Configuring Lot Handling

Sepasoft MES Module Suite

Lot Handling Configuration

Lot Handling Methods

Storage Units and equipment can be configured with different lot handling modes that define how lots (or batches) of material are stored at equipment.

You configure Lot Handling Methods for a Line in Equipment Manager.

Summary of Lot Handling Methods

Lot Handling Methods	Summary
Single Lot	Only one lot can be stored at this location even if the location is not full.
Random Lot	Default - You can put any lots in any order and pull them out in any order.
FIFO	This will cause the first lot stored at this location to be used first and the second lot to be used second and so on.
LIFO	This will cause the last lot stored at this location to be used first and the second to last lot to be used second and so on.
Same Lot	Material from the same lot that is received over multiple trucks or vessels can be added.
Blend Lot	Allows only one lot at a time in that tank. If you add another lot, it will cause a new lot to be created.

Zero Lot Threshold

The Zero Lot Threshold automatically sets the lot to zero when not all of the lot was used from the silo. This cleans up a potentially large number of leftover lots with very small quantity remaining. The threshold value can be configured to be Unit Of Measure or Percentage.

In order to use Zero Lot Threshold functionality, set the Auto Lot Quantity Completion property of the Process Segment (or Operations Segment, if preferred) to Enabled (see Material Resource Property).

Single Lot Handling

Single Lot handling method is for storage units and equipment that can only hold 1 lot of material at a time. After storing a lot to the storage unit or loading it into a piece of equipment that lot must be taken out before another can be added.

Example:

In order to prep them for shipment, a factory that creates CNC milling machines stores each finished machine into a storage container. Each storage container can only hold one machine at a time. In order for another machine to be loaded into the storage the current machine must be removed from the storage container.

Single Lot Handling

We are starting with a storage unit configured to Single Lot Handling Mode. We have 2 material lots: material lot 1 and material lot 2.

We are starting with material lot 1 inside the storage unit.
We then remove material lot 1 from the storage unit.
The storage unit is now empty and something else can be added to it.
We are now free to add material lot 2 or any other material lot to the storage unit.

Single Lot Handling Errors

Adding a lot to an already full storage unit or piece of equipment configured for Single Lot Handling is not a valid operation. If the user attempts this an exception will be thrown by the system.

Random Lot Handling

Random Lot Handling is for a storage unit or piece of equipment where lots can be inserted or pulled out in any order. There are no restrictions on how lots are handled, any order is valid.

For example, a factory is installing tires onto a car. They have a storage bay where they keep all the tires. When the operator grabs 4 tires to put on the car, it does not matter what lot the grabbed tires are from.

In the illustration below there is a storage unit that is configured to Random Lot Handling method. We also have 3 material lots: material lot 1, material lot 2, and material lot 3. With this mode you can choose any of the 3 lots in any order.

Random Lot Handling, you can get the next lot or select the lot manually.

FIFO Lot Handling

FIFO Lot Handling method is for a storage unit or piece of equipment that is configured to follow the idea of 'First In First Out' meaning that the first lots added to the storage unit are the first lots used.

For example, a factory is packaging cupcakes into boxes to ship them out. In order to ensure that each of the finished product has the longest shelf-life possible they want to package the least recently baked cupcakes first.

We have a storage unit that was configured to FIFO Lot Handling. There are 3 material lots: material lot 1, material lot 2, and material lot 3. The lots were added to the storage unit in the order, material lot 1, material lot 2, and lastly material lot 3.

Consumed: material lot 1, material lot 2, material lot 3

FIFO Lot Handling Errors

When set to FIFO Lot Handling and a lot is requested using the script function: getMaterialLotNextAvailable() the oldest lot is returned.

Overriding FIFO Lot Handling

Restrictions put on a storage unit in FIFO Lot Handling can be overridden by using scripting. No Exception is thrown.

Same Lot Handling

Same Lot Handling is for a storage unit or piece of equipment that can have many lots inserted into it and all that is necessary is to track the overall quantity and not each lot added.

For example, a hardware distributor has a large storage bin that trucks all of the 1/4-20 X 3" bolts are put in the bin. In this case, it is not the quantities of each shipment of screws that matters but instead the overall quantity in the bin.

With 4 input material lots: material lot 1, material lot 2, material lot 3, and material lot 4. And 1 output lot named Material Lot Sum.

Adding material lot 1 to the storage unit and the quantity is added to Material Lot Sum.

All material lots are added to Material Lot Sum.

Material Lot Sum becomes a new Lot.

Blend Lot Handling

Blend Lot Handling Mode type is useful for situations when material added to a storage unit or piece of equipment is mixed with the current material and cannot be separated into distinct lots.

Blend Lot creates new lot when material is added. This allows for historical tracking of the storage unit. Keep in mind that with Same Lot the material is always added to the one lot.

For example, an ice cream factory has a storage tank in which they store their cream. While the cream is mixed when it is in the tank they want to keep historical data when cream was either added or taken from the tank.

The storage unit is set to Blend Lot Handling. This storage unit already has material in it named available quantity and an input lot of material called material lot in.

The starting quantity and the quantity of material lot in are summed together and a new lot is created called Lot 2.

Using a Subset of the Available Quantity

When taking some of the material from the storage unit and putting it into material blend lot out. Notice there is still some remaining quantity in the storage unit. Since not all use was used, the available material the lot is still Lot 2.

Using All of the Available Quantity

This example shows a storage unit that is set to Blend Lot Handling with some available quantity and an output lot called material blend lot out.

All of the available material is taken from the storage unit and put it into material blend lot out. The storage unit is now empty. When material is added, a new lot is created.

Sepasoft MES Module Suite