Overlap and Special Sequence of Production Operations

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Transcript:

With MRPeasy Professional edition, it is possible to schedule non-linear production sequences and continuous flow processing in a production line.

In contrast, by default in MRPeasy, it’s only possible to configure a more common linear sequence of operations in a batch processing mode.

The “overlap and special sequences of manufacturing operations” functionality allow:

• Operations which can start before a previous operation is fully finished, at a point when a certain quantity has been processed
• Sequences of operations, which run in parallel, and converge or diverge, in a single routing.

Configuring overlap of operations

If during a production run, an operation should start before a previous one is fully finished, then you can enable overlap for this operation in the routing of the product.

If the overlap is enabled, you must enter the number of processed products in previous operations before this one can start.

For example, if the previous operation and this operation both take the same amount of time to complete, then the overlap could be one unit. Then, if one unit is processed, it’s handed to the next worker, and products are processed in a continuous flow without any queues or waiting times.

If the production line is not balanced, which means that operations have varying lengths, then the overlap quantity must be calculated according to your batch size, or the production schedule might become very fragmented.

Configuring special sequences of production operations

A good example where this is useful is when two sequences of operations start together to process two parts in parallel, which then must be assembled in the next step.

For example, in sofa manufacturing, the frame and cushioning might be prepared in parallel and then, in the next stage, assembled.

If we look at the routing, then each line has an id number – the first line is number one, the second is number two and so on. This also indicates the default sequence of operations.

In the “sequence” box of operation, you can change after which operation this current operation must be done. In other words, you must choose which operation or operations must be performed before this operation can start.

Let’s say that we have two sequences of operations, which are performed in parallel, and converge into a final operation. Lines 1 to 3 represent the first sequence, lines 4 to 5 the second sequence, and line 6 is the final operation.

The first operation of the first sequence can start immediately; its “sequence” setting is zero. The second operation can start after the first; its “sequence” is 1. The third can start after the second; its “sequence” is 2.

The first operation of the second sequence of operations can also start immediately; its “sequence” setting is zero. The second operation’s “sequence” setting will be 4 because it can start after operation number 4 is finished.

Now, we’ve successfully configured two parallel chains of operations, which are independent of each other.

Finally, we can configure the last operation, which must start only after both sequences have finished. Therefore, we select that operations 3 and 5 must be finished before this one can start.

Enabling the “overlap and special sequence of operations” functionality

This functionality can be enabled at “settings – system settings – professional functions”.

In this video, we demonstrated how to use the “overlap and special sequence of operations” functionality.

To learn more about MRPeasy, please see our other videos.

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Keywords: Production scheduling, operation scheduling, overlapping operations, continuous flow manufacturing, repetitive flow manufacturing, one piece of flow manufacturing