Time for a breakthrough

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT IN REAL TIME WITHOUT SCHEDULING, WITHOUT DIRECT SUPERVISORS

- Digital Robot IPOsystem. Autonomous decision system

REAL TIME ALGORITHMS | NO SCHEDULING

Each event in the production area and the production-related area (e.g. work release, partial report on the work performed, end of work, change in the availability of material in the warehouse, change of the order completion date, change of order priority, new order, suspension of the order, information on the machine status, change of employee availability, etc.) regardless of the source of its origin (work terminal, computer, tablet, mobile phone, machine or robot controller), it automatically and in real time triggers the calculations in IPOsystem used in decision algorithms operating at the moments when it is necessary to make a decision about the next work of the resource in the production hall. This is why IPOsystem does not need the scheduling used in traditional APS systems (planning systems).

Resource management requires precise information about each subsequent work performed by resources - order number, number of items, material with a pick-up and storage station, employee, workstation, additional technological information, etc. Scheduling with such high accuracy always requires time, therefore it is impossible using APS systems for optimization and direct resource control in production areas where there is variability in planning parameters. Each APS system in such an environment will cause downtime and micro downtime of employees, which results in a much lower resource productivity compared to control based on real-time decision algorithms implemented in IPOsystem..

The solution to this problem is the implementation of a digital robot - based on narrow artificial intelligence, autonomous decision-making system that independently, without the participation of planners creating production schedules and direct supervision personel manages the work of employees and machines in production halls. IPOsystem makes optimal decisions regarding the order of implementation and selection of resources for individual technological activities in real time. Each employee, after reporting to the system, is immediately instructed to carry out the optimal technological operation at a given moment.

Employees may use various technologies to interact with the system: terminals, tablets, smartphones, machine controller displays, personal computers and in the near future augmented reality and voice commands. Through them, the IPOsystem communicates autonomously decisions and allows the introduction of additional reports and information. The system also enables the collection and use of data directly from machines and the independent control of machines and robots in processes carried out without human participation

Such system operation is possible only because the calculation of the release of subsequent works is optimized and implemented in real time, without scheduling!

IPOsystem does not replace ERP (MRP) class systems, but integrates and functions with them. IPOsystem complements ERP class systems in the field of active resource planning and production process control. It provides managers with reliable and up-to-date (online) information about resources, production orders, order completion dates, real working time, costs, quality control results, production shortages, failures, etc. Data generated by IPOsystem constitute complete information about production processes in the company, which implemented it.

IPOsystem is a key tool for digitizing production areas. The intelligent decision algorithms used in IPOsystem as well as innovative tools for tracking the current state of resources in production halls make the idea of autonomous, remotely managed factories become a reality.

IPOsystem:

is implemented in 50 companies in Poland,
controls work of more than 12 000 employees every day,
each day generates ca. 45 thousands of operational decisions.

KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL PLANNING SYSTEMS AND IPOSYSTEM

