Parameters
The Parameters screen helps specify base-level parameters that govern any production plan or model factory-specific settings that are unique to every factory. An example is : Horizon for Planning. A factory might do daily planning for 2 weeks, followed by weekly planning for 3 weeks, and finally monthly planning for 5 months. Parameters can be defined at the global factory level or overridden at an item-specific level or operation-specific level. Thus the Parameters screen is further sub-divided into
Factory Parameters
Parameters specified in this screen apply to all factory items. The parameters are further sub-divided as follows
Pegging Parameters
Pegging parameters specify how demand and supply are assigned to each other.
All or No Inventory : This parameter defines whether the demand should be fulfilled only if the entire Inventory is available. If the parameter is set to true it should be fulfilled by a single order in the Inventory.
All or No Surplus : This parameter defines whether the demand should be fulfilled by a single work order or multiple work orders. If the parameter is set to true the demand should be fulfilled by a single work order.
Consolidation Interval / Consolidation Uom : Consolidation interval specifies the time period up to which the supplies can be consolidated. Ex: The user might want to group all procurements for 1 week and batch the POs
Pegging Priority 1-to-5 : The order has to be given in which the pegging has to be performed, with Pegging Priority 1 being considered first. The different choices are:
-
Primary Inventory
-
Alternate Inventory
-
Primary Existing Order
-
Alternate Existing Order
-
Primary New Order.
Let us assume the user specifies the priorities in the same order as above. Whenever a sales order is created for a particular Item1, having an alternate item AltItem1, the sales order is satisfied as follows.
The planning engine first looks for Item1 in inventory as Pegging Priority 1 is specified as PrimaryInventory. If Item1 is present in inventory, and based on All or No Inventory parameter, the planning engine decides if it can take the existing inventory even though it cannot specify the entire demand. If all of the demand is not satisfied, then it looks for the next parameter - Pegging Priority 2. This is set to Alternate Inventory. So the planning engine looks for AltItem1 in Inventory, also considering All or No Inventory value. If all of the demand is not satisfied, then it looks for the next parameter - Pegging Priority 3 set to Primary Existing Orders. Thus the planning engine looks for any work orders for Item1 that are being completed and assign that to satisfy the demand, provided the demand can be satisfied on time. If all of the demand is not satisfied, then it looks for the next parameter - Pegging Priority 4 set to Alternate Existing Orders. Thus the planning engine looks for any work orders for Altitem1 that are being completed and assign that to satisfy the demand, provided the demand can be satisfied on time. If all of the demand is not satisfied, then it looks for the next parameter - Pegging Priority 5 i.e. creates a new Workorder for Item1, provided it can satisfy the order on time.
Planning Parameters
Cleanup Tolerance Percentage : Specified to clean up any value greater than the parameter, and provide a cleaned-up plan.
Decimal Places : Number of decimal places to consider rounding off if the manufacturing type is continuous.
Frozen Horizon / Frozen Horizon Uom : The number of time periods where any supply that falls within the horizon is quantity locked by the planning engine i.e. the planning engine does not try to alter the supply’s quantity
Manufacturing Type : Whether this is a continuous or discrete process, to round off decimal values
Time Horizon / Time Horizon Uom : Total time period for planning
CleanUp In Planning : Whether the sales order is to be shorted based on the constraint item. The constraint item can be at any level in the BOM.
Capacity Based Lot Selection : This is used in Planning for the selection of routes based on Lot Size. If the flag is False, it will pick the route which has the least absolute difference between max lot size and required routing. If the smaller lot size has the lease difference even if it is less than the required quantity, it will pick the smaller lot size and not a bigger lot size. This can lead to more number of batches created. If the flag is True, it will pick the route which can lead to less number of batches being created. The problem is that it can pick a bigger batch size
Consider Attribute Route : When Attribute is specified in Routing of BomProduction, then this Route will be used only for those Sales Orders which have the same Attribute. This Route will not be used for any other Sales Order even if the Attribute is not defined for those Orders. If this flag is True, then the Sales Orders where Attribute is not populated, can use any Routing.
