Historically, PC-Topp would either calculate the duration of an order by itself - based on conversion machine parameters - or the user could tell the system how long he estimated the duration of the order from start to end. Of course, that duration could also be received from the host system in the Order Data Transfer.

While this seemed sufficient for planning purposes, this approach had the disadvantage that the set-up time was always based on machine parameters even for orders with a manually given duration. This made it impossible to compare the actual set-up time to the target time for such orders where the set-up was more difficult than for a normal order.

Therefore, it is now possible to specify also the set-up time for an order, either manually or in the Order Data Transfer.
This opens the following options for the calculation of the total duration of an order.

Set-up time calculated Based on number of colors and die-cut or not		Run time calculated Based on machine's average speed
Set-up time given By host or manually	Run speed given (Indirectly based on total duration)

Obviously, the run speed does not appear in the order data or in the data transfer; it is specified indirectly by giving the total run time to maintain compatibility with earlier versions of the order data transfer.

This means that instead of sending a set-up time of 27 minutes and a speed of 5000 / h, the host must calculate the run duration based on the quantity (e.g. 10000) and give PC-Topp the result for the total time (0'27 + 2'00 = 2'27).

Future improvements are planned: In a future version PC-Topp will be able to use a given set-up time and speed per article, or base the entire calculation on past experience with previous orders for that article.

On the Machine Load page, so far you didn't have a chance to see whether the brown (scheduled) and red (full) days on a machine contain orders that will be late.

Now a small violet sign with a white exclamation mark tells you at first sight if you are in danger of running an order too late. There are two kinds of situation that this icon warns you about:

Orders Scheduled Late on a Machine
The violet icon tells you that there are orders threatening to be late on the machine in question and thus won't be delivered in time if nothing is done about them. When you click the icon the dialog displaying the day's orders opens, and orders scheduled late are marked by a red due date so you can easily find them to mend the situation.

Machine Load Is Too High to Produce Unscheduled Order in Time
The violet icon is also displayed when the machine load is higher than the machine capacity on that day (red background) and there is no chance to put the surplus load on any previous day, either, because the capacity on earlier days is insufficient. Therefore one or several unscheduled orders pre-planned on this machine can't be produced in time to meet their due date.

However, if you click the icon expecting to find the unscheduled late orders highlighted in the day details as well you might be disappointed: Unscheduled orders are not marked in red (except when their due date has passed) because the system can't predict which of them you will schedule on time using the available capacity on earlier days.

The Corrugator Control page fulfills two main purposes:

In the corrugator control room it functions as the online connection between corrugator and Planning. The Corrugator Control page lets the corrugator operator transfer runs to the Dry End controller and change the run sequence while keeping Program Memory and Dry End controller synchronized.

Furthermore, the Corrugator Control page lets the corrugator crew print out a variety of production documents like corrugator programs, cutting and material lists or pallet labels right at the machine.

Elsewhere in the plant, e.g. at the Wet End, the Corrugator Control page allows printing corrugator schedules and material requirements but without the possibility to make sequence changes or to transfer runs to the Dry End controller.

More Control for the Corrugator Crew, Program Memory Always Up to Date

The Corrugator Control Page changes PC-Topp's approach to the link between Planning and the corrugator: Originally, the On-line Link program was run on a PC in the planning office. When new schedules were ready, the planners used it to transfer them to the corrugator.

Now, the Corrugator Control Page is used by the corrugator crew, directly in the corrugator control cabin, for the same purpose. This not only gives the crew much more control over what programs are downloaded to the corrugator, it also allows PC-Topp to follow corrugator production more closely.

Before, new programs were sent by Planning always to the end of the queue of schedules waiting to be produced. If such a new schedule needed to be run earlier, the corrugator crew had to make the necessary sequence change at the Dry End controller computer, which had the advantage that they maintained full control over what was happening at the machine. Planning could not simply make a sequence change without informing them, or without their okay. The disadvantage was that the schedules in PC-Topp's Program Memory usually stayed in the old, now obsolete sequence.

Now, Planning simply releases new schedules for production, and they appear at the end of the queue of schedules waiting for production. If a sequence change is needed, the corrugator crew makes it right there in the Corrugator Control Page, which is usually much easier than using the corrugator's own user interface. The sequence at the Dry End controller computer is automatically kept in sync with the changes done on the Corrugator Control page.

Moreover, the Corrugator Control page automatically synchronizes Program Memory with the new sequence. This way, the actual program sequence is always visible in Planning as well as at the corrugator.

With the Corrugator Control page, runs can be transferred to the Dry End controller computer either manually or automatically. The automatic mode always keeps enough programs in the queue to maintain a smooth production flow. Optionally, the Corrugator Control page can only be used for displaying and printing programs and paper requirements, without the functionality for modifying the run sequence.

Changing the Production Sequence

The Corrugator Control page displays the runs in the corrugator queue marked with padlock symbols. They show the status of each run and allow you to change it.

	Runs whose position can't be changed anymore because they are either already being produced or very close to production.
	Runs that have already been transferred to the Dry End controller computer. Those runs are locked, i.e. their sequence can't be changed. If you want to modify the position of those runs you can unlock them with a mouse click on the green padlock. Unlocking a run means that it is temporarily deleted from the Dry End controller computer. The run is retransferred as soon as the desired sequence has been established.
	Runs that are in Program Memory but haven't been transferred to the Dry End controller computer yet. You can change their position anytime.
	Runs whose position in the queue of the Dry End controller computer is different from their position in Program Memory. This happens when runs are manually inserted or when the sequence is modified at the Dry End controller computer. These runs can be changed after unlocking them with a click on the padlock.

The queue always starts with one or several red padlocks, followed by runs with a locked padlock symbol (ideally all green, after changes done at the Dry End controller some of them may be orange). The last run with a locked padlock marks the end of the schedule that has already been downloaded to the Dry End controller. After that point, all runs have open padlock icons.

Sequence changes in the section marked with open padlocks can be done directly. If however a change is needed in the locked part of the queue, then the corresponding runs must be unlocked first by clicking on the padlock symbol of the first run in the locked part of the schedule.