identifying step further comprises the step of identifying the parts to be maintained and the corresponding maintenance time based upon the obtained schedule of actual and planned use and based upon the obtained schedule of engineering changes.

152. The computer integrated maintenance method of claim 132 wherein said reassigning step further comprises the steps of:

accepting an indication that unplanned maintenance is performed on a first part at a predetermined time; and

reassigning at least some of the corresponding maintenance times for identified parts in the same machine as the first part, to correspond to said predetermined time;

whereby at least some planned maintenance is rescheduled to occur during unplanned maintenance.

153. A compute integrated maintenance system for a complex including a plurality of machines used to perform a primary function and which also require maintenance; said computer integrated maintenance system comprising;

an electronically stored parts manual, containing a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of machines in the complex;

maintenance operations computer controlling means, communicatively connected to the electronically stored parts manual, said maintenance operations computer controlling means comprising:

maintenance schedule management means, for identifying parts in the hierarchical listing to be maintained during a predetermined time period based upon a planned use schedule for the machines, and for scheduling maintenance activities for the identified parts to reduce loss of use of the complex;

engineering change control management means, for integrating engineering change control activities into the scheduled maintenance activities;

parts manual management means, for updating the hierarchical listing in response to maintenance activities and engineering change control activities; and,

spares inventory management means, for generating requirements to order replacement parts for the identified parts to be available for use in the scheduled maintenance activities.

154. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 153 wherein said maintenance schedule management means further comprises:

means for accepting an indication that unplanned maintenance will be performed during said predetermined time period; and,

means for scheduling maintenance activities for the identified parts based upon the planned use schedule and the indication of unplanned maintenance, to reduce loss of use.

155. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 153 wherein said maintenance schedule management means identifies parts to be maintained during the predetermined time period based upon one of projected use or the elapsed time since last replacement.

156. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 153 wherein said maintenance schedule management means minimizes loss of use by scheduling non-critical maintenance in a predetermined machine to occur concurrently with critical maintenance in the predetermined machine.

157. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 153 wherein said maintenance schedule management means further comprises means for scheduling maintenance activities for the identified parts to allow scheduled maintenance activities to be performed using predetermined manpower levels.

158. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 153 wherein said hierarchical listing of parts in said electronically stored parts manual comprises a plurality of parts levels from a lowest level to a highest level, and wherein each part in the lowest level is identified as being one of a consumable part which is consumed by the machine, a replaceable part which has an extended life but is subject to wear or failure, a generic part which is a common part used in large numbers on many of the machines, and a non-stocked part which does not normally require replacement.

159. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 153 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an associated part number for each of the parts.

160. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 159 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes a replacement part number for selected ones of the parts.

161. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 159 wherein said electronically stored parts manual further includes an industry standard part number for selected ones of the parts.

162. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 153 wherein said electronically stored parts manual comprises a plurality of electronically stored parts manuals, a respective one of which contains a hierarchical listing of parts in the plurality of machines.

163. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 153 wherein said engineering change control management means comprises means for integrating engineering change control activities into the scheduled maintenance activities based upon one of a specified engineering control implementation date, consumption of spare parts, or a specified maintenance activity.

164. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 153 wherein said maintenance schedule management means further comprises means for generating a daily maintenance schedule to identify maintenance activities to be performed each day to reduce loss of use.

165. The computer integrated maintenance system of claim 153 further comprising:

an electronically stored spares inventory file for identifying generic parts used in said plurality of machines and replaceable parts used in said plurality of machines; and

said spares inventory management means further comprising means for generating requirements to order a generic part when an inventory quantity falls below a predetermined quantity and for identifying requirements to order a replacement part to be available for use in the scheduled maintenance activities.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to equipment maintenance and more particularly to computer integrated maintenance systems and methods.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Computer integrated manufacturing systems are widely used in state of the art manufacturing operations for controlling the operation of many manufacturing or production machines in one or more manufacturing plants. The machines may be organized into production lines each of which may produce a particular product. The machines in a production line may be functionally interconnected so that if one machine is unavailable due to a failure or due to maintenance activity, the entire production line may be unavailable for production, or the production capacity of the line may be limited. Computer integrated manufacturing systems may be used to control the production machines and the flow of materials from one machine to another during the course of producing a product. Computer integrated manufacturing systems may also be used to schedule the purchasing of raw materials necessary for producing a product, and for developing a master schedule for all the machines in order to produce the desired amount of product at each production line at the desired time.

In order to increase the production efficiency and manufacturing flexibility of large manufacturing operations, computer integrated manufacturing systems are now being widely installed and used. Representative computer integrated manufacturing systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,346,446 to Erbstein et al. entitled "Management and Analysis System for Web Machines and the Like"; 4,472,783 to Johnstone et al. entitled "Flexible Manufacturing System"; 4,457,772 to Haynes et al. entitled "Management Control System for Forming Glassware"; and 4,803,634 to Ohno et al. entitled "Production Process Control System in Newspaper Printing".

A computer integrated manufacturing system which includes multiple levels of computer control to organize and disseminate the information for controlling shop floor level systems is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,423 to Beasley et al. entitled "Computer Integrated Manufacturing System", assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. In Beasley et al., manufacturing scheduling data and data relating to process, product and material specifications as well as bills of material are generated in an upper level computer system and refined and downloaded as needed to lower level computers controlling the shop floor process. The upper level computers are capable of communication with the computers on the lower levels, and computers on the same level are capable of communication with each other as needed to pass information back and forth.

