System and process for monitoring, control and withdrawal of consumable items in a production environment

摘要

The invention refers to a system and a process for the measure and collection of consumables consumption and performance data to build a reliable, real-time database and to monitor the consumption and performance of a consumable tool through its life cycle. A system according to the invention comprises a) first storage means to store data concerning the consumables; b) means to capture the performance data; c) second storage means to store performance data during operation of the consumable when is mounted on a machine; d) means to transfer in real-time the performance data to the said second storage means; e) process means to assess the performance of the tool and on the basis of the said assessment to instruct or not the withdrawal of the tool; and output means to deliver the said instruction to a user of the system. A process according to the invention, comprises the following steps: a) capture performance data during operation of the tool when the tool is mounted on a machine; b) transfer in realtime the performance data to the management system; c) assess the performance of the tool; d) on the basis of said assessment instruct or not the withdrawal of the tool; and e) deliver the instruction to withdraw the tool to the user via output means.

主权项

1. A system for monitoring consumption of at least one consumable tool mounted to a production machine, the system comprising:
a performance data capture unit installed on the production machine and configured to capture performance data for the at least one consumable tool, wherein the at least one consumable tool comprises a tool or material that is consumed by a production process, and wherein the performance data comprises at least one of the following: a number of items that are machined by the at least one consumable tool, a time that the at least one consumable tool is used, a time that the at least one consumable tool is used for machining an item, or any combination thereof; at least one data processing unit configured to: determine if the at least one consumable tool needs to be replaced based at least partially on the performance data, generate at least one instruction in response to determining that the at least one consumable tool needs to be replaced, detect when the at least one consumable tool is removed from the production machine, receive user input after the at least one consumable tool is removed from the production machine, and determine a status for the at least one consumable tool based at least partially on the user input, the status including at least one of the following: waste, pre-rework, capable of further use, disqualified, or any combination thereof; and at least one storage cabinet configured to store consumable tools, receive the at least one instruction, and automatically open to allow access to the consumable tools based at least partially on the at least one instruction after user input is received, the user input comprising at least one of the following: a user identification, a tool number, a tool selection, a reason for removal, or any combination thereof.