Modeling the Production Line for Settings and Changeover
How you model a production line in the Production Model will be dependent upon the following factors:
Type of Line (single machine, simple contiguous process, parallel processes, shared cells across lines, complex sub-lines, primary cells, cell groups within cell groups)
Line Downtime Determination (When is the line considered to be down? All cells, any cells, particular cell)
How production is scheduled (if parts of a line are scheduled separately from each other, then they may be considered two separate lines)
Interface to cell (if a cell has no real-time accessible interface, its state and output may be combined with an adjacent cell)
These factors drive the usability and usefulness of any production data or metrics generated.
It's important to be aware that if a production line of many cells is modeled simply as a single cell, then the OEE features is diminished, such as:
- downtime detection methods,
- cell cycle time,
- aggregation of machine states by cell,
- and visual aspects such as the OEE Time chart
Signs that the modeling may not be correct:
- Forcing management to schedule production runs on multiple lines that they did not do prior to the OEE implementation,
- Only allowing a single scheduled run on a a set of cells where traditionally multiple schedules existed
In modelling the Line, you will create a Production Equipment Model in the Designer that:
- Defines your Enterprises Sites, Areas, Lines and Cells
- Sets up to define how line downtime is determined
- Connects states and counts from the equipment PLC interface to the production equipment model