Consider Non Allocated Item : In SalesOrderLine if OrderType is Project or Order, it will allocate only those inventory which has the same SalesOrderId and SalesLineId reference. If the SalesOrderId and SalesLineId in Inventory are null, then this inventory will not be allocated to SalesOrders with OrderType as Project or Order. If the value is set to True, then the inventory with SalesOrderId and SalesLineId as null will also be considered for SalesOrders with OrderType as Project or Order.
Explode Released Orders : Whether to allocate supplies to released orders or not. If it is False, then released work orders will not further explode. If True, release work orders will be exploded and supplies will be allocated.
Explode Same Level Bom : BOM can be exploded either by the same level first or depth level first. Value is True or False. By default, the value is True.
Gen PO From PO : In the BOM, the raw material can also have a consumed item. If yes, then this flag should be set as True.
Gen Problem Summary : After Planning, whether Problem Summary has to be computed or not.
No Of Week Days : In the calendar, when we specify weekdays, does it include Saturday or not.
Order Build Ahead : In planning, if capacity is not available within the Bucket Build Ahead, should we move back to check for capacity or move ahead for capacity. If the flag is True, it will move back till Planning Day to check for capacity.
Order Date Format : When the system generates work orders, it starts with the prefix WO_. Based on the date format, it will add this as a suffix to the work order.
Order Suffix : When generating the work order, the running number should start with how many digits.
Short SalesOrder Based On MinLotSize : There may be a case when supply allocated to demand could be less than min lot size due to certain constraints. In this case, should the sales order should be totally shorted or not. If True, then the sales order will be totally shorted if we cannot meet the supply of minimum lot size.
Resolve Type : A sales order could have a problem due to
-
Material Shortage : Material shortage happens for raw materials when the procurements are delayed. To resolve these problems, either order has to be expedited or the sales order needs to be delayed.
-
Capacity Shortage : Capacity shortage happens for manufactured items when enough capacity is not available. To resolve these problems, either overtime has to be added to increase capacity or sales orders needs to be delayed.
While planning for a sales order, one of the resolved type could be chosen
-
None : This will not resolve material and capacity shortages. So it will short the sales order based on whatever is available. In this case, the sales order will only get short but will never be delayed.
-
Material Shortage : This will resolve only material shortage. So if a procurement or inventory is available late, the sales order will be moved by that many days. It will not resolve the capacity shortage. In this case, sales order could be delayed due to material shortage but could be shorted due to capacity shortage.
-
Material and Capacity Shortage : This will resolve both material and capacity shortages. If capacity is not available within the time, it will delay the sales order and search for capacity at later dates.
Order Late Limit / Order Late Limit Uom : How much a sales order can be delayed while trying to resolve material or capacity shortage
Fix Cross Feeds : During planning, it might happen that earlier supply could have pegged to later demand and vice versa. If this is set to true, this will try to resolve this cross pegging. This logic will be run automatically after the plan.
Schedule Parameters
Max Wait Time For EPST : Amount of time resource can wait to sequence the similar setups. This is used when there is sequence dependent setup time. If a resource is running Item A and is expected to complete at 10 am. There is another work order for Item A which is going to arrive at 11 am. If the max wait time for EPST is 1 hour, then the resource will wait for 1 hour and then load Item A. If the max wait time is 0.5 hours, the resource will not wait and will load the Item whichever is available.
Max Bucket Span To Schedule : Buckets are grouped based on these values. If the value is 3, then 3 buckets are grouped together. The use of this parameter depends on the type of scheduling strategy
-
Bucket Based : Scheduling is done first on a bucket group for all resources and then moves to the next bucket group and so on
-
Pull-Push : Orders are scheduled based on priority within the bucket group. Suppose there are priority 1 and 2 orders, within a group, priority 1 orders are scheduled and then priority 2 orders. Then it moves to the next bucket group and does the same.
Scheduling Strategy : Whether the strategy of scheduling is bucket-based or pull-push
Scheduling Type : If the scheduling strategy is pull-push, then whether Minimize WIP or Maximize Resource Utilization
Buckets To Schedule : Number of buckets to schedule if the scheduling is run from the workflow.
Resource Availability While Pulling Orders : whether we need to consider resource availability while pulling orders.
