There are new options for configuring the Production Today section in My PC-Topp available that are interesting in plants with more than one corrugator. The configuration page (reachable via the Configuration link in the lower right of the Home page and the Corrugator menu page) lets you select whether the production figures should be displayed:

1. For Each Individual Corrugator
   One line per corrugator, new default setting.
2. Totaled for All Corrugators
   One line summing up all corrugators, old default setting.
3. For Each Individual Corrugator and Totaled for All Corrugators
   One line per corrugator plus one totals line.

(In plants with only one corrugator only one line showing the corrugator’s production is displayed no matter which option is selected.)

As of now a list of all production control codes can be exported from PC-Topp.NET for further use in other applications. You can create it either in PDF format or as an Excel file via the “Print / Export Production Control Codes List” link in the toolbox of the Production Control Codes page.

For more detailed information on the PC-Topp.NET Production Control Codes functionality see Trigger Special Actions for Individual Orders with Production Control Codes

 

Order specific quality checks at the PC-Topp.NET Machine Terminal are a powerful instrument for making sure that your products conform to the given quality standards. They are highly configurable and can be adapted exactly to your needs. A quality check’s execution is defined by its content (e.g. ink viscosity, bar code, caliper,…) as well as by the following factors:

• Interval of execution Quality checks are executed periodically; the intervals between the quality checks can be defined very flexibly, e.g. every 15 minutes, every third run, after every order etc.
  • New: Quality Check at Shift Start
    Forces the user to execute the quality check by blocking every other action until the check is done.
• Conditions of execution
  Quality checks can be restricted by specific conditions. Currently, PC‑Topp.NET supports the following conditions four of which have been newly added:
  • New: Customer Name
    Applies to orders for the specified customer.
    (Please note that even slight spelling differences like e.g. Universal Plant vs. UNIVERSAL PLANT can cause errors.)
  • New: Customer Number
    Applies to orders for the specified customer number.
  • Extra Customer Info
    Applies to orders by customers marked for the Extra Customer Info functionality.
  • First Run
    Applies to orders resp. articles that run for the first time.
  • New: Next Machine
    Applies if the next machine of this order is the given one.
  • Last Machine
    Applies if the current machine is the last before Shipping in the current order’s machine routing, i.e. for finished goods orders.
  • Die Cut
    Applies to orders that are die cut on the current machine.
  • New: Scores
    Applies if the order has either corrugator or conversion scores.
  • Print
    Applies to orders that are printed on the current machine.
  • Preprint
    Applies to orders that are produced with preprinted liner.
  • Customer Complaint
    Applies to orders for which a customer complaint has been entered.
  • Article Number
    Applies to orders with the specified article number.
  • Rework
    Applies to orders returned by the customer that have to be rerun.
  • Number of Printing Colors
    You can define a number of printing colors and an operator (EQUAL, NOT EQUAL, LARGER THAN, LESS THAN).
    Applies if the number of printing colors in the current order equals the predefined number of colors and if the predefined operator applies.
  • Color and Print Unit
    You can define a color and the position of the color resp. print unit in the printing sequence.
    Applies if the predefined print unit contains the predefined color, e.g. if color no. 3 is black.

The Products section of our homepage provides more in-depth information on the PC-Topp.NET quality checks

If you would like us to implement specific quality checks for you please contact us: http://www.pctopp.com/en/about_us/contact.mspx

So far you could exchange or remove a machine in an order’s machine sequence in PC-Topp even when this order was already scheduled on the machine in question.

Modifying the machine that an order is currently running on in this order’s machine routing leads to unexpected effects at the Machine Terminal in question. Therefore as of now you can only change a machine in an order’s machine routing if the order does not currently run on this machine.

This means that the machine routing of orders which are displayed on a blue background in the PC-Topp order lists (= scheduled in the past on the machine in question) can’t be modified or deleted any longer.

Running the archiving procedure for PC-Topp statistics interferes with other PC-Topp modules accessing statistics. Most importantly, the archiving process impairs the PC-Topp.NET Machine Terminal functionality. Besides, when using the classical program for editing and printing production statistics PC-Topp users are forced to interrupt their work while archiving runs.

To avoid such disturbances a new automatic archiving mode has been implemented that can be configured in the PC-Topp Communications Control.

Statistics auto archiving can be set to run on a specific day of the week. Ideally you would configure the auto archiving procedure to run on days with minimum activity in the plant when nobody is disturbed by it.

(Consequently, in the classical program for editing and printing production statistics the PC-Topp users won’t be bothered by the blue info screen any more.)

If an unspecified downtime with a certain duration (no mini downtime) has been recorded at the PC-Topp.NET Machine Terminal the system prompts the user to enter a downtime cause by showing the downtime start and end on the Downtime button in the lower right corner of the terminal interface. So far the operator was reminded of missing downtime causes only for the last recorded downtime. (The causes for all earlier downtimes in the shift had to be entered via the Shift tab.)

As of now, PC-Topp.NET asks the user to assign reasons to all unspecified downtimes during the current shift, i.e. starting from the last downtime, all downtimes without cause are presented. When the operator has entered a cause for the downtime currently displayed in the button the next downtime in the queue is shown.

The new Quality Check Shift Report shows all quality checks done during the selected shift(s). For each order all quality checks are listed with execution time(s), results and the responsible crew member. If a quality check has expired or failed it is color highlighted.

Additionally, the Quality Check Shift Report contains a shift summary with the attendance times of the crew members, the number of quality checks per crew member, and an overview of this shift’s passed, failed, and expired quality checks.

PC-Topp customers who manually enter new orders into the system (instead of using the automatic order transfer from the host) will find this new feature convenient.

If you have new orders for standard American type (FEFCO type 201) boxes you needn’t input all data by hand any more. If you enter the inner box dimensions PC-Topp can now automatically calculate the following values from them:

• Sheet format
• Corrugator scores
• Conversion scores
• Box type

If you enter the internal box dimensions via the “Input Box Size” dialog in the Order Input / Update screen and press Alt-E the above values automatically appear on screen:

This new functionality saves work and prevents input errors that inevitably occur when order data are keyed in manually. If you are interested in using it please contact us:

http://www.pctopp.com/en/about_us/contact.mspx

You can now adapt the columns displayed in the PC-Topp.NET Machine Terminal, the Multi-Machine Terminal, and the Machine View to your individual needs and preferences.

• Machine Terminal
  The machine schedule at the Machine Terminal allows you to insert as many columns as you like in which you can display any desired content, be it order fields, personalized fields or even information provided by external data sources. You can arrange the columns in your preferred sequence and width; the number of possible columns is only restricted by the screen size. Besides, you can also modify the font size and type of the "Due", "Order" and "Available" columns to make them more easily readable.
• Machine View
  The new display options apply to the Machine View, too. The Machine View lets you create your own individual information board by inserting any number of columns (i.e. as many columns as the page width allows) in the machine schedules. And you can personalize those columns in the same way as at the Machine Terminal.
• Multi-Machine Terminal
  Here only the width of all columns can be customized.

If you are interested in using this option please contact us so we can make the necessary changes:
http://www.pctopp.com/en/about_us/contact.mspx

In the Next Orders section of the PC-Topp.NET Machine Terminal toolbox a new button prompts the machine operator to confirm any schedule changes done outside of the Machine Terminal.