The art has heretofore suggested adding a maintenance module to a computer integrated manufacturing system in order to integrate maintenance of the production machines into the computer integrated manufacturing system. For example, the Haynes et al. '772 patent noted above discloses a glassware production control system which also provides maintenance information. The Ohno et al. '634 patent noted above also describes a production process control computer which includes a materials and maintenance control subsystem. The materials and maintenance control subsystem controls the timing of parts replacement. The timing of parts replacement is calculated in advance from the cumulative total of the predicted life of consumable parts and operation time and displayed or printed so as to enable order placement for parts. The maintenance system includes a parts list file containing a list of all consumable parts in the system. The parts list file is updated by collecting information on the operation of the machine so that residual service lives of consumable parts may be calculated. When parts replacement is needed, the quantity of parts used for replacement is deducted from the stock volume in the parts inventory file. When the stock volume of parts in the parts inventory file becomes smaller than at the time of parts ordering, an order form slip is printed. In other words, a "point of ordering" system is provided. A running total of elapsed time is computed and compared with the durable life of parts so that the time and date of actual replacement can be calculated and a schedule of maintenance may thereby be derived.

The art has recognized the potential advantage of providing a computer integrated maintenance system for a computer integrated manufacturing system. Indeed, for a sophisticated computer integrated manufacturing system, which controls many production machines in many production lines in one or more plants, it is almost essential that maintenance be controlled and scheduled by computer. Unfortunately, heretofore known computer integrated maintenance systems did not intelligently integrate maintenance into manufacturing. For example, in presently available computer integrated maintenance systems, the computer may schedule a low priority maintenance operation such as an oil change for one machine in a production line even though a major maintenance operation for the production line may be taking place a week later. Similarly, a "point of ordering" system for spare parts may order new parts when the number in inventory falls below the number stored in the system, even though in reality the machine is scheduled to be replaced in the near future. Similarly, a computer integrated maintenance system may prescribe a number of maintenance operations to be performed at one time even though insufficient manpower exists for performing all of that maintenance at that time.

Accordingly, there is a need for an "intelligent" computer integrated maintenance system which does more than merely schedule maintenance by adding total accumulated hours and scheduling maintenance when the hours reach a predetermined number. An intelligent maintenance system must also do more than merely function as a point of order system to order maintenance parts when inventory falls below a predetermined number.

The need for an intelligent computer integrated maintenance system has become more pressing as the complexity of computer integrated manufacturing systems has increased. As the number of machines being controlled and the number of simultaneous manufacturing lines being controlled increases, it becomes difficult for a human to understand the overall work flow in sufficient detail to intelligently modify maintenance instructions generated by a computer integrated maintenance system. Similarly, it is difficult for humans to assimilate all of the maintenance data and intelligently modify spare parts ordering instructions generated by a point of ordering system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An intelligent computer integrated maintenance system is provided for use with a computer integrated manufacturing system, where the computer integrated manufacturing system includes a computer controller for controlling many production lines, each of which includes many production machines for producing a particular product. The manufacturing system computer controller contains an electronically stored master schedule file which includes a schedule of actual production and planned production for the production lines so that the manufacturing system computer controller controls the production machines based upon the planned production in the master schedule file.

According to the invention, the computer integrated maintenance system includes an electronically stored parts manual which contains a hierarchial listing of parts in the plurality of production machines in the plurality of production lines. The electronically stored parts manual does not merely contain a listing of consumable or maintenance parts. Preferably it contains a complete bill of materials for each machine in each line. The bill of materials is contained in a hierarchial listing, which breaks each machine into assemblies and breaks each assembly into its subassemblies, down to the level of individual parts. Preferably, the electronically stored parts manual includes corresponding image files which illustrate the hierarchial listing of parts at each level.

The intelligent computer integrated maintenance system also includes a maintenance operations computer controller which is connected to the electronically stored parts manual and is adapted to be connected to the master schedule file. According to the invention, the maintenance operations computer controller includes four subsystems: (1) a maintenance schedule management subsystem; (2) an engineering change control subsystem; (3) a parts manual management subsystem; and (4) a spares inventory management subsystem.

The maintenance schedule management subsystem generates a master maintenance schedule. The maintenance schedule management subsystem obtains a schedule of actual production and planned production for all of the production lines from the master schedule file. It also interfaces with the parts manual management subsystem to identify parts in the hierarchial listing to be maintained during a predetermined time period, and also identifies a corresponding maintenance time during the predetermined time period for each identified part based upon the obtained schedule of actual production and planned production.

However, rather than generating maintenance orders based solely upon the predetermined time period calculated for each identified part, the maintenance schedule management subsystem of the present invention reassigns the corresponding maintenance times for the identified parts based upon the hierarchial listing of parts in the electronically stored parts manual, so that lost production time for each production line is reduced. A revised schedule of planned production, based on the reassigned maintenance times, is then generated and communicated back to the master schedule file in the computer integrated manufacturing system. Accordingly, the plurality of production lines are controlled based upon the revised schedule of planned production to allow for maintenance activities while maximizing production.

According to the present invention, the maintenance operations computer does not merely schedule maintenance time based upon the schedule of actual production and planned production. Rather, the maintenance times identified during a predetermined time period are rearranged based upon the hierarchial listing of parts in the electronically controlled stored parts manual to reduce lost production time for each production line. For example, the production schedule for each of the production line is analyzed to determine whether the line is scheduled to be offline during a time interval which is sufficiently close to the calculated maintenance time to allow maintenance to be postponed or moved forward to the machine offline time.

The present invention realizes that production and maintenance both compete for the use of machines, and accordingly schedules non-critical maintenance tasks for machine down times so that production time is maximized. Similarly, when a number of maintenance tasks at a production line are scheduled for a short time interval, the maintenance tasks are grouped together so that they may all be performed simultaneously. For example, a most critical maintenance task may be identified and all other maintenance tasks for the line may be scheduled to be performed at the same time as the critical maintenance tasks. Down time is thereby minimized.

