James R Maxson

US Patent:

7065414, Jun 20, 2006

Filed:

Mar 10, 2003

Appl. No.:

10/385066

Inventors:

Paul Matthew Rogers - Pleasanton CA, US
James Andrew Maxson - Berkeley CA, US
Ilga Celmins - Aptos CA, US

Assignee:

General Electric Company - Schenectady NY

International Classification:

G05B 13/02

US Classification:

700 36, 700 28, 700 33, 700 37, 700281, 700287, 702 82, 702 61, 702 62, 702181, 702182

Abstract:

A method and apparatus for operating a production system that includes a plurality of production facilities is provided. The method includes receiving, in real-time, for each facility, cost data for a first resource used by each respective facility to produce an output, receiving, in real-time, for each facility, cost data for a second resource used by each respective facility to produce the output, determining, in real-time; an automated incremental cost curve for the system based on a level of production of each facility and the received resource cost data, and determining a production output target for each production facility to achieve an optimum production system output based on the real-time incremental cost curves. The system includes at least one production facility that includes a software code segment programmed to determine, in real-time, an incremental cost of a first resource based on a level of production of each respective facility.