Production Data Acquisition for Separating Processes and Multi-Cavity Tools – Flexible Article Composition in the Yield
By susanne.gutermuth@cosmino.de In In certain production processes, several, and above all else, different articles are manufactured in each process and cycle. Examples of production processes of this kind include primary forming (e.g. casting), forming (e.g. pressing) and cutting (e.g. punching, sawing, ...).In laser cutting for example, the number of different articles that are cut out of the material is fully flexible, and only subject to the surface area of the input material.
When different products are created in a single process, these products are also managed in the system under different article numbers. The question of how a Production Data Acquisition system should manage this is, therefore, rightly raised.
In the Cosmino PDA and MES software, any number of different products can be predefined either directly for a tool or for a sequence of operations from an order which is downloaded from the ERP. The sum total of all the articles that are assigned to a tool or work sequence is called the yield. With each cycle signal on the machine, Cosmino then creates the corresponding data records for each defined product from the yield. All of the articles to be produced thereby increase the quantity produced by the work center.
Of course, it may be the case that the yield saved on the tool or order cannot be produced in full. If this is the case, the employee simply deselects certain articles on a temporary basis. However, a reduced yield per cycle in comparison with the plan also means a loss of actual output compared to the target. Therefore, in such cases, Cosmino will create a loss of output corresponding to the lost performance factor.
Fig.: the example shows a yield of quality products that are produced simultaneously.