DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to Applicant's response to application filed on 22 July 2024. Currently, claims 1-11 are pending. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention appears to have a typographical error as computerreadable is one word instead of computer readable. A new title is required that corrects this typographical error.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-11 are clearly drawn to at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter recited in 35 U.S.C. 101 (apparatus and method). Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more. Claims 1 and 9 recite the abstract idea of acquiring prediction information of an electric power charge and a CO2 emission amount per unit electric power amount of each date and time for each of a plurality of electric power supply sources assumed to be used for the production operation and acquiring information for specifying a production condition of the product from a production requester and generating at least first production plan information prioritizing reduction of a CO2 emission amount, based on the acquired prediction information and information for specifying the production condition and outputting the generated first production plan information. The claims are directed to a type of generating a production plan based on production conditions and reducing CO2 emissions. Under prong 1 of Step 2A, these claims are considered abstract because the claims are a type of certain methods of organizing human activity (including business relations) and mental concepts performed in the mind (including evaluations and judgments). Applicant’s claims are organized human activity because a production facility is a business (human activity) and the activity is organized by making a production plan and the claims are mental concepts performed in the mind because the plan because the generated production plan is considered an evaluation or judgment based on acquired information. Under prong 2 of Step 2A, the judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claims (the judicial exception and any additional elements individually or in combination such as a production support apparatus comprising processing units configured to perform steps, an information processing apparatus supports a production operation of a product by a production facility, acquiring from a terminal) are not an improvement to a computer or a technology, the claims do not apply the judicial exception with a particular machine, the claims do not effect a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing nor do the claims apply the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment such that the claims as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception. These limitations at best are merely implementing an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea - see MPEP 2106.05(f). Under Step 2B, the claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements individually or in combination such as a production support apparatus comprising processing units configured to perform steps, an information processing apparatus supports a production operation of a product by a production facility, acquiring from a terminal (as evidenced by para [0025], [0030], [0033]-[0036] of applicant’s own specification) are well understood, routine and conventional in the field. Dependent claims 2-8, 10 also do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements either individually or in combination are merely an extension of the abstract idea itself by further showing generates, in addition to the first production plan information, at least one of second production plan information prioritizing a delivery date and third production plan information prioritizing a production cost, and outputs the first production plan information and at least generated one of the second production plan information and the third production plan information and predicts an electric power charge and a CO2 emission amount per unit electric power amount of each date and time for each of the plurality of electric power supply sources based on information indicating past electric power supply results of the plurality of electric power supply sources, and uses a prediction result as the prediction information and generating at least one of a first production pattern prioritizing reduction of CO2 emission amount, a second production pattern prioritizing a delivery date, and a third production pattern prioritizing a production cost by changing weights to respective target values of the delivery date, the production cost, and the CO2 emission amount included in the information for designating the production condition; and generating the first production plan information and at least one of the second production plan information and the third production plan information by applying an optimum solution of the electric power supply source and a production speed of the production facility to the generated first production pattern and at least generated one of the second production pattern and the third production pattern, based on the prediction information and the information 5 indicating the production speed and determines whether the optimum solution satisfies the target values of the delivery date, the production cost, and the CO2 emission amount included in the information for designating the production condition, and performs a process of adding an additional cost to the production cost when the third processing unit determines that the optimum solution does not satisfy the target values and acquire from the production requester, selection information indicating production plan information selected by the production requester from among the first production plan information and at least one of the second production plan information and the third production plan information and acquire actual values of the delivery date, the production cost, and the CO2 emission amount during a period in which the production operation is performed, and output intermediate report information including the acquired actual values to the production requester and acquire actual values of the delivery date, the production cost, and the CO2 emission amount during a period in which the production operation is performed, calculate a degree of deviation of the acquired actual values from the target values of the delivery date, the production cost, and the CO2 emission amount included in the information for designating the production condition, and generate production plan change information for reducing the calculated degree of deviation. Dependent claims 2-8, 10-11 do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements individually or in combination such as processing units, acquire from the terminal, output to the terminal and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a processor to perform processes (as evidenced by para [0025], [0030], [0033]-[0036] of applicant’s own specification) are well understood, routine and conventional in the field.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claims 1-6, 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barker et al. (US 2011/0288668 A1) (hereinafter Barker) in view of Kijima et al. (US 2013/0159218 A1) (hereinafter Kijima).
