Requirement

Customers are seeking to model changeover times based on cycles.

The aim is to offer a way to trigger automatically some given changeover times as operations. This allows the user to bring various modifications over these operations that represent the changeover time.

For the following, we will consider as example the machine cleaning activity as potential operations (these potential operations are not production operations).

From Ortems R2026, it is possible to activate potential operations based on changeover time cycles.

For example, a client requires to have a 925 Hundredth of Hour (HH) changeover time after every execution of 2 distinct Work Orders (WOs).

Result

The potential operations are highlighted in blue (Operation filter: Potential = ‘Yes’ AND Active=’Yes’)

According to the rule above, a potential operation is activated as soon as 2 different WOs are executed (i.e. operations belonging to 2 different WOs). The second potential operation is activated once the 2 WOs were planned: ‘HD263d’ then ‘HD264d’ (even if the next WO is the same ‘HD264d’, the potential operation is immediately activated after these first 2 distinct WOs).

Once configured, the potential operations are already present in the planning but will be activated only if their defined condition is met.

Below is the ACTIVE potential operation: 

The duration of the changeover time defined is 925 HH (See ‘Enablement’ section below).

Below is the INACTIVE potential operation:

The duration is always 1 HH (i.e. 36 seconds)

Modifications are not permitted on an INACTIVE potential operation.

Enablement

⚠️ The activation of potential operations was already possible via a User Exit (custom client development). 

To avoid affecting such User Exit’s proper functioning, the new ‘Potential operation activation’ feature is disabled if a User Exit is detected.

See how to verify its activation in the 'Verification' section below.

For our example, the potential operation is Cleaning in Place (CIP).

CIP operations are part of the item routing, but are scheduled and executed based on some conditions.

As mentioned before, the potential operation needs to be active after 2 distinct WOs.

To activate these potential operations, it requires to meet the following conditions:  

At Item discrete parameter level

Here is the configuration in Data Module application: open ‘Setup time’ > ‘Discrete parameters’ menu: Define the calculation method as 'Const. time' in Changeover time > By machine.

There are several rules to trigger the changeover time (i.e. to activate the potential operation). As shown on the screen above, the rule has to be selected in the ‘Measurement type’ field. 

At Generic operations level

The "Potential" check box must be selected. 

Also, for a potential operation to be active with for example a 'CIP' parameter, that operation but also the operations triggering the end of the cycle must have the same 'CIP' parameter.

The ‘Nature’ field is for information and is visible in Planning application in 'Operation description' screen. It can be modified, but it won’t have any impact on the calculation.

At Planning configuration level

In the Planning application, ‘Enable memory of the past for a period’ must be activated (Options > Configuration > ‘Memory of the past’):

‘Period duration’ should be at least the duration of the maximum cycle duration.

At Machine grouping level

1. In Data Module via Resources > Machine groupings, in ‘Changeover times’ tab: select ‘Activate potential op. for parameter cycles’ for Setup behavior.

The global time calculation method has to be set on ‘Maximum time’ or on ‘Sum of the times’ in the case where 2 parameters are active on the same time.

This setting is visible also in the Planning application in read-only mode, in ‘Machine description’ screen

2. In Data Module via Resources > Machine groupings, in ’Detail’ tab: select ‘Variable chge acc. to the pair’ for ‘Grouping mode’ field.

Limitations/Incompatibilities

There are some limitations to the activation of potential operations:

Potential operation activation is applicable only to:

• Production Scheduler (PS or PS+SRP) environment,
• A forward sequenced planning,
• Item discrete parameters,
• Parallel machines groupings (important: not to infinite capacity machines).

There are other functional limitations: 

• Parallel supply links are not allowed on potential operations,
• Potential operations cannot use limited resources.
• Potential operation cannot be the production phase of the WO.

The activation of potential operations was already possible via a User Exit. 

To avoid affecting the UE proper functioning, the new ‘Potential operation activation’ feature is disabled when such a UE is detected.

The following query highlights the parameters activating such UE: 

SELECT * FROM B_UE_SUBSCRIBE WHERE B_UE_CODE in (309,310)

The new feature 'Potential operations activation' is not applicable as long as at least B_UE_CODE ‘309’ or ‘310’ parameter is enabled in the B_UE_SUBSCRIBE table. 

Verification

After implementing the potential operations as a changeover, in case of unexpected behavior, here is what to check in the Planning application to confirm that it is set up correctly: 

At 'Operation description' level

1. 'Op. detail' tab:

   

2. 'Operation' tab:

   

The ‘Tool’ field contains the tools and the item parameter values (it does not contain the parameter ID nor its designation)

At 'Machine description' level

1. 'Machine' tab:

   

2. 'Grouping' tab:

   

Documentation

The related documentation is located here: \\help\\us\\ps\\html 

About potential operations: 

Role: role_op_pot.htm

Overview: pcpe_op_pot.htm

Implementation: meo_op_pot.htm

Usage: exploit_op_pot.htm

Limitations: limit_op_pot.htm

About parameter cycles

Role: role_duree_vie_param.htm 

Overview: pcpe_duree_vie_param.htm

DELMIA Ortems Solution Update