Batch

The Batch logic is used to group variants together at selected Operations in the production flow. Can be useful in order to limit the number of setups required. Sizes and sequence of batches could be based on safety stock levels of desired Stores in the model.

The Batch object is used by simply connecting it with Operations and possibly Stores in the model. A connection from the Batch object to an Operation will make the Operation process batches of the variants waiting at the predecessors of the Operation. A connection from a Store to the Batch object will make the Batch object fetch safety stock shortages from this Store in order to give priority to the variants with the largest shortage. If several Stores are connected to the Batch logic the safety stock shortages of all connected Stores will be counted. An example of a production flow with a Batch logic is shown below.

A new batch will be created of the variant that has the highest priority among the variants that are present in a large enough quantity considering its minimum batch size (see the setting Batch table) and the values of the settings Start incomplete and Prioritize complete. The priority of the variants is set in one out of two ways:

Batch logic not connected to a Store: Priority is set according to FIFO among the variants that meets the minimum batch size requirement.
Batch logic connected to a Store: Priority is set to the variant having the lowest safety stock among the variants that meets the minimum batch size requirement.

Note: The batch Operations and Stores need to be on the same level as the Batch logic, e.g. connections can't be made into a Component.

Note: If Start incomplete is False then the Batch logic works best if at least one of the predecessors of the Batch object is a Store (see example below) with a big enough capacity to hold a couple of minimum batch sizes. If this isn't the case there has to be a lot of predecessors to be able to get enough variants waiting before the batch Operation to be able to meet the minimum batch sizes.

Note: Batch of assembled parts should be specified using the assembly identity of the assembled parts, see assembly identity for more details.

Settings

The settings of the Batch are listed below along with a short description and possibly a link to a more detailed description about the setting.

Setting

Description

Name	Sets the name of the object.
Location	Displays the location of the object.
Parallel batch processing	If set to true a batch is allowed to be split and processed on the parallel batch operations (see Operation1 and Operation2 in the example above). If set to false the entire batch has to be processed on the same Operation. Note: This setting will only have an effect if there are at least two batch operations.
Multiple batch	If set to true a multiple of the minimum batch sizes in the Batch table will be allowed as batch size. A multiple batch is created based on the availability and possible demand of a certain variant. If set to false the minimum batch size is also the the maximum batch size allowed, i.e. multiple batch isn't allowed no matter the availability and possible demand.
Start incomplete	If set to true a new batch can be started even though entities aren't available in the minimum batch sizes specified in the Batch table. Note: Even if a batch is started in this way the the minimum batch size of entities still need to be processed before a new batch can be started. If a batch is prevented from being completed it will result in a deadlock, unless an Incomplete timeout is specified.
Prioritize complete	If set to true and Start incomplete is also true then priority will be given to entities available in sufficient quantities when a new batch is to be started.
Incomplete timeout	If set to true and Start incomplete is also true this timeout will start as soon as all parts assigned to the batch are finished. If the timeout is reached without any additonal parts arriving, the batch will be finished even though it isn't complete in terms of the the minimum batch size. And if one or more parts arrive before the timeout is reached the completion of these additional parts will trigger a new timeout. Note: Used to prevent a deadlock in the case that the required parts for the batch aren't able to reach the Batch-logic.
Batch table ↑	This table lists the user specified minimum batch sizes. Details about the Batch table can be found here.
User attributes	Lists all attributes that the user has added to the object. See User attributes for more details.