The downtime causes defined in PC-Topp have different effects on the calculation of times in the PC-Topp production statistics.

These effects are best explained by taking a look at the basic hierarchical concept for calculating production times in PC-Topp.

Category	Abbr.	Definition
Available Shift Hours	ASH	Shift duration, e.g. 8’00 plus any overtime after the beginning or before the end of the shift.
Machine Shutdown Hours	MSH	In case of shorter shift duration Machine Shutdown Hours explain the difference between shorter Open Hours and Available Shift Hours.
Open Hours	OH	The total period of time during which a machine is open (Available Shift Hours minus Machine Shutdown Hours)
Break Hours	BH	Total time of breaks
Scheduled Downtime Hours	SDH	Total scheduled down time
Work Hours	WH	Open Hours minus Break Hours minus Scheduled Downtime Hours
Set-Up Hours	SH	Set-Up Hours including downtimes during set-up
Run Hours	RH	Run Hours including downtimes during run
Downtime Hours	DH	The time taken up by breakdowns (including Mini Downtimes and times unaccounted for which are treated the same as Mini Downtimes).
Downtime Hours during Run	DHR	Downtime Hours during run
Downtime Hours during Set-Up	DHS	Downtime Hours during set-up
Production Hours	PH	Work Hours minus Downtime Hours
Net Set-Up Hours	NSH	Set-Up Hours minus Downtime Hours during Set-Up
Net Run Hours	NRH	Run Hours minus Downtime Hours during Run

The following diagrams illustrate how the PC-Topp times are based on each other.

 

Focus on Stopped Time and Machine Productive Time

Here the PC-Topp times are visualized by stripping away one after the other of the different stopped times from the machine’s available time. The final result is the time during which the machine actually produces goods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Focus on Downtimes during Run and Set-Up

Downtimes can occur during set-up and run. Therefore in this diagram the Work Hours are divided into Run Hours and Set-Up Hours which are again subdivided into Net Set-Up and Run Hours vs. Down Hours during Set-Up and Run.

This is necessary to determine the time during which the machine actually runs without interruption by downtimes. Of course the Down Hours during Set-Up and Run equal the Down Hours in the above chart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above times are the basis for calculating speeds in PC‑Topp: The Run Hours can serve as a reference value for estimating the Planning Speed (used to compute how long an order will run). Speeds calculated using the Net Run Hours offer a guideline for a realistic machine Target Speed.

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.

The on-line link to the corrugator had a weak point - it didn't move the remaining runs of the current schedule to new starting times when there were delays. Only the orders in all subsequent programs were kept up-to-date.

The Corrugator Control Program has now been improved so that it keeps up-to-date the starting times of all runs, including the current program, and thus all orders, including the current job, show ending times that are likely to be correct.

An important functionality has been added to Conversion Machine Scheduling: When an order is marked for scheduling the toolbox now offers the additional link "Set Time / Duration".

Enter Order Duration

The new feature lets you enter either the duration or a starting and ending time for the selected order. The latter is particularly useful when you know the point in time when the order is expected to be finished. Clicking on "Enter Duration" lets you enter the number of hours an order will take, which may be the more direct way in other situations.

 

Schedule Several Orders in One Go

"Set Time / Duration" can also be used to schedule several orders at the same time, but you may find this feature less useful. (In this case, no ending time can be entered, just the starting time.) You can schedule whole packages of orders by selecting the orders to be inserted or rearranged. Then you can enter the starting time of the first order in your packet. The other orders you have selected are inserted into the schedule after this first one according to their order in the "New Sequence" window. If you leave the pre-displayed starting time of that first order unchanged, then the other orders will simply be inserted directly behind it.