Setup Time In NonWorking : whether we need to consider set up time in non-working shift also.
Always Consider Setup Time : Always need to consider set up time if the work order splits.
Gen ContSchedule On Nonworking Time : Whether the work order needs to schedule in non working shift also.
Gen ContSchedule : This flag should be set to True if all the operations for a work order should be scheduled together. This flag works in conjunction with OpMaxTimeGap in OperationResource.
Adjust Continuous Scheduling : This is used in Pull Push scheduling. If 1st operation starts at 3 pm and completes at 4 pm, 2nd Operation can start only at 8 pm and OpMaxTimeGap is 3 hours. The difference between the completion of the 1st Operation and the start of 2nd Operation is 4 hours which is more than OpMaxTimeGap of 3 hours. If the flag is False, the difference of 1 hour will be used to move the 1st operation and now it will start at 4 pm and complete at 5 pm. It will not check the working time of 1st Operation whether it is available from 4 pm. If the flag is True, then it will check the non working time of 1st operation from 4 pm to 8 pm. If there is non working time of 20 minutes, then this non working time will be reduced from 1 hour difference and now the 1st operation will move to 3.40 pm.
Alternate Resource Load Balancing : This flag uses to balance the capacity load between alternate resources. It is used in Pull Push scheduling. Suppose a work order can be scheduled only at 7 pm. If resource R1 is available from 5 pm and resource R2 is available from 3 pm and this flag is True, then it will pick resource R2 and schedule the work order from 7 pm. If the flag is False, then it will pick the primary resource as both resources are available at 7 pm.
Assign Schedule Priority : In Pull Push Scheduling, if this flag is True, then Sales Order of type Sales will be given higher priority than other types. If the flag is False, then it will prioritize based on the due date.
Batch Specific Scheduling : To decide whether to run batch specific scheduling or not. If the flag is True, then all the supplies going into making a batch will be scheduled first. Suppose a batch has work orders W1, W2, and W3. Then all the operations before the batch operation of these three work orders will be scheduled first. The max end time for these work orders is the possible start time of the Batch order.
Check Continuous Time From Problem Operation : This works along with OpMaxTimeGap. Suppose a work order has 5 operations. While scheduling the 4th operation, if we are violating the OpMaxTimeGap, then how to adjust the previous operation. Should it adjust forward from 1st operation or should it adjust backwards from 3rd operation. If the flag is True, it will work backwards from the 3rd operation. If the flag is False, it will work forward from 1st operation.
Check Supply Order Scheduled : This is used in BucketBased Scheduling. Here the Scheduling is done resource by resource for a given bucket. So there might be chances that the supply order would not have been scheduled as demand resource could be scheduled first. If this flag is set to True, then demand order will not be scheduled till the supply order is scheduled.
Consider Resource Availability While Pulling Orders : In Pull Push Scheduling, while pulling orders, should consider resource capacity. If the Flag is True, it will consider resource capacity.
End Of Max Change over Gap Iteration Push To Next Bucket : This is used in Bucket Based Scheduling. If we are not able to schedule a work order within the bucket, should we move the work order to the next bucket or schedule it whenever it is available. Suppose Bucket is 7 days and we are on 1st. If a work order W1's possible start time is 9th due to supply constraints and if the flag is True, then this work order will be moved to the 2nd bucket. It will get included in the list of the work order in the 2nd bucket and gets scheduled accordingly. If the flag is False, it will be scheduled on the 9th during the scheduling of the 1st bucket. If will not be moved to 2nd bucket.
Explode Same Level Bom Schedule : BOM can be exploded either by same level first or depth level first. Value is True or False. By default, the value is True.
Fill Gap Threshold : Within a resource, there can be small capacity availability gaps between two work orders. If the gap is less than the FillGapThreshold value, then these gaps will be considered as unavailable.
Force Transfer Batch : When the supply operation is at a lower production rate than the demand operation, the scheduling tries to adjust the transfer batch quantity so that the demand operation does not complete before the supply operation is completed. If Transfer Batch Quantity as specified in Operation Resource should be strictly considered, then this flag should be True. By default, the value is False.