Feature	IPOsystem	Classic planning systems, APS
Purpose of the system	Optimal, autonomous and direct manage¬ment of all production and production-rela¬ted resources in production halls.	Creating an optimal production plan that can be used, among others, for resource management.
System work result	Current decisions (task commands) issued in real time to all resources in the production hall.	Production plan issued.
Key algorithms	Innovative decision-making mechanisms supported by narrow artificial intelligence.	Resource scheduling algorithms, i.e. a me¬chanism for simulating the future based on a number of assumptions.
Calculation frequency	IPOsystem algorithms in real time and automatically aggregate all data necessary in decision-making processes.	Scheduling is performed from time to time to take into account any deviations from the assumptions and new data compared to the previous plan.
Precision of the work command and Calculation time	Calculating the decision means issuing the work, it never takes more than 5 seconds and always contains all the necessary in¬formation needed to perform the work - i.e. what technological operation, who, at what position, how many pieces, what material, where to get, where to put it, other technolo¬gical conditions.	The more precise the scheduling, the more time it takes to calculate it. The faster the scheduling, the less data it covers (e.g. scheduling across a group of operations without allocation to resources).
Variability impact	Definitely negative. High sensitivity to any deviation from the adopted assumptions.	Neutral. Automatic compensation of all events affecting the production area, without any human intervention.
Type of control	Autonomous making of operational decisions regarding the sequence of work execution and selection of resources without human intervention (planner, direct supervision).	Providing information supporting people's decision-making. Human decisions are essential in the resource control process.
Implementation	Precise modeling of the behavior of each resource in the production hall. The use of elements of the self-learning of the system during its operation.	Rough definition of technology operations and resource skills sufficient to prepare a production plan. Unable to use the plan to control resources directly.
Time assigned for technological operation execution	It is enough to estimate the time of performing the operation for the system to work properly.	Precise definition of the execution time for all operations of each order technology is required.
Real time of technological operation execution	Automatic collection of information about the time and conditions of each work performance as a result of connection between autonomous issuing of work orders and the reporting system. Result - current information about the real efficiency of each resource in each production and production-related process	Necessity to use averaged standards for resources with similar skills. Consequence - lack of current information on the real skills of resources (the need to perform additional measurements to change the applicable standards).
System and production-related processes	Autonomous management of all production-related works that may affect the timing of orders and the maximum use of available production-related resources.	Production-related operations, such as preparation and release of materials in the warehouse, internal transport, quality control, preparation time of the necessary tools, etc. are not taken into account. This is due to the problem with the standardization of the time of performing these operations and the moment of their occurrence.
Principles of resource control	Instructing a given resource/employee to perform only one task, the most optimal at a given moment, and only after its completion, another one.	Possibility of choosing one of several scheduled tasks by the supervisor or the employee himself.
Involvement of the production management staff	IPOsystem independently and autonomously manages the production without planners and direct supervision persons. Significant reduction of fixed management costs.	A large team of people responsible for technology, planning, direct and indirect supervision.
System and organization	IPOsystem autonomously manages resources in real time without the need for scheduling. The system frees up working time of management resources. No erosion of procedures due to the ongoing enforcement of their use by the system.	Necessary various procedures and tools to manage production based on scheduling. High risk of erosion of procedures over time due to the complex nature of management.
Role of managers	The role of managers is to optimize production and production-related processes thanks to access to detailed information about the actual course of production processes collected by IPOsystem.	Managers in ERP, APS and MES systems must make quick and responsible operational decisions.
System and pandemic	Fully automated management process that can be monitored and supervised remotely from anywhere in the world.	High sensitivity to absences of key persons responsible for planning and direct supervision.
Production efficiency	The time of each worker and machine is used as much as possible. The result - an increase in the productivity of companies by 10% - 30% in relation to management based on scheduling.	Losses generated by downtime and micro-downtime resulting from unforeseen situations.
Innovation	The IPOsystem algorithms were created from scratch at the end of the first decade of the 21st century. Creating an effective algorithm for direct resource management without scheduling is a breakthrough innovation on a global scale.	Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) evolved from the older and more traditional production planning and queuing in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The APS programs that were built on this concept in the 1990s, although constantly evolving, are based on the operation principle established over 60 years ago.
System development potential	High development potential of the system. Currently, the functions of automatic collection of information directly from machines and devices as well as autonomous control of robots, automated warehouses, machines and intelligent means of transport are being developed. IPOsystem is one of the first cyber-physical systems in the world that independently manage production characterized by high variability.	Scheduling takes time. Each subsequent deviation from the assumptions that occurs during it forces its repetition. Low development potential of APS systems towards cyber-physical systems.

AT ANY MOMENT
YOU KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING
IN THE PRODUCTION AREAS

IPOsystem and ERP systems

IPOsystem does not replace systems of the ERP (MRP) class but integrates them and operates along with them.

IPOsystem complements ERP class systems in the field of active process planning and manufacturing process control. It provides managers with credible and current (online) information concerning resources, production orders, deadlines for orders, actual working time, costs, quality control results, production deficiencies, breakdowns, etc. The data generated by IPOsystem provides full information on the course of production processes in the company that implemented it.

Due to the specifics of resource control (control of 100% of employees' work time), data on completed works and processes collected in IPOsystem are a reliable representation of reality.

The existing tools allow to control the working time of individual operations. For example, time spent on providing planning and organizational information is out of control. The problem of these systems is the lack of full, automatic external control over the working time of individual resources (which allows employees to perform or report individual operations not in accordance with their actual course - time and order of execution). Linking and automating planning processes with direct management of employees by IPOsystem results in obtaining reliable information on the real time of implementation of each technological operation.

Each employee receives the first work order automatically at the start of work on a shift and logging into the system (RCP function). Subsequent work order is issued to the employee at the end of the previous work (within a maximum of 5 seconds). The IPOsystem regularly controls the working time of all work in production halls and automatically, in real time, informs the production managers of any exceeding of the assumed working time and work performance with lower than assumed performance. At the same time, the system calculates the actual monthly performance of each employee / brigade and enables the comparison of work parameters of individual resources in any time range.

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT IN REAL TIME WITHOUT SCHEDULING, WITHOUT DIRECT SUPERVISORS