Work Order Enterprise Synchronization

Sepasoft MES Module Suite

Work Order Enterprise Synchronization

In an MES Enterprise network, each MES object is sent only to the gateways that need it. For a Work Order, that destination is determined by associated equipment paths: equipment in the production model that the Work Order is related to. The enterprise protocol then sends the Work Order down the parent/child gateway hierarchy to the site gateways, and their child gateways, that manage that equipment.

By default, those paths come from the Work Order’s Material Definition. If the same material can be produced at many sites, every one of those sites receives a copy of every Work Order for that material.

In MES 3.81.13 SP3, MES 4.83.3 SP3, and later, you can instead synchronize Work Orders from the equipment on linked Operations Requests and Operations Responses. Enable this with a gateway JVM argument. Default behavior does not change unless you set the argument.

See:

Default: material-based synchronization

When the JVM argument is not set, or is set to MATERIAL:

  1. The Work Order is associated with a Material Definition.
  2. MES uses the process segments for that material and the equipment on those segments.
  3. The Work Order is sent to every site gateway that manages any of that equipment.

This is the original behavior. Use it when each material is produced at one site, or when every capable site should see every Work Order for that material.

Optional: operations-based synchronization

When operations-based synchronization is enabled, MES uses the equipment on Operations Requests and Operations Responses that reference the Work Order.

Work Order stateWhere the Work Order is stored
Created, and no Operations Request or Operations Response is linked yet
Creating gateway only (typically the enterprise gateway). It is not sent to site gateways.
An Operations Request or Operations Response is linked and has equipment
Site gateway(s) that manage that equipment, plus parent gateways in the enterprise hierarchy
Request or Response equipment is changed to a different site
The Work Order is sent to the new site(s)
A linked Request or Response is deleted
The Work Order is sent again using the remaining linked operations. If none remain, it is not sent to additional sites.

Progress updates on an Operations Response, such as quantity or state, do not by themselves cause the Work Order to be sent again. Creating a request or response, changing its equipment, changing which Work Order it references, or deleting it does.

If MES cannot load the linked operations, the Work Order is not sent to site gateways. It does not fall back to material-based targeting.

Enable operations-based synchronization

Add this JVM argument to each gateway in the MES Enterprise network that creates or receives Work Orders, then restart the gateway.

-Dcom.sepasoft.sync.workOrderStrategy=OPERATIONS
ValueBehavior
Not set, blank, or MATERIAL
Material-based (default)
OPERATIONS
Operations Request and Operations Response equipment
RESPONSE
Accepted as an alias for OPERATIONS

Unknown values are treated as MATERIAL.

Where to set a JVM argument:

  • Ignition 8.1: Gateway Configure → System → Gateway Settings, or the wrapper.java.additional lines in ignition.conf.
  • Ignition 8.3: Platform extra JVM arguments for the gateway. Use the same -D flag.

Use the same value on the enterprise gateway and the site gateways. Mixing values in one network is not supported.

There is no Gateway Config checkbox for this setting.

Recommended sequence

  1. Create the Work Order. Use an ERP import, the Work Order Table, or system.mes.workorder.createMESWorkOrder().
  2. Create and save the Operations Request or Operations Response with a Work Order reference and equipment at the site that will run the work.
  3. After the next enterprise object sync, the Work Order is present at that site.

If you create the Work Order first and schedule operations later, that is expected. The Work Order stays on the creating gateway until operations exist.

Limitations

Copies of a Work Order that were already sent to extra sites, for example under material-based synchronization, are not automatically removed when you enable OPERATIONS. Those sites keep the existing copy until it is handled by your normal data-retention or cleanup process.

Changing the JVM argument at runtime does not clean up copies that are already at other sites.

Equipment changes on a Request Segment or Response Segment alone do not re-send the Work Order. Change the Operations Request or Operations Response equipment, or its Work Order reference, or create or delete the request or response.

Example

A Material Definition for “Bottle 500ml” can run at Site A and Site B.

Material-based (default): Creating Work Order WO-1000 for that material sends WO-1000 to Site A and Site B.

Operations-based: Creating WO-1000 does not send it to either site. After an Operations Request is saved for Site A Line 1, WO-1000 is sent to Site A. Site B does not receive it unless an operations object for Site B is linked later.

Sepasoft MES Module Suite