Abstract: The present invention comprises methods and systems that provide manufacturing capacity configuration, allocation, and procurement plans based on manufacturing demand, operational constraints, and other user inputs. This is generally accomplished by modeling the capabilities of the equipment comprising the capacity at its lowest allowed level of configurability. By defining capacity requirements at those same or lower levels, configuration, allocation, and procurement plans can be generated from an aggregated capacity demand forecast. In addition, the present invention allows for constraints (e.g. special equipment limitations, demand priorities, temporal requirements, financial targets, etc.) from various business areas to be considered when generating the plans. Furthermore, for each plan, the present invention also identifies any needed and excess capacity—again described at the lowest allowed level of configurability—and generates expected manufacturing, financial, and other performance metrics.

Abstract: The present invention comprises methods and systems that provide the ability to record and manage manufacturing capacity attributes that describe the capacity at its lowest level of configurability—supporting the specification, planning, matching, and trading of the capacity. This is generally accomplished by first establishing a common data model that can store relational datasets of attributes for the various types of requirements and equipment, with accuracy and precision down to their lowest allowed levels of configurability. The present invention also provides a set of user interfaces (Uls) that provide a means to browse, filter, search, view, edit, group, report, and communicate the attribute datasets. Each dataset can also be originated or updated through an ability to import attribute information from manufacturing equipment, attribute files, other database systems, and the like.

Abstract: The present invention comprises methods and systems that provide the ability to functionally and temporally match configurable manufacturing capacity requirements and availability at their lowest levels of configurability. This is generally accomplished by first modeling the capabilities of the equipment comprising the required capacity and available capacity at their lowest allowed levels of configurability. Each of the required capabilities is then matched in turn against the corresponding available capabilities, generating a match ranking based on capability alignment and substitutability, as well as business objectives. In addition, the present invention identifies needed or excess capacity components for a given match—again described at the lowest allowed level of configurability. Furthermore, the present invention also iteratively matches capacity according to varying combinations of specified search attributes and terms to provide a sortable list of match results.

Abstract: The present invention comprises methods and systems that provide manufacturing capacity configuration, allocation, and procurement plans based on manufacturing demand, operational constraints, and other user inputs. This is generally accomplished by modeling the capabilities of the equipment comprising the capacity at its lowest allowed level of configurability. By defining capacity requirements at those same or lower levels, configuration, allocation, and procurement plans can be generated from an aggregated capacity demand forecast. In addition, the present invention allows for constraints (e.g. special equipment limitations, demand priorities, temporal requirements, financial targets, etc.) from various business areas to be considered when generating the plans. Furthermore, for each plan, the present invention also identifies any excess capacity—again described at the lowest allowed level of configurability—and generates expected manufacturing, financial, and other performance metrics.