Group WorkOrder Operations : This works only if the flag GenContSchedule is False. If the GroupWorkOrderOperation is True, then all the operations of a work order will be scheduled one after the other.
Max Attribute Setup Time : There can be multiple attribute setup times defined in Attribute Master. When we move from Item I1 to Item I2, there may be a change of more than one attribute. If the Flag is False, it will take the sum of the setup time of those attributes which are changing from Item I1 to I2. If the flag is True, it will take the max of setup time of those attributes which are changing from Item I1 to I2.
Max Change over Gap Iteration : This flag is used in Bucket-Based Scheduling. It works along with the MaxChangeoverGapHrs column in ResourceMaster. Suppose MaxChangeoverGapHrs is 24 and we have scheduled the resource till the 5th. If we are not able to find a similar item in 24 hours, then it will look for other items which can be scheduled from the 5th. Suppose no items are available to schedule on the 5th, then it will move the date to the 6th (the number of hours to move is based on MaxChangeoverGapHrs value) and search for other items to schedule. If 6th also no items are available to schedule, then it will move the date to the 7th. This number of iterations is decided by this flag. If the value is 10, then it will move by that many iterations in multiples of MaxChangeoverGapHrs to find an item.
Priority For Previous Used Resource : Whether to give high priority to previously used resources while checking alternate resources. Suppose both resources R1 and R2 are available to schedule a work order. There is no setup time for going to any of these resources. If the flag is True, it will load in that resource where the last item scheduled is the same item that we are planning to schedule. If the flag is False, it will load in that resource which is first available.
Pull Started WorkOrders : This flag should be set to True if all the operations for a work order should be scheduled together. This flag works in conjunction with OpMaxTimeGap in OperationResource.
Remove AddResource Earlier Capacity : Additional resources can have capacity gaps in between. This flag indicates if all the gaps for additional should be treated as if it is not available. The possible value is True or False.
Reschedule : Whether to schedule again and remove the unwanted setup the first schedule has created by filling gaps.
Schedule Based On Custom Sequencing : Custom sequencing can be written using custom business logic. If yes, then this flag should be True.
Schedule Batch WOs Continous : Whether to schedule all work orders of a batch continuously or not.
Schedule In Alternate Resource : This is used in Scheduling to decide on the rules of whether to pick a primary or alternate resource. This column takes integer numbers. Suppose in the primary resource we have scheduled till 5th with item I1 and in the alternate resource we have scheduled till 2nd with item I2. While trying to schedule another work order with item I1, there is an option to continue to schedule in the primary resource from the 5th onwards or schedule in an alternate resource from the 2nd onwards. This decision is taken by taking the setup time weight value and multiplying it with the setup time incurred if we schedule in that resource. This value is then added to the last scheduled time. The resource which comes earliest will be the one to schedule the item. The higher the SetupTimeWeight, more the likely it will continue in the same resource and not go to an alternate resource even if it is available much earlier.
Start Setup Before Material Available : Whether we can start the setup before the material is available from the previous operation. The value is either True or False. If True, then setup will start before the completion of the earlier operation.
Capacity Parameters
Capacity parameters relate to how capacity should be allocated to orders.
Bucket Build ahead : The number of buckets to go back for capacity if the capacity is not available in the just-in-time bucket.
Plant Utilization Percentage : This is used in Planning. If the working hours are 8 and if the PlantUtilizationPercentage is 90, then it will consider 8 * 0.9 = 7.2 as working hours.
Capacity Priority : If the capacity is not available in the just-in-time bucket of the primary resource, should capacity be considered of alternate resource in the same bucket or look for capacity in earlier buckets of the primary resource.
Short bucket : Size of buckets in the short term planning. This is based on the total cycle time to make a product. Short buckets are usually days.
Medium bucket : Size of buckets in the medium term planning. This will be size of buckets after the short bucket period is over. These are usually in weeks.
Long bucket : Size of buckets in the long term planning. This will be the size of buckets after the medium bucket period is over till the length of the time horizon.
These are usually in months.
Problem Parameters
The Tolerance value states the percentage of tolerance, before flagging any problem as a problem. Ex: If a sales order is for 1000 and 999 is satisfied, and the problem tolerance is 10%, in the problem summary an “Order short” problem is not created.
