Production variant

For some production items you require several moulds. With combination moulds, various inserts and master moulds are used. If an item is produced on a larger machine it will require a different software programme than on a smaller machine. Sometimes a mould is used with 4 cavities, sometimes with 2 cavities. One machine has an integrated robotic handling device, the other works with a picker.

So that all these variants can be used to produce an item in consistent quality, the ALS offers an optional function called  'Production variants'.

In the Master data you will find the dialogs used for the management of the production variants. A production variant is characterised by the item, the mould , the machine or machine group and the programme to be used. The 'version' designation (alphanumerical) of the variant can be configured as an additional attribute in the ALS. (It is then displayed in red!).  The ALS only checks whether the version is specified and unique. The contents of the 'Version' designation are not evaluated i.e. it does not matter whether you enter '0.999' or 'V1.000'. When the list of production variants is sorted according to the version, it can only go by the contents of the box.

Production variants without any specification of the item are required for combination orders in which different items are produced in one mould. 

When you schedule a production order in the Plan table, a list of all production variants available for this item is displayed as soon as you 'drop' it in the plan table. The variant which concurs with the data specified in the order, is marked with the icon as the optimum variant. If you select a different variant than that specified in the order data, the data of this variant are used. Check whether the cycle time and number of cavities specified in the data matches the selected combination of machine and mould!

If you have activated the check box 'without production variant' no production variants are offered when scheduling the order in the plan table.

Which production variant was used can be seen in the plan table. Select the order and call up the list of variants with the   button.

The active variant in the list is shown with a green  tick. The optimal production variant (default from the ERP system) is shown with a blue  star. If the optimal production variant is selected by the user, this is signaled with a blue  tick.

The 'Production variant' can also be found in the PopUp menu of the order.

If a resource, e.g. the mould or the program is not available for a production variant, you must inhibit the variant in the master data. Orders in which the inhibited production variant is used, can not be transferred to the machines. When scheduling orders in the plan table, inhibited production variants are not offered for selection. 

The list of production variants is assorted according to the attributes 'Item', 'Status', 'Machine' and machine 'group'.
 

	When Adding a new production variant you specify the item, the machine or machine group, the mould and the programme you want to use. If the 'Version' is also marked with 'red' meaning the data is compulsory, an entry must be made here in order to fulfil the company-internal specifications. In all other boxes the entry of data is not compulsory.   The production variants must differ from each other in at least one of the above mentioned key characteristics. If the 'Version' is activated as a compulsory box and you copy a variant, the first three boxes can be identical whereas the 'Version' box must be unique. When saving your data, a message will appear telling you that when the first three boxes are combined in this way, only one can have the status of 'enabled'. You will be asked if the new variant is to be given the status of 'inhibited'. Answering this question with 'yes' takes over the new variant, with 'no' it is scrapped. In order to activate the new production variant, you must first 'inhibit' the active variant and then 'enable' the new variant. Apart from the fact that the entry made in the 'Version' box must be unique, the content of the box is not evaluated further in the administration module of the production variant.  Production variants for combination orders are a special case. Here two or more different items are produced in one mould. In this case you do not enter an item for the variant. When you drop the 'combination order' in the plan table all variants are displayed for which no item is specified.
	All boxes can be edited except the item designation box.
	A new production variant can be added by copying an existing one.
	By locking a production variant, you prevent the associated order from being transferred to a machine. After an order has been 'dropped' in the plan table, locked production variants are not displayed in the list.
	With this symbol you can delete selected production variants.
	Changes made to a production variant are documented in the 'History'.
	Various Documents for each production variant can be deposited here.
	The list can be printed.
	(Plan table only!) Changes you have made to the list which are shown in the plan table dan be saved with this function. In the master data you save your changes in the menu 'Module' -> ''Save settings'.