Claims 1 and 9:
Barker, as shown, discloses the following limitations of claims 1 and 9:
A production support apparatus (and corresponding method) that supports a production operation of a product by a production facility, the production support apparatus comprising: a first processing unit configured to acquire prediction information of an electric power charge and a CO2 emission amount per unit electric power amount of each date and time for each of a plurality of electric power supply sources assumed to be used for the production 10 operation (see para [0028], "the operating data for process chamber 50 can include additional resource data 42, such as an amount of power consumed, and/or the like." and see para [0040], " Additionally, planning component 60B can be configured to generate the manufacturing schedule 46, which is implemented by routing component 60A. In particular, planning component 60B can obtain the desired quantities of each of a plurality of types of products to be manufactured within a desired time frame, an availability of the various tools 14A, 14B, resources, and/or the like, and generate the manufacturing schedule 46 accordingly." and see para [0042], "In an embodiment, planning component 60B generates a manufacturing schedule 46 that optimizes a cost of operating the manufacturing environment 10 during a desired time frame. For example, planning component 60B can use cost data corresponding to one or more variables included in the operating data. Subsequently, planning component 60B can generate a manufacturing schedule 46 that minimizes the total cost of operating the manufacturing environment 10 as defined by the cost data corresponding to the one or more variables in the operating data. In a more particular example, the operating data can include data corresponding to various aspects of operation by each tool 14A, 14B in performing a particular recipe step, such as, for example: an amount of electricity; an amount of a material (e.g., chemical) consumed; an amount of a by-product generated; and/or the like." where it is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that a schedule and desired time frame can be considered to show a time and date);
a third processing unit configured to generate at least first production plan information prioritizing reduction of a CO2 emission amount, based on the acquired prediction information and information for specifying the production condition (see para [0039]-[0047], showing planning component based on cost which can be considered a condition)
Barker, however, does not specifically disclose a second processing unit configured to acquire information for specifying a production condition of the product from a terminal of a production requester. In analogous art, Kijima discloses the following limitations:
a first processing unit configured to acquire prediction information of an electric power charge and a CO2 emission amount per unit electric power amount of each date and time for each of a plurality of electric power supply sources assumed to be used for the production 10 operation (see para [0022], "In order to achieve the object, there is provided according to one aspect of the present invention an information processing apparatus configured to output a manufacturing cost and a CO.sub.2 emission amount for each of manufacturing processes which is capable of manufacturing an identical product, the information processing apparatus including: a first storage part configured to store processing operation information in which the manufacturing processes, which can manufacture the identical product, are registered, wherein information regarding processing operations constituting each of the manufacturing processes, information regarding electric equipments used in each of the processing operations, information regarding a use time of each of the electric equipments for each of the processing operations, and a miscellaneous process cost excluding an electric power cost for each of the processing operations are also registered in said processing operation information by being associated with each other; a second storage part configured to store equipment information in which each of the electric equipments and a power consumption per unit time of each of the electric equipments are registered in association with each other; a third storage part configured to store electric power information in which an electric power cost per unit amount of electric power and a CO.sub.2 emission amount per unit amount of the electric power are registered in association with each other; a process cost computation part configured to compute a power consumption consumed in each of the processing operations based on a use time in which one of the electric equipments is used and a power consumption of the one of the electric equipments per unit time, and compute a process cost required for each processing operation based on the power consumption, the electric power cost per unit amount of the electric power and the miscellaneous process cost; a processing CO.sub.2 emission amount computation part configured to compute, for each manufacturing process, a processing CO.sub.2 emission amount exhausted in each processing operation based on the power consumption and the CO.sub.2 emission amount per unit amount of the electric power; a total cost computation part configured to compute a total cost including a process cost and a processing CO.sub.2 emission amount required for a whole manufacturing process based on the process cost and said processing CO.sub.2 emission amount of each of the processing operations; and an output part configured to output the total cost for each of the manufacturing processes.")
a second processing unit configured to acquire information for specifying a production condition of the product from a terminal of a production requester (see para [0011], "a manufacturer as an ordering party requests a competitive bid to a plurality of suppliers who can supply the identical component part in order to select one of the suppliers offering the lowest cost.")
a fourth processing unit configured to output the generated first production plan information (see para [0149]-[0150], "As mentioned above, when the identical product (for example, a component part) can be manufactured by a plurality of process patterns, a user can use the server 1 according to the present embodiment to cause the server 1 to compute not only a cost of the product but also an environmental value (for example, CO.sub.2 emission) simultaneously in detail. Moreover, because the evaluation point plot coordinate table is displayed on the screen, a user can select an appropriate process pattern visually and intuitively while considering a balance between a cost and an environmental value. Moreover, a user can select automatically a process pattern most suitable for a selection standard from among a plurality of selection standards. That is, when a manufacturer manufactures a product in own plant or a supplier manufactures a product in own plant, a user can select automatically a most optimized process pattern in view of both the manufacturing cost and the environment value (for example, CO.sub.2 emission).").
