US6701201B2 — Decomposition system and method for solving a lar…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 144 words

A method for computing a production plan for part numbers (PNs) throughout a bill of material supply chain, comprising the steps of: separating a bill of materials (BOM) into separate manufacturing stages; partitioning each manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages into a heuristic processing and a linear programming processing partition; assigning PNs to the partitioned manufacturing stages; calculating for the each manufacturing stage a Material Requirements Planning (MRP) production plan using either the heuristic processing or the linear programming processing depending on the partitioning step; calculating for the each manufacturing stage a best-can-do production plan using one of the heuristic processing and the linear programming processing depending on the partitioning step; and preparing MRP production solution information to be passed recursively at least one of forward and backward to a manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages based on the best-can-do calculating step.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 144 words

A method for computing a production plan for part numbers (PNs) throughout a bill of material supply chain, comprising the steps of: separating a bill of materials (BOM) into separate manufacturing stages; partitioning each manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages into a heuristic processing and a linear programming processing partition; assigning PNs to the partitioned manufacturing stages; calculating for the each manufacturing stage a Material Requirements Planning (MRP) production plan using either the heuristic processing or the linear programming processing depending on the partitioning step; calculating for the each manufacturing stage a best-can-do production plan using one of the heuristic processing and the linear programming processing depending on the partitioning step; and preparing MRP production solution information to be passed recursively at least one of forward and backward to a manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages based on the best-can-do calculating step.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 23 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the each manufacturing stages are defined by a specific manufacturing stage with respect to the BOM.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 98 words

The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of: determining whether a part associated with the PNs requires the linear programming processing due to the part's inherent complexity, wherein the inherent complexity of the part is based on at least one of: the part being built using more than one process at a given plant during a same time period, the part being a substitute for or being substituted by another part which does not share a same binning process, and the part being designated by a user-specified input file as requiring the linear programming processing.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 42 words

The method of claim 3 , further comprising the steps of: searching up and down the BOM to determine which parts are connected to the inherently complex parts within a manufacturing stage; and marking the connected parts for the linear programming processing.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 39 words

The method of claim 4 , comprising the step of: exploding the connected parts downward through the BOM to determine parts from other manufacturing stages which should be processed within the linear programming processing at a current manufacturing stage.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 66 words

The method of claim 5 , further comprising the steps of: providing a backward linear programming processing for the part in a current manufacturing stage linear programming processing partition; providing the heuristic processing for the parts in a current manufacturing stage heuristic processing partition; and incrementing the current manufacturing stage to a next manufacturing stage, when the current manufacturing stage is not a last manufacturing stage.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method of claim 6 , wherein the heuristic processing partition is provided by default when the part is not processed by the linear programming processing.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 59 words

The method of claim 6 , wherein: the linear programming processing and the heuristic processing pass demand attribute information from a top to a bottom of the BOM for the each manufacturing stage, the demand attribute information is passed by mapping each demand against assets which satisfy the demand and then passing the attribute information through the BOM explosions.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 22 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the heuristic and linear programming processing at a given manufacturing stage are performed in parallel.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 22 words

The method of claim 6 , wherein the MRP-type linear programming processing runs with a time horizon that begins in the past.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 29 words

The method of claim 10 , wherein the MRP-type linear programming processing in the explosion step involves combining parts at lower level manufacturing stages into higher level manufacturing stages.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 6 , further comprising the step of imploding the BOM, wherein nonlinear decision rules are used between the manufacturing stages during the imploding.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 69 words

The method of claim 6 , further comprising the step of pegging to pass demand attribute information from a top to a bottom of the BOM within a partition such that a lower manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages are processed with correct demand priority and nonlinear business rules and manufacturing releases from both the linear programming processing and the heuristic processing partitions are combined and then exploded.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the separate manufacturing stages are substantially independent of one another.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 78 words

The method of claim 13 , further comprising the steps of: mapping the demand attribute information against needs based on fields determined by the linear programming processing; and determining which of the needs support which demand attribute information, wherein the needs for customer shipments are defined by fixed fields including part number, shipping plant location, time period, customer and customer demand class priority, wherein matching occurs on the demand attribute information which have fields matching the fixed fields.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method of claim 15 , wherein the needs are further mapped against assets supplying the needs.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 18 words

The method of claim 15 , wherein the needs are further mapped against end-item demands they are supporting.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 66 words