According to another aspect of the invention, after a revised maintenance schedule is calculated, the manpower requirement for performing the maintenance is calculated. If the manpower requirement exceeds the available manpower, the maintenance tasks are rescheduled in a hierarchy of importance/criticality, so that a group of tasks may be performed with the available manpower.

The intelligent computer integrated maintenance system also intelligently schedules maintenance at the end of the machine life. In particular, an indication is provided to the computer integrated maintenance system when a machine is reaching the end of its useful life, either because the machine is worn out or because the machine is scheduled to be replaced or modified in an upgrade. The intelligent computer integrated maintenance system postpones selected maintenance activity on machines which are scheduled to be taken out of service in the near future.

The intelligent computer integrated maintenance system of the present invention also allows iterative maintenance operations planning to be performed. For example, strategic planning of maintenance operations for a multi-year period may be performed in order to determine manpower requirements, spare parts requirements, and actual production capabilities which include maintenance time. Maintenance operations planning may also be performed for intermediate range periods such as a yearly period in order to determine parts ordering requirements, manpower availability and the like. Then, maintenance operations planning may be performed for a short range period such as daily, in order to generate daily maintenance schedules. Accordingly, maintenance operations planning may be performed in long-range, intermediate range and short-term iterations.

As described above, the intelligent computer integrated maintenance system of the present invention also includes a parts manual management subsystem which controls a parts manual file. The parts manual file contains a complete bill of materials for each production machine. The electronically stored parts manual file does not merely include consumables or maintenance parts. Rather, it includes all parts in the machine in a hierarchial listing, commonly using 5-6 levels of parts, so that a complete subsystem description of the machine is available. Preferably, an electronically stored image of each level is also stored with the listing of parts so that maintenance parts can be identified and repairs are simplified. According to the invention, all parts in the hierarchical listing are categorized as either "consumable", "replaceable", "generic" or "non-stocked". Consumable parts are those for which spare parts planning is based on the number of hours used. For replaceable parts, the mean-time to failure rate versus the actual run time determines the maintenance schedule. For generic parts such as screws, bulk inventory is maintained and a point of ordering system is used. Finally non-stocked parts, which are typically not maintenance parts, are typically not stocked and are not ordered until actually needed.

The electronically stored parts manual file may include more than one part number for each part in the system. In particular, each part may include a "generic parts identifier" or "international part code" to indicate that a generic, often less expensive industry standard part may be used instead of the manufacturer's specified part number. Also, a "substitute part number" may be used to indicate that more than one part may be used in the particular maintenance operation. Also a "changed part number" may be used to indicate that as of a certain date, or other change criteria a revised part number should be used as part of an "engineering change control" procedure described below. The electronically stored parts manual may be downloaded to local computers associated with each production machine so that a hierarchical description of each associated production machine may be found in its associated computer. The electronically stored parts manual may also be included in a personal computer, on CD-ROM or other storage means. The electronically stored parts manual may be included in the same computer as the intelligent computer integrated maintenance system, or in a separate computer therefrom.

The spare parts inventory management subsystem of the intelligent computer integrated maintenance system allows ordering of spare parts based on predicted maintenance, rather than on the prescribed inventory levels. Spare parts budgeting is also accommodated. According to the invention, generic parts are ordered using a conventional order point system when the inventory quantities fall below a predetermined order point. For replaceable parts, however, the parts requirements are calculated based on time phased manufacturing requirements and mean-times to failure. The automated parts manual file is used to extend the production plan to parts replacement. A requirement is generated to replace a part in the week that it will exceed its mean-time to failure, and order forms for the parts are generated, or the parts may be ordered electronically.

The engineering change control management subsystem interfaces with an engineering change control file in the computer integrated manufacturing system in order to intelligently accommodate engineering changes. The engineering change control file indicates engineering changes to be made in the production machines in order to upgrade the machines or reconfigure the production machines to produce new products. This schedule of engineering changes is integrated into the maintenance schedule management subsystem, the parts manual management subsystem and the spares inventory management subsystem. For example, at the end of a machine's useful life, scheduled maintenance is postponed or eliminated. Similarly, maintenance parts are not ordered for these machines even though inventory falls below a predetermined level, to allow for depletion of inventory when the machine is taken off line. According to the invention, engineering changes may be phased into maintenance operation by controlling the phase-in by a specified date, by a specified spare parts inventory level or by assigning engineering changes to be made by a specific maintenance request.

The computer integrated maintenance system and method of the present invention allows maintenance operations to be integrated into production in an intelligent manner. When used, production efficiency is maximized as is the use of available maintenance manpower. Engineering changes and machine upgrades are easily accommodated and spare parts inventory is kept at a minimum with minimum waste of spare parts.

The computer integrated maintenance system and method of the present invention need not be used in a production line environment as described above. Indeed, the computer integrated maintenance system and method of the present invention need not be used in connection with a computer integrated manufacturing system, or in connection with manufacturing at all. The computer integrated manufacturing system and method of the present invention may be used in connection with any collection of machines or apparatus which are used to perform a primary or main function and also require maintenance. Such a collection of machines will be referred to herein as a "complex".

A "complex", according to the present invention, may include a production line as described above. A complex may also include a plurality of independent machines which are not structurally or functionally interconnected in a production line. For example, the present invention may be used to control maintenance in a machine shop having many independent machine tools.