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to combine the teachings of Kikima with Barker because using such requests enables more optimized decisions by stakeholders in a supply chain (see Kijima, para [0004]-[0019]).
Moreover, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to include the information processing apparatus as taught by Kijima in the method for manufacturing management using tool operating data of Barker, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claims 2 and 10:
Further, Barker discloses the following limitations:
wherein the third processing unit further generates, in addition to the first production plan information, at least one of second production plan information prioritizing a delivery date and third production plan information prioritizing a production cost (see para [0005], "Operation of the manufacturing environment can be configured to optimize one or more aspects of resource consumption and/or exhaust generation during the manufacture of desired quantities of the plurality of types of products within a desired time frame using the operating data. For example, operation of the manufacturing environment can be configured to optimize the total cost of the associated purchase costs of the consumed resources and/or the associated waste management costs of the generated exhaust."), and the fourth processing unit outputs the first production plan information and at least generated one of the second production plan information and the third production plan information (see para [0038]-[0039], "Each tool management system 36A, 36B is further shown including an aggregation component 62C. Aggregation component 62C can collect some or all of the operating data (e.g., the actual resource consumption data and actual exhaust generation data) for a particular recipe/recipe step and provide the data for processing by a planning component 60B shown implemented within manufacturing execution system 34. In an embodiment, aggregation component 62C collects and provides the operating data in real-time. In general, planning component 60B is configured to enable a user 12 (FIG. 1) to perform various planning operations with respect to the operation of manufacturing environment 10. To this extent, planning component 60B can generate and provide various interfaces that enable a user 12 to view and/or process one or more aspects of the real-time operation of manufacturing environment 10. For example, planning component 60B can provide summary data of the actual amounts of a resource that has been consumed, a by-product that has been generated, and/or the like by the manufacturing environment 10 over a given time period (e.g., day, week, month, etc.). Such an interface can enable the user 12 to "drill down" and Figs 1, 3)
Claim 3:
Further, Barker discloses the following limitations:
wherein the first processing unit predicts an electric power charge and a CO2 emission amount per unit electric power amount of each date and time for each of the plurality of electric power supply sources based on information indicating past electric power supply results of the plurality of electric power supply sources, and uses a prediction result as the prediction information (see para [0033], "In operation, a routing component 60A of manufacturing execution system 34 can process a manufacturing schedule 46 that identifies the desired quantities and time frames for various types of products to be manufactured by manufacturing environment 10. Routing component 60A can route resources (e.g., raw materials, intermediate products, and/or the like) to various tools 14A, 14B for processing by the corresponding tools 14A, 14B according to the manufacturing schedule 46. Additionally, routing component 60A can determine the appropriate routing based on tool availability, capacity restrictions, resource availability, and/or the like. Furthermore, routing component 60A can determine the appropriate routing based on historic operating data, such as resource consumption and exhaust generation data, for the available tools 14A, 14B. Regardless, once routing component 60A identifies an available tool 14A, 14B to implement a recipe for manufacturing a product 2A, 2B, routing component 60A can provide the corresponding recipe to be implemented by the tool 14A, 14B to a recipe component 62A of the tool management system 36A, 36B corresponding to the tool 14A, 14B.")