The method of claim 16 , further comprising the steps of: taking the assets from an output of the mapping and finding corresponding needs which support the assets through substitutions and inter-plant shipments; mapping the demands which support the assets against the needs supporting the assets and against the assets supporting the needs such that all assets are mapped against the end-item demands they are supporting.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 113 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein: dividing capacity between that available for the linear programming processing partition and the heuristic processing partition; calculating the capacity requirements required to support manufacturing releases generated for the linear programming processing partition and the heuristic processing partition (“exploded_capreq”); and setting the capacity available for the linear programming processing in a given time period to a maximum of: a prorated share based on the exploded_capreq in a current time period, a prorated share based on a total exploded_capreq which exists in the current time period, a previous time period, and a next time period, and a prorated share based on a total exploded_capreq throughout a time horizon.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 65 words

The method of claim 19 , further comprising the steps of: calculating the capacity required to support the manufacturing releases generated by the linear programming processing based on the setting step; subtracting the calculated capacity requirements from a total capacity available and providing a new capacity available for the heuristic processing; and performing the best-can-do calculation using the heuristic processing for a current manufacturing stage.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein the production plan is performed interactively in a simulation based manner either standalone or using a graphical user interface.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 35 words

The method of claim 1 , wherein available capacity is divided between the linear programming processing and heuristic processing partitions in a manner which reflects short-term, near-term, and long-term capacity needs of the respective partitions.

Claim 24

Independent Claim 147 words

A system for computing a production plan for part numbers (PNs) throughout a bill of material supply chain, comprising: a module for separating bill of materials (BOM) into separate manufacturing stages; a module for partitioning each manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages into a heuristic processing and a linear programming processing partition; a module for assigning PNs to the partitioned manufacturing stages; a module for calculating for the each manufacturing stage a Material Requirements Planning (MRP) production plan using either the heuristic processing or the linear programming processing; a module for calculating for the each manufacturing stage a best-can-do production plan using one of a heuristic processing or a linear programming processing depending on the partitioning; and a module for preparing MRP production solution information to be passed recursively forward to a next manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages based on the best-can-do calculating step.

Claim 25

Independent Claim 147 words

A system for computing a production plan for part numbers (PNs) throughout a bill of material supply chain, comprising: a module for separating bill of materials (BOM) into separate manufacturing stages; a module for partitioning each manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages into a heuristic processing and a linear programming processing partition; a module for assigning PNs to the partitioned manufacturing stages; a module for calculating for the each manufacturing stage a Material Requirements Planning (MRP) production plan using either the heuristic processing or the linear programming processing; a module for calculating for the each manufacturing stage a best-can-do production plan using one of a heuristic processing or a linear programming processing depending on the partitioning; and a module for preparing MRP production solution information to be passed recursively forward to a next manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages based on the best-can-do calculating step.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 142 words

A machine readable medium containing code for computing a production plan for part numbers (PNs) throughout a bill of material supply chain, comprising the steps of: separating bill of materials (BOM) into separate manufacturing stages substantially independent of one another; partitioning each manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages into a heuristic processing and a linear programming processing partition; assigning PNs to the partitioned manufacturing stages; calculating for the each manufacturing stage a Material Requirements Planning (MRP) production plan using either the heuristic processing or the linear programming processing; calculating for the each manufacturing stage a best-can-do production plan using one of a heuristic processing or a linear programming processing depending on the partitioning step; and preparing MRP production solution information to be passed recursively forward to a next manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages based on the best-can-do calculating step.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 142 words

A machine readable medium containing code for computing a production plan for part numbers (PNs) throughout a bill of material supply chain, comprising the steps of: separating bill of materials (BOM) into separate manufacturing stages substantially independent of one another; partitioning each manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages into a heuristic processing and a linear programming processing partition; assigning PNs to the partitioned manufacturing stages; calculating for the each manufacturing stage a Material Requirements Planning (MRP) production plan using either the heuristic processing or the linear programming processing; calculating for the each manufacturing stage a best-can-do production plan using one of a heuristic processing or a linear programming processing depending on the partitioning step; and preparing MRP production solution information to be passed recursively forward to a next manufacturing stage of the separate manufacturing stages based on the best-can-do calculating step.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2007-03-02	2007-09-01	2008-03-02	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2011-03-02	2011-09-01	2012-03-02	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2015-03-02	2015-09-01	2016-03-02	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Decomposition system and method for solving a large-scale semiconductor production planning problem

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