A "complex", according to the present invention, may also include machines which are not related to production or manufacturing at all. For example, an airplane or automobile fleet operated by an airline, car rental agency, corporation or government agency is a complex, according to the present invention, because the airplanes or automobiles have a primary function but also have maintenance requirements. Similarly, a building may include a bank of elevators which also have maintenance requirements. The present invention may be used to intelligently control airplane, automobile or elevator maintenance, consistent with the primary function.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the intelligent computer integrated maintenance system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the results of planning and scheduling of maintenance operations by the maintenance schedule management subsystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic example of the parts manual file of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the engineering change control process according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the maintenance schedule management subsystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 illustrates the operations performed by the maintenance schedule management subsystem of FIG. 5 for long-range maintenance planning.

FIG. 7A-7C illustrates the operations performed by the maintenance schedule management subsystem of FIG. 5 for yearly maintenance planning.

FIGS. 8A-8D illustrate an example of the operations of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 illustrates the operations performed by the maintenance schedule management subsystem of FIG. 5 for daily maintenance scheduling.

FIGS. 10A-10D illustrate the hierarchical listing of the parts manual file of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 illustrates the operations performed by the engineering change control management subsystem of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 12A, 12B, 13A, 13B, 14A, and 14B illustrate an example of updating the parts manual file during the operations of FIG. 11.

FIGS. 15A and 15B illustrate the layout of the parts master file according to the present invention.

FIGS. 16A and 16B illustrate the layout of a parts list file according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 illustrates the layout of an engineering change notice file according to the present invention.

FIGS. 18-22 illustrate an example of changes made to the parts manual file during the operations of FIG. 11.

FIGS. 23 and 24 illustrate the operations performed by the engineering change control management subsystem of FIG. 1 to accomplish the changes illustrated in FIGS. 18-22.

FIG. 25 illustrates the steps in updating the parts list.

FIG. 26 illustrates an example of an active parts list according to the present invention.

FIG. 27 illustrates the operations performed to close an engineering change number according to the present invention.

FIG. 28 illustrates the overall spare parts planning cycle according to the present invention.

FIG. 29 illustrates another example of the automated parts manual of the present invention.

FIG. 30 illustrates the detailed operations to calculate the time phase replenishments of FIG. 28.

FIGS. 31-33 illustrate an example of the operations of FIG. 30.

FIGS. 34A and 34B illustrate another example of the operations of FIG. 30.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, this embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

Referring now to FIG. 1, the overall design and operation of an intelligent computer integrated maintenance system 1 according to the present invention will now be described. The intelligent computer integrated maintenance system of FIG. 1 is designed to operate in conjunction with a computer integrated manufacturing system 10, which includes a manufacturing operations controller 11. However, it will be understood by those having skill in the art that the system of the present invention may be used to control maintenance in any "complex", defined as a collection of machines having a primary function and maintenance requirements. In the preferred embodiment described herein, the complex is a plurality of production lines.

The intelligent computer integrated maintenance system 1 of the present invention may operate in combination with the computer integrated manufacturing system 10 described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,423 to Beasley et al., assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The Beasley et al. patent describes the detailed design and operation of computer integrated manufacturing system 10. In particular, the design of manufacturing operations controller 11, corresponding to "Level III" and "Level IV" computers, is described in detail in the Beasley et al. patent and will not be described in detail therein.

Manufacturing operations controller 11 generates a master production schedule file 13, corresponding to the "scheduling system" and "plant scheduling system" in the Level IV and Level III computer systems of the Beasley et al. patent. Manufacturing operations controller 11 also generates an engineering change control file 12 corresponding to the "change order file" in the Beasley et al. patent. It will also be understood by those having skill in the art that engineering changes control file, which is generated separate from the manufacturing operations controller, may also be provided.

Manufacturing operations controller 11 is designed to control a plurality of production complexes. In FIG. 1, complexes 14A . . . 14N may each be thought of as a production line which includes a plurality of production machines 15A . . . 15N, 16A . . . 16N for producing an intermediate or finished product. As shown in FIG. 1, the complex's machines are functionally interconnected so that if one machine in the complex is unavailable due to a failure or due to maintenance activity, the entire complex is unavailable for production, or the production capacity of the complex is limited.

The intelligent computer integrated maintenance system 1 of the present invention includes a maintenance operations computer controller 2 having four subsystems therein. These subsystems are the maintenance schedule management subsystem 3, the engineering change control management subsystem 4, the parts manual management subsystem 5 and the spares inventory management subsystem 6. Each of these subsystems will be described in detail below. Their operation may be summarized as follows:

Maintenance schedule subsystem 3 obtains a schedule of actual production and planned production for the complexes from the master production schedule file 13. Parts to be maintained during a predetermined time period and a predetermined maintenance time during the predetermined time period for each part are identified, based upon the obtained schedule. The maintenance schedule management subsystem produces a reassigned planned production schedule and provides this schedule to master production schedule file 13.

Engineering change control management system 4 incorporates the engineering changes which are included in engineering change control file 12 into the maintenance schedule. Accordingly, maintenance of existing production machines is intelligently scheduled based on future engineering changes for the production machines.

Parts manual management subsystem 5 is designed to operate with an electronically stored parts manual file 7 which contains a hierarchical listing of all parts in the production machines in the complexes. The parts listing does not merely include maintenance or consumable parts; it includes a complete bill of materials for each production machine. Preferably, accompanying each bill of materials is an image of the associated bill of materials. For a typical machine 5-6 levels of materials are provided with the highest level being the part number for the entire machine, and the lowest level being the lowest replaceable part level for the machine.

The parts manual file 7 enables the maintenance schedule management subsystem 3 to tie together maintenance events scheduled for different parts of a particular production machine in a complex, so that maintenance operations for a complex are intelligently grouped together to reduce, and preferably to minimize, downtime of a complex. The parts manual management system 5 also interfaces with the engineering change control management system 4 so that an accurate parts manual file incorporating engineering change controls may be maintained.