Claim 4:
Further, Barker discloses the following limitations:
wherein the third processing unit executes: generating at least one of a first production pattern prioritizing reduction of CO2 emission amount, a second production pattern prioritizing a delivery date (see para [0043], "Planning component 60B can obtain a corresponding cost for each of the variables, such as, for example: a cost of electricity; a cost of the material; a cost of generating the by-product (e.g., a regulatory charge, disposal cost, and/or the like); and/or the like, which can be included in the operating data. Subsequently, planning component 60B can use the cost and tool-specific operating data to minimize the total costs using any minimization function. For example, planning component 60B can select a more efficient tool to perform some or all of a recipe in generating the manufacturing schedule 46. In this manner, planning component 60B can take advantage of selective routing options between the different tools 14A, 14B to reduce the overall cost of manufacturing the products 2A, 2B. Additionally, planning component 60B can generate a manufacturing schedule 46 that is intended to maintain the total consumption of a resource and/or generation of a by-product within a limit (e.g., daily limit, monthly quota, or the like) so that a penalty fee, or the like, is not imposed by a government agency as a result of the operation of manufacturing environment 10 and provide evidence of compliance to prescribed limits/quotas." and see para [0005]), and a third production pattern prioritizing a production cost by changing weights to respective target values of the delivery date, the production cost, and the CO2 emission amount included in the information for designating the production condition (see para [0023], "As discussed herein, management program 30 enables computer system 20 to manage the operation of manufacturing environment 10 using actual operating data, such as resource consumption and exhaust generation data, for the various tools 12. To this extent, computer system 20 can process scheduling data 40 for the manufacturing environment 10. Scheduling data 40 can include a schedule for the utilization of each tool 14 in manufacturing environment 10 in the manufacture of a desired quantity of one or more types of products 2 within a desired timeframe. To this extent, computer system 20 can generate scheduling data 40 based on the desired quantity of each of a plurality of types of products 2 to be manufactured, a corresponding timeframe for each desired quantity, an operating status of each of the set of tools 14, and/or the like." and see para [0044], "More particularly, planning component 60B can obtain a set of resources consumed for a given recipe/recipe step and/or a set of exhaust materials generated for the given recipe/recipe step. Planning component 60B can determine the associated cost of consuming the set of resources and/or generating the set of exhaust materials to determine an associated consumption cost and/or exhaust treatment cost. Planning component 60B can use a weighted combination of the consumption/exhaust treatment costs to determine a corresponding cost of the recipe/recipe step. Planning component 60B can determine the associated cost based on an average performance of the recipe (e.g., regardless of the tool(s) used to perform the recipe) and/or determine the costs associated with various tool/route-specific performances of the recipe. In the latter case, planning component 60B can use the tool/route-specific recipe/recipe step costs to generate a manufacturing schedule 46 that minimizes one or more aspects (e.g., cost of consumption, cost of exhaust treatment, and/or the like) of the overall cost of performing the recipe, e.g., by selecting a more efficient tool 14A, 14B and/or route from various alternative options that is available to perform some or all of the recipe." and see para [0046], "Similarly, planning component 60B can evaluate a cost impact due to a proposed modification to an existing recipe to determine what impact, if any, the modification will have on the cost of manufacturing the type of product using the modified recipe. For example, planning component 60B can evaluate a change to a recipe that requires more of a less costly resource, but less of a more costly resource. Similarly, planning component 60B can evaluate a cost of an entirely new recipe, e.g., for manufacturing a new type of product 2A, 2B, using manufacturing environment 10. In either case, planning component 60B can evaluate the modification/new recipe step by consolidating actual operating data for one or more comparable recipe steps of various recipes with the corresponding cost data to evaluate what impact the proposed modification will have on the overall cost of manufacturing the type of product or the total cost that the new recipe will incur. Alternatively, planning component 60B can project the operating data of a modified step by curve fitting various actual data points acquired from the comparable recipe steps."); and
Barker does not specifically disclose generating the first production plan information and at least one of the second production plan information and the third production plan information by applying an optimum solution of the electric power supply source and a production speed of the production facility to the generated first production pattern and at least generated one of the second production pattern and the third production pattern, based on the prediction information and the information indicating the production speed. In analogous art, Kijima discloses the following limitations:
generating the first production plan information and at least one of the second production plan information and the third production plan information by applying an optimum solution of the electric power supply source and a production speed of the production facility to the generated first production pattern and at least generated one of the second production pattern and the third production pattern, based on the prediction information and the information indicating the production speed (see para [0149]-[0150], "As mentioned above, when the identical product (for example, a component part) can be manufactured by a plurality of process patterns, a user can use the server 1 according to the present embodiment to cause the server 1 to compute not only a cost of the product but also an environmental value (for example, CO.sub.2 emission) simultaneously in detail. Moreover, because the evaluation point plot coordinate table is displayed on the screen, a user can select an appropriate process pattern visually and intuitively while considering a balance between a cost and an environmental value. Moreover, a user can select automatically a process pattern most suitable for a selection standard from among a plurality of selection standards. That is, when a manufacturer manufactures a product in own plant or a supplier manufactures a product in own plant, a user can select automatically a most optimized process pattern in view of both the manufacturing cost and the environment value (for example, CO.sub.2 emission).").