Cost Parameters
Cost parameters help in calculating the planned cost for an order and allocating overheads like electricity etc.
Resource Selection
Capacity Bucket Horizon : This is used in Resource Selection logic. How many days of capacity should be considered while calculating the number of resources that can be used. Suppose the value of this flag is 7. In the demand bucket for a given item, we need 13 days of capacity, then it will split into two resources. If the required capacity is 6, then it will load in one resource. If the required capacity is 16, then it will load in 3 resources.
Date Selection : The demand can be considered either based on PlanStartTime or BucketDate in Work Order. If the parameter value is PlannedStartTime then the demand will be based on PlanStartTime as populated in Work Order. If the value is Bucket Date, then the demand will be based on BucketDate.
Demand Bucket Horizon : This is used in Resource Selection Logic. How many days of demand needs to be consolidated in one bucket. If the value is 30, then 30 days of demand will be considered as one bucket and resource selection will be within this bucket. So it will be a multiple of 30 days demand.
Maintenance Parameters
Retain audit / Retain audit uom : Number of periods of audit data that should be maintained. This value is used for the automated cleaning up of audit data from the workflow. Suppose the value is 60 days, then all the records prior to 60 days from the current time will be deleted.
Retain history/ Retain history uom : Number of periods of history data that should be maintained. This value is used for automated cleaning up of history data from the workflow. Suppose the value is 60 days, then all the records prior to 60 days from the current time will be deleted.
Check Existing Transactions : This is to avoid SQL transactions creating a deadlock situation. When high volume data is involved and the chance multiple users update the same table at the same time exists then better to set this flag to true.
Do Bulk Insert : BulkInsert in ADO.NET is a technique for inserting large volumes of data efficiently into a SQL Server database using the ADO.NET data access technology. It allows you to insert multiple rows of data into a database table in a single round trip to the database server, which can significantly improve performance compared to inserting each row individually. BulkInsert works by creating a DataTable object that represents the data to be inserted, and then using a SqlBulkCopy object to copy the contents of the DataTable into the target database table. The SqlBulkCopy object uses a high-speed data transfer mechanism to insert the data, which can be many times faster than inserting the data row-by-row using ADO.NET's standard Insert command. BulkInsert is particularly useful when you need to insert large amounts of data into a database.
Item Parameters
The parameters specified in factory parameters are applicable for all the items. To override this parameter, values can be specified on an individual item in Item Parameters. If any columns are left as
Manufacturing Type : Whether this is a continuous or discrete process, to round off decimal values
Pegging Tolerance : How much of the leftover supply order quantity can be given to a demand order. For instance, Supply Order is 100 and we have already allocated 95, then the leftover quantity in this supply order is 5. If the pegging tolerance is .1, then the remaining quantity of 5 will not be allocated to other demand as it is less than (100 - 95) / 100 = .05. If the pegging tolerance had been .01, then the remaining quantity of 5 will be allocated to other demand orders. The value should be between 0 and 1.
Supply Tolerance : Supply tolerance limit while fulfilling a demand order. The value should be between 0 and 1. Suppose demand is 100, inventory is 98 and supply tolerance is .1, then it will allocate 98 inventory to the demand. The leftover demand is 100 - 98 = 2. So unfulfilled ratio is 2/100 = 0.02 which is less than 0.1. So it will not look for further supply. If the inventory had been only 85, the unfulfilled ratio is 15/100 = 0.15. This is greater than the tolerance of 0.1 and so it would look for further supply. By default, the value is 0.001.
Balance Alt Routing : If lot sizes are different among different routing, then Planning selects the route based on the demand closer to lot size. If we want to select the route based on least loaded routing and not based on lot size, then this flag should be set to True.
Pegging Tolerance Days : In planning, while allocating supply to demand, how many days of difference is allowed between supply and demand.
Operation Parameters
The parameters specified in factory parameters are applicable for all the operations in searching for capacity. To override this parameter, values can be specified on individual operations in Operation Parameters. If any columns are left as
Setup Operation : To define whether this operation is only a setup operation. Here the calendar available time will not be checked.