Spares inventory management subsystem 6 is designed to operate with a spares inventory file 8 to manage ordering and inventory of spare parts. Spares inventory management system cooperates with the parts manual management subsystem 5 and the engineering change control management system 4 so that spare parts are ordered based upon an accurate list of parts in the parts manual file. When possible, generic or substitute parts are ordered rather than manufacture-specific parts. Furthermore, inventory management takes into account expected engineering changes so that unusable spare parts inventory is minimized. The spares inventory management subsystem 6 generates orders for parts based upon the maintenance schedule generated by maintenance schedule management subsystem 3. Generic parts are typically ordered using a point of order system in which additional quantities of parts are ordered when the quantity on hand is less than a predefined number. In contrast, nongeneric parts are ordered on a one-by-one basis based on the expected maintenance to be performed. Accordingly, inventory of these parts is minimized.

It will be understood by those having skill in the art that maintenance operations computer controller 2 is preferably implemented by a computer program running on a stored program computer, with subsystems 3, 4, 5 and 6 being modules which run on the maintenance operations computer. However, it will also be understood by those having skill in the art that each of subsystems 3, 4, 5, and 6 may run on a separate computer, interconnected using a common data bus. Parts manual file 7 and spares inventory file typically are files on a magnetic or optical storage systems or other well-known non-volatile storage means. It will also be understood by those having skill in the art that the intelligent computer integrated maintenance system 1 may be implemented on a single computer system with computer integrated manufacturing system 10 in an integrated computer integrated manufacturing/maintenance system. For multiple complexes the maintenance operations computer controller 2 is typically implemented using a mainframe computer such as an IBM 3090. However, one or more personal computers may also be used for one or more of the subsystems or the entire maintenance system.

The detailed hardware and software design of the intelligent computer integrated maintenance system of the present invention will depend on the number and complexity of complexes being controlled, the number of functions desired, the available computer resources, and a number of other factors well known to those having skill in the art. The following description of the intelligent computer integrated maintenance system will enable those skilled in the art to implement a system which can be integrated with known computer integrated manufacturing systems.

OVERVIEW: MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT SUBSYSTEM 3

An overview of the operation of the maintenance schedule management subsystem 3 (FIG. 1) will now be described. Maintenance operations fall into two categories: planned and unplanned (emergency). Unplanned emergencies occur when a machine breaks down or is producing poor quality products. One feature of the present invention is that unplanned maintenance operations may be entered into the system, and planned maintenance operations which are scheduled to occur within a predetermined time period of the unplanned maintenance may be implemented during the unplanned maintenance. In other words, when the complex is unavailable for production due to an unplanned maintenance activity, planned maintenance which can be accomplished simultaneously is also performed, so that the complex need not be taken off line a second time a short time later to perform planned maintenance operations.

Planned maintenance may be "time dependent", such as an oil change every three months regardless of hours used; or "usage dependent" based upon actual run hours, such as a visual inspection performed every fifteen hundred production hours. One other form of planned maintenance is a Maintenance Improvement Committee (MIC) directive which is a major event such as a machine upgrade.

The maintenance schedule management subsystem 3 controls time dependent events using a regularly scheduled (RS) maintenance file in the maintenance operations computer controller 2. An RS record is established for each production machine and the time interval for a maintenance operation is coded in the RS record. This information is used to time-phase future time dependent events.

Usage dependent events are controlled by the master maintenance schedule file 13. Actual run hours are maintained by complex. Future run hours are derived by accumulating the planned run hours by complex based on the planned schedule. This information is used to determine the timing of future usage dependent maintenance events.

Maintenance Improvement Committee (MIC) directives are events developed by the engineering maintenance improvement committee. These directives include items such as machine conversions to produce different products, machine upgrades, preventative maintenance trials, machine overhauls or machine relocations. Maintenance improvement committee directives are established by entering a planned maintenance request in the maintenance operation's computer controller. Planned maintenance requests are used to time-phase future maintenance improvement committee directives.

It will be understood by those having skill in the art that the complex is the common denominator between maintenance and production. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, when maintenance is performed on a piece of equipment in a complex, the entire complex is inoperative. According to the invention, all planned maintenance operations are grouped by complex. Each production machine within a complex may have a different time-phased maintenance operation to perform. According to the invention, to minimize complex down time, these operations are coordinated so that multiple maintenance operations are performed simultaneously. For example, one machine in a complex may be due for maintenance on a particular Monday while another machine in the same complex may have time-phased preventative maintenance due on the following Wednesday. According to the invention, both maintenance events are rescheduled based upon the most critical maintenance to be performed.

A work plan stating the steps to be performed for each planned maintenance operation is created by the maintenance schedule management subsystem. Time-phased events are extended by the work plan to calculate the man hours, by labor grade and machine hour down time required to perform each task. The time-phase man hours are then compared to the man hours available for each week. Man hours available can be defined as the total maintenance hours (maintenance staff multiplied by the hours of the week) minus the time reserved for unplanned or emergency maintenance. For example, if ten employees perform full time maintenance activities and there are 40 hours in a week, then there are 400 total maintenance hours available per week. If a 40% contingency is reserved for unplanned maintenance, then 160 of the 400 hours represent unplanned hours and 240 hours may be dedicated for planned events.

Time-phased planned events are then rescheduled based on the criticality of the event and production requirements and the following activities take place: the complex is scheduled for down time so that the planned maintenance operation can be performed. The maintenance schedule is passed to the master production schedule file and the complex is removed from the available production activity. The maintenance request is downloaded to the computer at the complex. (The computer at the complex is described in the above mentioned Beasley et al. patent.) Maintenance requests are also used to record unplanned or emergency maintenance operations. Planned maintenance events may be performed when the machine is down for unplanned/emergency repair. Overall complex availability may be improved according to the invention by performing the planned maintenance while the complex is down. The time-phased planned maintenance man hours plus the man hours reserved for unplanned maintenance activities are extended by the hourly rate to calculate the annual maintenance budget.

