A.) Routing Ratios Overview
Through the routing editor on the make item page, you can set the number of input required and output parts that are made.
1.) Input Ratio Explained
Users can dictate the amount of an input item required for each operation of a make item; with proper use of the unit of measure for buy items and required quantity, users can specify ratios needed when producing an item.
1.1) Unit of Consumption for Input Items
Users can set the unit of consumption on Buy items within the item details page of the specified Buy item, these units include:
EA (each): Works similarly to how StartProto handles make items. You have a specified quantity of a whole item. The “EA” unit does not support splitting of an item, meaning users are expected to consume a whole number when consuming this item. A good example of these types of items is products shops purchase as a single item, such as assembly components, fasteners, or tooling.
Pack: This unit of measure is used when single items are bundled together for purchasing, such as a vendor setting items in set quantities, such as a pack of screws or a pair of railings. The “Pack” unit is good for products your vendor only sells in bulk and that are needed across multiple make items or operations; users can specify the amount of a pack required for an operation by indicating the percentage of the pack used during an operation. (Percentage of Pack Used = (Total Quantity Used for Operation / Total Quantity in a Pack) * 100)
Other Standard Unit Of Measure (In, Ft, Gal, etc.): This is for items and Materials that are sold, stored, and used in standard measurement rather than as a whole entity. By using this unit of measure, users can specify finite amounts to be used for an item. This is ideal for raw materials or other products that are sold by the foot, gallon, etc.
1.2) Fractional Input Quantities
Depending on the unit specified for an input item, users can consume fractional units. for example: cutting a 1/16" x 2" 6061 Aluminum Bar into pieces that are 2.600”. If you are using inches as this item’s tracking unit, you can say that your SAW TO 2.600 operation takes 2.635 in (accounting for saw kerf) of the Bar per each operation.
2.) Multi-Output
Normally, it is recommended that Users break down their operations to the smallest units possible and then dictate the output required via their job or order for an item. However, in some use cases, such as sawing, splitting, or mixing, your operation may be required to produce multiple output items.
Example: Simplifying operational ratios gives users more precise control over items produced when applicable.
Example: When to Use Multi-Output
When running operations that “Palletize” items (holding multiple items together in a fixture and run through several operational steps before being removed from the fixture.)
A frequent use case for this multi-output workflow for our customers is when using a bar puller in a lathe or using palletized fixturing. Example: you consume 36in or 1.3ft stick of stock in a lathe operation that creates 3 parts. In this case you would set up the operation with 36in (or 1 bar) as the input with an output of 24 parts.
The same logic can be applied to pretty much any real world manufacturing operation. This can be as simple as using 2 eggs, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of water, and 1 tbsp of baking powder to create 6 pancakes.
Operations provide a detailed explanation of what set of input items are required to complete a certain task to produce a certain number of make items. At its core operations are your recipe and your ingredients (input items) are just as critical as the finished product
Splitting, Sawing, or Cutting raw material into smaller pieces and processing these pieces in the same Item routing is ideal when using all the divided material pieces, such as when purchasing set-sized material designated for this particular operation
2.1) Difference Between Batch Size And Multi Output
An important thing to note in these examples is that demand will still be generated (add parts to orders) in the item quantity. Additionally, operations run in WHOLE quantities. In this example, an order for 5x Make Item, the system would schedule 1x Separate Fixture & Package, 10x Add Parts To Fixture & Process, and require you to purchase 10x Buy Item. In short, your input ratio is your demand for input items, and your output ratio is how your routing will meet your order/job demand.
B.) Requiring Multiple Input Items
In addition to setting input ratios for operations, users can incorporate multiple input items for a single operation, including their own required ratios.
1.) Add Multiple Items as Inputs
This is simple- for our assembly, we don’t just need 4x Black-Oxide Alloy Steel Socket Head Screw, but also 4x Steel Nylon-Insert Locknuts.
In the above example, we have demand for Screws. Additionally, while we have enough Screws to satisfy the demand, we don’t have any Bolts. In this case, the Make operation for the would Screws still shows on the schedule to produce. Once enough Screws complete, the Assemble operation will not appear until we have Bolts in stock. (And the Assemble would be stuck as a WIP item until then)
C.) Multi-Input/Output Operations Example
1.) Input Requirments:
Let's say we're producing a chemical mixture that requires a specific ratio of ingredients. We might need to use 3 parts of Ingredient A for every 2 parts of Ingredient B. With multi-input/output operations, we can set the input and output quantities for each ingredient to ensure that we maintain the correct ratio.
To accomplish this, we can use ratios when setting up the input/output quantities for each operation. Let's examine this further.
When setting up an operation, we can specify the quantity of inputs used and outputs produced. For example, let's say we have an operation that requires 6 parts of Ingredient A and 4 parts of Ingredient B to produce 1 Batch of our mixture. We can set the input quantities as follows:
Ingredient A: Quantity Required: 6
Ingredient B: Quantity Required: 4
Output: Quantity Produced: 1
In this case, we specify that we need 6 parts of Ingredient A for every 4 parts of Ingredient B to produce our chemical mixture. The system will automatically calculate the correct quantities for each input required to complete the specified operation.
2.) Output Size:
Similarly, we can set the output quantities for each operation. This can be useful if operations produce output items in batches or are needed to maintain a certain ratio between the inputs and outputs.
In this example, we took 1 part of Ingredient A and 1 part of Ingredient B for the mixing operation and were able to produce 3 units of chemical mixture with 1/3 of each mixture.
One thing to keep in mind is that ratios can be tricky to work with if the output quantities are not whole numbers. In some cases, we may need to adjust the input/output quantities slightly to ensure that we maintain the correct ratio.
D.) Summary
In conclusion, multi-quantity operations are useful for managing inventory and production processes. By differentiating our input/output quantities, we can maintain specific ratios in our operations. Whether we're producing chemical mixtures, assembling products, or managing complex manufacturing processes, multi-input/output operations can help users streamline our workflows and optimize our production processes.