Arrangement for planning and monitoring a production process

Claim 1

A system for planning and monitoring a production process comprising an indicator board having a first and a second field, each of said fields including light-emissive signal strips having an area of emission of controllable extent responsive to input signals, programmed computer means adapted to derive output signals in response to production data and a computer program composed in accordance with a production plan, a control unit connected to receive said output signals and to derive said input signals for controlling the various strips, a plurality of product symbols in said first field designating predetermined products of said process, said strips in said first field including a group of strips corresponding to each of said symbols, first means connected to said control unit for applying to a first strip of said group an input signal representing the quantity of the corresponding product multiplied by the marginal cost thereof and to a second and a third strip of said group input signals representing the nominal and the real marginal costs, respectively, of said corresponding product, a plurality of production unit symbols in said second field, a signal strip in said second field corresponding to each of said production unit symbols, and second means connected to said control unit for supplying to the signal strips of said second field signals characterizing the planned operation of said production units.

Claim 2

A system for planning and monitoring a production process comprising an indicator board having a first and a second field, each of said fields including light-emissive signal strips having an area of emission of controllable extent responsive to input signals, programmed computer means adapted to derive output signals in response to production data and a computer program composed in accordance with a production plan, a control unit connected to receive said output signals and to derive said input signals for controlling the various strips, a plurality of product symbols in said first field designating predetermined products of said process, said strips in said first field including a group of strips corresponding to each of said symbols, first means connected to said control unit for applying to a first strip of said group an input signal representing the quantity of the corresponding product multiplied by the marginal cost thereof and to a second and a third strip of said group input signals representing the nominal and the real marginal costs, respectively, of said corresponding product, a plurality of production unit symbols in said second field, a signal strip in said second field corresponding to each of said production unit symbols, and second means connected to said control unit for supplying to the signal strips of said second field signals characterizing the planned operation of said production units.

Claim 3

A system for planning and monitoring a production process comprising an indicator board having a first and a second field, each of said fields including light-emissive signal strips having an area of emission of controllable extent responsive to input signals, programmed computer means adapted to derive output signals in response to production data and a computer program composed in accordance with a production plan, a control unit connected to receive said output signals and to derive said input signals for controlling the various strips, a plurality of product symbols in said first field designating predetermined products of said process, said strips in said first field including a group of strips corresponding to each of said symbols, first means connected to said control unit for applying to a first strip of said group an input signal representing the quantity of the corresponding product multiplied by the marginal cost thereof and to a second and a third strip of said group input signals representing the nominal and the real marginal costs, respectively, of said corresponding product, a plurality of production unit symbols in said second field, a signal strip in said second field corresponding to each of said production unit symbols, and second means connected to said control unit for supplying to the signal strips of said second field signals characterizing the planned operation of said production units.

Claim 4

A system for planning and monitoring a production process comprising an indicator board having a first and a second field, each of said fields including light-emissive signal strips having an area of emission of controllable extent responsive to input signals, programmed computer means adapted to derive output signals in response to production data and a computer program composed in accordance with a production plan, a control unit connected to receive said output signals and to derive said input signals for controlling the various strips, a plurality of product symbols in said first field designating predetermined products of said process, said strips in said first field including a group of strips corresponding to each of said symbols, first means connected to said control unit for applying to a first strip of said group an input signal representing the quantity of the corresponding product multiplied by the marginal cost thereof and to a second and a third strip of said group input signals representing the nominal and the real marginal costs, respectively, of said corresponding product, a plurality of production unit symbols in said second field, a signal strip in said second field corresponding to each of said production unit symbols, and second means connected to said control unit for supplying to the signal strips of said second field signals characterizing the planned operation of said production units.