FIG. 2 illustrates the results of planning and scheduling of maintenance operations by the maintenance schedule management subsystem 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the time dependent maintenance requirements are calculated in terms of both man hours and machine hours on a per week basis. The usage dependent man hours and machine hours are also calculated based on the master production schedule file 13. Maintenance Improvement Committee directive changes are also calculated in terms of man hours and machine hours. Then, the total capacity required in terms of man hours and machine hours is calculated for each week. The total capacity required is then compared to the hours available. It will be understood that the total hours include a 40% reserve for unplanned maintenance. Subtracting the hours reserved for unplanned maintenance yields the remaining hours which can be scheduled. As shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that 10 man hours and 10 machine hours are available for planned maintenance. It will be seen that week one includes a one man hour capacity shortage, week four produces a seven man hour and two machine hour shortage, and week twenty-six produces a ten man hour and seven machine hour shortage.

Then, according to the invention, the maintenance requests are rescheduled in such a way that the man hours and machine hours are rescheduled to accommodate these shortages. Examples of "Rescheduling Operations" are illustrated in FIG. 2. In operation (a), four hours of man hour capacity shortage in week four are moved to week three. In operation (b), one hour of man hour capacity in week one is moved to week two along with the three remaining hours of the shortage from week four. In operation (c), two hours of machine hour shortage is moved from week four to week three. In operation (d), six hours of man hour capacity shortage in week twenty-six are moved to week twenty-five. In operation (e), four hours of man hour capacity shortage in week twenty-six are moved to week twenty-eight. In operation (f), six hours of machine hour capacity shortage in week twenty-six are moved to week twenty-five. Finally, in operation (g), one hour of the machine hour capacity shortage in week twenty-six is moved to week twenty-seven, and the due dates in all maintenance requests are changed to match the rescheduled times. Accordingly, by rearranging the maintenance events, all planned maintenance and production can be accommodated with the available resources.

OVERVIEW: PARTS MANUAL MANAGEMENT SUBSYSTEM 5

Equipment vendors typically provide a parts manual for each piece of equipment they sell. The parts manual contains engineering drawings and parts lists of all components used in the equipment and describe how the equipment is assembled. When maintenance is performed or engineering changes are planned, the parts manual provides essential reference information.

The parts manual file 7 (FIG. 1) of the present invention is a bill of material representation of the vendor's parts manual. The parts manual file organizes all vendor part manuals for a particular complex. This provides a multi-level bill of material for the equipment in each complex. FIG. 3 provides an example of a parts manual file for a complex denoted 86-4A-1.

Referring to FIG. 3 it will be noted that all parts that comprise a piece of equipment are maintained in the parts manual file, not merely those parts which are consumables or maintenance parts. Accordingly, the parts manual file contains a hierarchical listing of all parts in each machine in the plurality of production complexes. As will be described below, each level of parts in the parts manual file is preferably accompanied by a graphic image illustration of the interrelation of those parts.

All of the parts that comprise a piece of equipment, and which are included in the parts manual file, may be divided into four categories: consumable, replaceable, generic, and non-stocked. Consumable parts are those which are consumed by the production process but not maintained on a list of materials required to produce a product. Some examples include printing dies, tape belts and cutting blades. Because parts of this type must be replaced when they wear out or are used up, they are listed as component items in the parts manual file. According to the invention, spare parts planning for consumable parts is based on future run hours as determined by the maintenance schedule management subsystem 3. For example, tape belts are replaced at the beginning of each production shift. Therefore, each scheduled complex must have a set of tape belts for each production shift scheduled. The total number of tape belts required to support the planned schedule provides the number of belts required each day, week or month.

Replaceable parts are those which have an extended life but are subject to wear or failure. Examples include fans, motors, shafts and drives. These items have a mean-time failure rate which is initially provided by the machine vendor, who is normally the supplier of replacement parts. According to the invention, actual run hours and future run hours for these parts are determined from the master production schedule file and compared to the mean-time failure rate to determine projected parts replacement. When these parts are replaced, the actual run hours are set to zero and the accumulation cycle begins again. The replaceable part information (including for example, complex equipment number, maintenance request number, accumulated hours and other pertinent data) is saved in a parts history file described below. Statistical analysis is applied to review the mean-time failure rate for the part in this complex. If a vendor supplied mean-time failure rate is available, it is reviewed and modified when necessary. When no vendor supplied rate is available, a historical mean-time failure rate will be calculated based on parts history information. The parts manual file also provides information on replacement parts which are still under warranty by the vendor. The vendor's warranty date and/or warranty hours are maintained for the warranty comparison.

Generic parts are those which are used by many machines and include such items as nuts, bolts and washers. These parts are maintained in bulk and issued as required. These items are carried in the parts manual file for reference.

Non-stocked parts include the machine frames, doors, and other items which are not likely to require replacement due to failure or maintenance. These items are carried in the parts manual file for reference.

The vendor's supplied engineering drawings, or "exploded views", are stored as graphic images on magnetic or other media linked to the corresponding parts lists in the parts manual file. This enables a repairer or maintainer to request the parts list for a particular drawing, or request the drawing for a particular parts list.

The part number listing in the parts manual file also cross-references the vendor part number to an internal company part number, spares inventory system part number and an industry standard part number for generic parts or other parts where possible. In addition, the parts manual file can display multi-level parts listings, "part where used" information, summarized parts listings and engineering drawing and/or component parts associated with a pending engineering change notice. The parts manual file 7 is maintained in a central location and may be distributed. A copy may be provided for each complex containing only those production machines in the particular configuration found in that complex. This copy may be contained in a remotely accessible personal computer having a CD-ROM.