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to include the information processing apparatus as taught by Kijima in the method for manufacturing management using tool operating data of Barker, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claim 5:
Further, Barker discloses the following limitations:
wherein the third processing unit determines whether the optimum solution satisfies the target values of the delivery date, the production cost, and the CO2 emission amount included in the information for designating the production condition, and performs a process of adding an additional cost to the production cost when the third processing unit determines that the optimum solution does not satisfy the target values (see para [0043], where not imposing a penalty fee for when manufacturing cost is within limit shows a penalty fee imposed when this is not true and hence and additional cost)
Claim 6:
Barker does not specifically disclose a fifth processing unit configured to acquire, from the terminal of the production requester, selection information indicating production plan information selected by the production requester from among the first production plan information and at least one of the second production plan information and the third production plan information. In analogous art, Kijima discloses the following limitations:
a fifth processing unit configured to acquire, from the terminal of the production requester, selection information indicating production plan information selected by the production requester from among the first production plan information and at least one of the second production plan information and the third production plan information (see para [0149]-[0150], "As mentioned above, when the identical product (for example, a component part) can be manufactured by a plurality of process patterns, a user can use the server 1 according to the present embodiment to cause the server 1 to compute not only a cost of the product but also an environmental value (for example, CO.sub.2 emission) simultaneously in detail. Moreover, because the evaluation point plot coordinate table is displayed on the screen, a user can select an appropriate process pattern visually and intuitively while considering a balance between a cost and an environmental value. Moreover, a user can select automatically a process pattern most suitable for a selection standard from among a plurality of selection standards. That is, when a manufacturer manufactures a product in own plant or a supplier manufactures a product in own plant, a user can select automatically a most optimized process pattern in view of both the manufacturing cost and the environment value (for example, CO.sub.2 emission).").
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to include the information processing apparatus as taught by Kijima in the method for manufacturing management using tool operating data of Barker, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claim 11:
Further, Barker discloses the following limitations:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a processor included in the production support apparatus according to claim 1 to execute at least one of the processes by the first processing unit to the seventh processing unit included in the production support apparatus (see para [0050], "In another embodiment, the invention provides a computer program fixed in at least one computer-readable medium, which when executed, enables a computer system to manage a manufacturing environment. To this extent, the computer-readable medium includes program code, such as management program 30 (FIG. 1), which implements some or all of a process described herein. It is understood that the term "computer-readable medium" comprises one or more of any type of tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which a copy of the program code can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated by a computing device. For example, the computer-readable medium can comprise: one or more portable storage articles of manufacture; one or more memory/storage components of a computing device; paper; and/or the like.")
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barker and Kijima, as applied above, and further in view of King et al. (US 2022/0214668 A1) (hereinafter King).
