A storage medium storing a work plan specifying program that causes a computer to execute a process that includes specifying a certain order under conditions that, in a work line that generates a plurality of objects in the certain order, a certain amount of a material is partially cut from a raw material for each of the plurality of objects, the cut material is processed, the raw material is switched to a next raw material when the raw material lacks, and a changeover is performed to change the settings of the cutting device and the proceeding; and optimizing an objective function that reflects the changeover and an excess amount of each raw material that are determined according to an input order of the plurality of objects to the work line.

Methods, systems and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage medium, for controlling operations of machine tool workstations. Machine tool workstations are grouped into functional groups. Neural networks corresponding to the functional groups are trained to process respective inputs representing parts to be processed to generate respective outputs representing sequences of ordered subsets of the parts that produce a reduced setup time for workstations in the functional groups. Data representing respective collections of parts to be processed by workstations included in the functional groups is processed using the trained neural networks to generate corresponding sequences of ordered subsets of the collection of parts. Average delay times associated with the generated sequences of ordered subsets of the collection of parts are computed. If the average delay times are less than a predetermined threshold, parts are released to the functional groups for processing according to the generated sequences.

The production line configuration change system includes: an error information storage unit that stores information of an error which occurs in equipment on a production line; a work information storage unit that stores work contents required for manufacturing a product; an equipment information storage unit that stores constraint information of a tool mountable on the equipment; a production line configuration information storage unit that, in order of manufacturing processes of the product, stores a work content, work assignment equipment, a tool mounted on the equipment, and a process tact time in each of the manufacturing processes; and a production line configuration calculation unit that is activated immediately after the error occurs, prepares a change plan of assigning a work assigned to the equipment in which the error occurs to the equipment before or after the process or another equipment of the identical process and calculates a provisional production line configuration.

The production line configuration change system includes: an error information storage unit that stores information of an error which occurs in equipment on a production line; a work information storage unit that stores work contents required for manufacturing a product; an equipment information storage unit that stores constraint information of a tool mountable on the equipment; a production line configuration information storage unit that, in order of manufacturing processes of the product, stores a work content, work assignment equipment, a tool mounted on the equipment, and a process tact time in each of the manufacturing processes; and a production line configuration calculation unit that is activated immediately after the error occurs, prepares a change plan of assigning a work assigned to the equipment in which the error occurs to the equipment before or after the process or another equipment of the identical process and calculates a provisional production line configuration.