It will be understood by those having skill in the art that under certain circumstances it may be necessary to procure replacement parts prior to the modification of the parts manual file. For example, in an efficiency upgrade program, replacement parts may be identified for the improvement before the sequence in which complexes are to be modified has been determined. Another example is when an improvement kit has been obtained but the engineering drawing is not yet available. In both cases "Planning Bills of Material" provide a method of identifying the replacement parts and timing associated with an improvement program. The engineering department can create a planning bill for engineering changes without modifying the parts manual file.

The planning bill is used to evaluate machine modifications and plan for the stocking of new machine parts. For example, if a machine upgrade requires that fifty new parts are to replace forty existing parts on various locations of the machine, a planning bill listing the fifty new parts and the forty old parts is created. The plan may be costed and several implementation plans may be proposed. The planning bill may be used to schedule the time-phased parts delivery. Obsolete parts, i.e. those which are to be replaced, are phased out according to the planning bill. The actual implementation of the project is done through the parts manual file under engineering change control as described below. The planning bill is removed upon completion of the project.

OVERVIEW: ENGINEERING CHANGE CONTROL MANAGEMENT SUBSYSTEM 4

The Engineering Change Control Management Subsystem 4 (FIG. 1) maintains the parts manual file 7 using engineering change control procedures. Engineering drawings and parts lists are added, changed or deleted from the parts manual file based upon one of the "effectivity" control techniques described below.

The most commonly used effectivity control technique is a "specified date", for example: on April 15th, part A will be replaced by part B. Another effectivity control technique is "spare parts inventory use-up". With this technique, part B is issued when part A is no longer available. ECN control will ensure that part A is no longer ordered. Effectivity control can also be tied to a maintenance request "serial number". When this technique is used a particular change is implemented beginning with the maintenance request number specified and then applied to all subsequent maintenance requests.

Engineering change control is the communication of equipment changes to the production floor. When equipment changes are required, the parts manual file is updated by inserting, changing or removing drawings and/or parts. The engineering change control process is completed when the required changes have been implemented and the maintenance request associated with the modification is complete.

The engineering control process is illustrated in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, part A in complex 86-4A-1 is to be replaced by part B under engineering change control No. 123. Maintenance request number XXX is performed by issuing part B from spare parts inventory to complex 86-4A-1. When maintenance request number XXX is closed, i.e. the work is completed, engineering change control number 123 is also closed and the parts manual file is updated to reflect the implementation of engineering change control number 123. Updates to the parts manual file, including a bill of material and an image of the drawings, are transmitted to the plant which includes the machine which has been updated.

OVERVIEW: SPARES INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SUBSYSTEM 6

The Spares Inventory Management Subsystem 6 controls the ordering of spare parts. According to the invention, generic items such as nuts, bolts and washers, are reordered using a typical "order point" technique. In other words, when the quantity on hand falls below a predetermined order point, a replacement order is generated for a standard order quantity.

Replaceable parts are managed using time-phased requirement techniques. The planning cycle consists of three steps. First, the time-phase parts requirements are calculated. These requirements come from three sources: parts required to support time-phased maintenance requests, parts defined on planning bills and anticipated parts replacement due to parts exceeding the mean-time failure rate. Anticipated parts replacement takes the current production plan for each complex and extends the plan through the hierarchical description in the automated parts manual. The planned run hours for each week are added to the actual run hours. A requirement is then created to replace the part during the week in which it will exceed the mean-time failure rate and the accumulated run hours are set to zero for that week. This yields the anticipated replacement requirements of all complexes which is summed to derive the total time-phased replacement requirements for the part. The time-phased requirements consumes the on-hand inventory until it is depleted. Spare parts used to support unplanned maintenance are removed from the on-hand inventory when the spare parts are issued. Replacement of these spare parts may cause the system to order them sooner than originally planned.

Finally, a replacement order is created for each week in which requirements exceed the on-hand balance, or safety stock, if one is maintained. The replacement order may be released to the supplier a predetermined number of days prior to when the part is required, based upon the lead-time that the vendor requires to ship the part. All spare parts required to support the maintenance requests, planning bills and replacement parts are combined to determine the total amount to be ordered for each spare part. The system may also generate paper order forms for the parts, or may electronically order the parts.

When the parts manual file of the present invention is used, a repairer can enter a specific complex number and page down through the hierarchical listing of parts until the proper parts drawing is displayed. When the repairer selects the parts he needs, the computer can convert the selection into a spare parts inventory system number and display the quantity that is currently available in inventory at the repairer's plant. If the quantity available meets the requirements, the repairer can have the parts issued immediately and applied to the maintenance request. When the quantity is insufficient, the repairer can request additional parts from the central parts supply or another plant and allocate those parts to the appropriate maintenance request. When the parts are transferred, they are issued to that maintenance request.

It should be noted that according to the invention, the repairer will be allowed to access the parts manual file at any one of the hierarchical levels. Accordingly, for example, if the repairer knows the machine number, he can enter that number and begin paging at that point in the parts manual file. In addition, part drawings can be printed.

