Manufacturing process data conversion and structuring

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12298736-B2
Application number	US-202217682605-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2022
Priority date	Feb 28, 2022
Publication date	May 13, 2025
Grant date	May 13, 2025

Abstract

A digital technology transfer system transforms technology transfer documents to a set of digitized manufacturing procedures and operations documentation. The system can transform a technology transfer document to a hierarchical structured model representing a package, or product to be manufactured, and the process for manufacturing the product. The resulting package model can be integrated into a larger model representing an ecosystem of manufacturing entities and plant facilities by assigning steps of the manufacturing process to one or more selected production lines. The system allows participants in the ecosystem to browse the hierarchical model to view information about the manufacturing entities, their plant facilities, and the packages assigned to the respective facilities. The system offers filtered role-specific views of the technology transfer documents, their approval statuses, and their plant assignments.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a memory;
a processor, operatively coupled to the memory, that executes executable components stored on the memory, the executable components comprising:
a user interface component configured to import a technology transfer document containing information about a product to be manufactured and describing a manufacturing process for manufacturing the product; and
a conversion component configured to translate the technology transfer document to a package model, the package model comprising a hierarchically structured organization of nodes representing content sections of the technology transfer document,
wherein the user interface component is further configured to render, on a user interface, the package model as a browsable navigation tree comprising the nodes, and to receive, via interaction with the browsable navigation tree, assignment data that assigns a manufacturing step of the manufacturing process defined by the package model to a selected production line of multiple production lines defined in the system,
the executable components further comprise an export component configured to translate information about the manufacturing step contained in the package model to control configuration data and to export the control configuration data to an industrial device or system that controls the selected production line, and
the control configuration data configures the industrial device or system to execute the manufacturing step.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the industrial device or system is at least one of an industrial controller, a manufacturing execution system, an enterprise resource planning system, or a product lifecycle management system.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the technology transfer document is imported as at least one of a portable document format file, a word processing file, or an image file.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the nodes of the package model are organized according to a hierarchy of levels comprising one or more of a process level representing a manufacturing process, a stage level representing stages of the manufacturing process, a step level representing steps of the stages, or a parameter level representing control parameter values associated with the steps.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the conversion component is configured to
identify sections of the technology transfer document and determine types of content contained in the sections,
translate the technology transfer document to a raw object model comprising nodes representing the sections and the content contained in the sections, and
translate the raw object model to a structured object model that organizes the nodes or objects of the raw object model into a hierarchical structure based on learned relationships between the content.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein
the conversion component is further configured to apply standardization processing to the structured object model to yield the package model, and
the standardization processing organizes nodes of the structured object model according to an industrial standard.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user interface is configured to
in response to selection, via interaction with the user interface, of a node of the navigation tree representing a section of the technology transfer document, render content associated with the section of the technology transfer document on the user interface.

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a model builder component configured to integrate the package model into an innovator model based on the assignment data,
wherein
the innovator model defines an ecosystem of plant facilities, and
nodes of the innovator model are organized according to a hierarchy of levels comprising one or more of a technology owner level, a manufacturer level, a plant level, and a line level defining the multiple production lines.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein
one of the content sections comprises control parameter values for the manufacturing step,
the conversion component records the control parameter values in association with a node of the package model representing the manufacturing step, and
the export component is configured to obtain the control parameter values from the package model and include the control parameter values in the control configuration data.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system executes as a service on a cloud platform.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the multiple production lines are defined in a hierarchical innovator model defining manufacturing entities, plant facilities associated with the manufacturing entities, and production lines associated with the plant facilities, and
the multiple production lines are the production lines defined in the hierarchical innovator model as being associated with the plant facilities.

12. A method, comprising:
importing, by a system comprising a processor, a technology transfer document containing information about a product to be manufactured and describing a manufacturing process for manufacturing the product;
converting, by the system, the technology transfer document to a package model, the package model comprising a hierarchically structured organization of objects representing content sections of the technology transfer document;
rendering, by the system on a user interface, the package model as a browsable navigation tree comprising the objects;
receiving, by the system via interaction with the browsable navigation tree, assignment data that assigns a manufacturing step of the manufacturing process defined by the package model to a selected production line of multiple production lines defined in the system;
generating, by the system, control configuration data based on information about the manufacturing step contained in the package model; and
sending, by the system, the control configuration data to an industrial device or system of the selected production line to facilitate configuring the industrial device or system to execute a the manufacturing step.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the sending comprises sending the control configuration data to at least one of an industrial controller, a manufacturing execution system, an enterprise resource planning system, or a product lifecycle management system.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the converting comprises organizing the objects of the package model according to a hierarchy of levels comprising one or more of a process level representing a manufacturing process, a stage level representing stages of the manufacturing process, a step level representing steps of the stages, or a parameter level representing control parameter values associated with the steps.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the converting comprises:
identifying sections of the technology transfer document;
determining types of content contained in the sections;
translating the technology transfer document to a raw object model comprising objects representing the sections and the content contained in the sections; and
translating the raw object model to a structured object model that organizes the nodes or objects of the raw object model into a hierarchical structure based on learned relationships between the content.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the converting further comprises applying standardization processing to the structured object model to yield the package model,
wherein the standardization processing organizes objects of the structured object model according to an industrial standard.

Assignees

• Rockwell Automation Tech Inc

Inventors

• Maturana Francisco P
• Misra Sachin
• Taylor Brian
• Luo Dennis J
• Schiele Jay W

Classifications

• G06Q50/04

  Manufacturing · CPC title

• G05B2219/25124

  Configure attributes of parameters · CPC title

• G05B19/4083 Primary

  Adapting program, configuration · CPC title

• G06Q10/00 Primary

  Administration; Management · CPC title