Claims 7-8:
Barker and Kijima do not specifically disclose a sixth processing unit configured to acquire actual values of the delivery date, the production cost, and the CO2 emission amount during a period in which the production operation is performed, and output intermediate report information including the acquired actual values to the terminal of the production requester. In analogous art, King discloses the following limitations:
a sixth processing unit configured to acquire actual values of the delivery date, the production cost, and the CO2 emission amount during a period in which the production operation is performed, and output intermediate report information including the acquired actual values to the terminal of the production requester (see para [0126], "upon selecting an alternate manufacturing material, the cost component 1208 can update the one or more cost curves characterized in the fourth example cost display 1502 to reflect the effect of changes to the manufacturing details (e.g., changes to the material cost, shipping cost, and/or machine cost)." and see para [0138], "can populate the collaboration display with the latest set of manufacturing details and/or update a manufacturability check region 604 with one or more manufacturability warnings and/or recommendations generated by the manufacturability component 508 with regards to the latest set of manufacturing details. Thereby, the members of the collaboration group can view the latest version of the set of manufacturing details at any given moment during the manufacturing quote initialization process." and see para [0140], "the publication component 1606 can set permissions regarding portions of a manufacturing quote available for publication. For instance, one or more entities associated with a manufacturing quote can employ the publication component 1606 to publish a defined portion of the manufacturing quote (e.g., publish the digital product design, the manufacturing details, the manufacturability report 312, the cost report 314, and/or a combination thereof). In one or more embodiments, digital product designs and/or manufacturing details developed during initialization of the manufacturing quote can be shared with, or offered for sale to, one or more third party entities (e.g., an entity not associated with the development of the given digital product design, manufacturing details, and/or manufacturing quote)." And see para [0165]-[0165])
a seventh processing unit configured to acquire actual values of the delivery date, the production cost, and the CO2 emission amount during a period in which the production operation is performed, calculate a degree of deviation of the acquired actual values from the target values of the delivery date, the production cost, and the CO2 emission amount included in the information for designating the production condition, and generate production plan change information for reducing the calculated degree of deviation (see para [0104], "The cost to execute a manufacturing quote (e.g., cost to manufacture a digital product design in combination with one or more defined manufacturing details) can depend on, for example, the product features, the manufacturing details, the number of products being made, a combination thereof, and/or the like. As used herein, “cost curve” can refer to one or more relationships between changes in product design, manufacturing details, and/or product quantity and cost of the manufacturing quote. For instance, in one or more exemplary cost curves, the unit price can decrease as the volume increases. However, the specific relationship between unit price and volume can be unique for each respective product design and/or manufacturing details (e.g., such as manufacturing material, manufacturing process, location of manufacture, combination thereof, and/or the like). In various embodiments, the cost component 1208 can calculate one or more costs associate with executing a manufacturing quote, such as cost curves, with regards to variations in product features, manufacturing details, and/or product quantity." and see para [0108], "In one or more embodiments, the cost component 1208 can determine the one or more cost input values based further on auxiliary data 128 associated with one or more manufacturing details of the given manufacturability quote. For example, the auxiliary data 128 can include the availability of one or more shipping carriers with regards to the defined shipping route (e.g., from the one or more manufacturing facilities 130 producing the product to the product's destination). In another example, the auxiliary data 128 can include market reports (e.g., international and/or regional) regarding the availability and/or cost of materials, labor, and/or energy. For instance, where the manufacturing process requires a particular material (e.g., water), the cost component 1208 can analyze the auxiliary data 128 for indications regarding whether the manufacturing facility 130 executing the manufacturing quote is located in a region experiencing a supply shortage of the material (e.g., a drought, a general strike, labor shortages, transportation delays, and/or transportation interruptions). Where the cost component 1208 detects one or more indication in the auxiliary data of a material, labor, and/or energy shortage, the cost component 1208 can add a defined amount and/or percentage to the cost determination. In another instance, the cost component 1208 can analyze the auxiliary data 128 for indications of political strife in a region of the manufacturing facility 130." and see para [0154], " In one or more embodiments, the tolerance component 1902 can update one or more tolerance calculations in response to an alteration to one or more of the manufacturing details. Further, in various embodiments, the tolerance component 1902 can prepare multiple tolerance determinations, each with regards to a respective manufacturing detail or combination of manufacturing details, to compare the effect of one or more alterations to the manufacturing details on the tolerances of the manufactured product.")
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to combine the teachings of King with Barker and Kikima because including intermediate reports enables more effective recommendations in the manufacturing of products (see King, para [0002]).
Moreover, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to include the system for manufacturing and development as taught by King in the Barker and Kijima combination, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Feickert et al. (US 20230061787 A1), a system for calculating sustainability footprints and controlling associated systems where activity data may be received for an organization, and emissions factors may be determined for the activity data and absolute, relative, and/or average relative footprints may be calculated for the organization based on the activity data and the emissions factors
Ito et al. (CN 104951861 A), a production plan display method causing a computer to execute a process of controlling the first display and at the same time controls the second display, the first display is executed according to the order of arranging a plurality of production technique for processing of a specific product included in the arrangement is associated with the production of the specific product orders
Vincent et al. "Optimizing process parameters in manufacturing to reduce carbon footprint with contextual Bayesian optimization", a paper on reducing g carbon emissions and achieving sustainability targets in manufacturing are crucial challenges and proposes the use of contextual Bayesian optimization (CBO) as a data-efficient method to optimize process parameters, specifically aiming to reduce the carbon footprint
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUJAY KONERU whose telephone number is 571-270-3409. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Patricia Munson can be reached on 571- 270-5396. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SUJAY KONERU/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3624