DETAILED OPERATION: MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT SUBSYSTEM 3

The Maintenance Schedule Management Subsystem 3 (FIG. 1) integrates the master production schedule in the Master Production Schedule File 13 with the maintenance requirements for the complexes to thereby produce a Revised Master Production Schedule File and a Master Maintenance Schedule File 9. The result of this integration is a comprehensive schedule for all activity performed on a complex. An activity can be the production of an item, or a regularly scheduled maintenance operation. The Manufacturing Operations Controller 11 operates upon the Master Production Schedule File 13 to generate a schedule for each complex which will meet the production requirements within the complex capacity available. The Maintenance Schedule Management Subsystem 3 generates a Master Maintenance Schedule File 9 which includes a maintenance plan for each complex to support the master production schedule.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the Maintenance Schedule Management Subsystem 3 operates in three time-phases. First, long range maintenance planning for equipment procurement and configuration modifications is performed at Block 20. Then, maintenance planning and budgeting for the current year are performed at Block 21. The last phase is the scheduling of the daily maintenance activity, Block 22. Each of these phases will be described in detail below.

Long Range Maintenance Planning 20

The Maintenance Schedule Management Subsystem function begins with long range maintenance planning. The operations performed for long range maintenance planning 20 are described in FIG. 6. Long range planning may be performed in quarters for a one to ten year planning horizon. The strategic business plan is obtained (Block 25) and the current complex capacity is obtained for a first complex (Block 26). The rated complex capacity at 100 percent is a function of the speed, daily production hours and the number of production days in the quarter. This capacity is modified by applying an efficiency rate and utilization rate. The efficiency rate is used to reduce capacity to account for product set-ups, minor operating adjustments and special runs. The utilization rate reserves capacity for overhauls, modifications and other maintenance functions.

The comparison is performed at Block 29 by assigning each product to the complexes which can produce that product, until all products are scheduled (Block 27). It will be understood by those having skill in the art that multiple products may typically be produced on various complexes. Based on the priority of which product runs on which complex and the effectivity date when the product can be scheduled, a projection of capacity constraints is established. If no capacity constraints are found i.e. the product can be scheduled (Block 30), the first phase of long range maintenance planning is complete, and an indication of the excess capacity available, if any, is tracked at Block 36.

If there is a capacity shortage (Block 30) the capacity constraints are identified at Block 31. If overtime can resolve the capacity constraints (Block 32), it is planned and the comparison of requirements to capacity is tried again. I overtime is unavailable (Block 32), the second course of action is to increase the complex production capacity. This is done at Block 33 by improving the complex efficiency rate to provide more efficient use of the complex, and/or by improving complex availability to improve maintenance operations to increase production. The maintenance planner can state the minimum/maximum utilization to schedule a complex. The long range maintenance planning function will alter the utilization within the guide lines (Block 34) and the comparison of requirements to capacity is tried again.

If an increase in machine utilization cannot resolve capacity requirements (Block 35) the third course is to compare the required capacity to the excess capacity of other complexes, at Block 37. The long term trend of the other complexes is analyzed and Complexes which can be modified to produce the required products are selected at Block 38. Then, at Block 39 maintenance requests are created to perform the modifications if they occur in the first year of the planning horizon.

The above three alternatives are performed for all products until all products are scheduled (Block 27). The process then ends (Block 28). If these three alternatives cannot resolve the capacity constraints, a capital expenditure analysis may be generated to recommend the purchase of additional machinery.

The modified machine capacity file created at Block 38 is provided to the Manufacturing Operations Controller 11 (FIG. 1) for use when creating a production plan. The maintenance requests created at Block 39 to perform the complex modifications matches the modified machine capacity file. This is the first step of the integration of production and maintenance. The downtime for complex modification is reserved when the manufacturing operations controller creates the production plan.

Yearly Maintenance Planning 21

Referring again to FIG. 5, the second operation performed by Maintenance Schedule Management Subsystem 3 is yearly maintenance planning 21. Yearly maintenance planning creates a weekly maintenance schedule for the first year of the planning horizon. Long range maintenance planning reserves a complex by applying a utilization percentage; for example, reserve 10% of the time on a complex for maintenance operations. The utilization percentage rate is replaced by the yearly maintenance plan.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the detailed operations performed by the Yearly Maintenance Planning Function 21 will now be described. The objective of this function is to group all known maintenance requests by complex. Maintenance requests may come from (1) complex modifications planned in phase one (FIG. 6); (2) Time dependent maintenance functions based on regularly-scheduled events such as an oil change; (3) MIC directives (Maintenance Improvement Committee directives) such as trials, modifications and upgrades; and (4) Usage dependent maintenance functions based on planned run hours for each complex. The maintenance requests for complex modifications, time dependent events and Maintenance Committee directives are grouped together. Once the grouping is complete, the dates that the MR's will be performed are rescheduled to minimize the complex downtime. The Usage dependent maintenance requests are created and merged with the other maintenance requests.

Referring to FIG. 7, the time dependent maintenance requests are generated at Block 44 by reading the Regularly-Scheduled (RS) file (Block 41). This file contains a RS record for each type of time dependent event to be performed on each piece of equipment. These events may require that the equipment be down - oil changes, lubrication or belt replacement. Other events perform visual inspection and equipment analysis while the equipment is still running. The measurement record is read for each RS record at Block 42 to extract the time interval that this event is to take place (Block 43). A planned maintenance request is created at Block 44 for each time dependent event during the first 52 weeks of the planning horizon.

MIC directives for trials, modifications and equipment upgrades are entered by the Maintenance Improvement Committee and are obtained at Block 45. The use of the equipment is reserved by the master production schedule when the complex will be out of production for an extended period of time. The complex modifications requests, initiated by production in phase one, are combined with the other planned maintenance requests, at Block 46.

Referring to Block 47, the maintenance requests for the time dependent, MIC directives and complex modifications are grouped by complex. Then, referring to Block 48, each of the maintenance requests for the complex are reassigned to minimize lost time for maintenance. Each maintenance request has a critical indicator which assigns the sequence which maintenance operations should be performed. Each maintenance request also has a window during which that maintenance request must be perfor