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.

On the Corrugator Scheduling page, only grades that have orders to be scheduled for the corrugator are of interest, all other grades are omitted to allow the planner a concentrated view on the grades he needs to work on.

However, any grade that has no orders to schedule in the range of days shown, but where there are runs in Program Memory waiting for production, should also appear, in order to show the planner all grades with runs in Program Memory for the selected flute type.
This situation is rare, as most grades that are being produced do have orders for the near future waiting and thus are shown along with the Program Memory info.

The page has been revised slightly and now shows even grades where there is nothing to schedule for the immediate future when they have runs waiting in Program Memory. As a side effect, the total of the Program Memory column is now always compatible with the numbers shown for each grade below.

Pull planning means that orders are scheduled on the first conversion machine before they get scheduled on the corrugator. Such orders used to be marked with a yellow dot where otherwise the corrugator finishing time would appear.

That yellow dot has been replaced by three new icons which tell the planner not just that the order isn't scheduled but also in which part of the corrugator schedule it will have to go to be produced in time.

	-	This is what the old yellow icon used to be: It says that the order is not in Program Memory. There is time enough to produce it after the end of the current corrugator schedule.
	-	The yellow icon indicates that the order will need to be integrated into the corrugator program that is being prepared: It must be integrated somewhere in between the un-numbered programs that are already in Program Memory.
	-	The orange icon says that the order must be inserted into the schedule that is currently at the corrugator, as it must be finished at a time before the end of the current schedule (before the end of the last program with a program number).

So far it was hard to see if an order is already deckled but not yet definitely scheduled on the corrugator. For such orders, there are already are runs in Program Memory, but no starting time and program number have been assigned yet. That made it impossible to tell in order lists whether an order was already deckled or not scheduled at all on the corrugator.

Now a new status color has been introduced to distinguish such orders. If the corrugator appears in gray letters on a light yellow background in an order's machine sequence this indicates that this order is in Program Memory but hasn't been assigned a starting time yet.

So now e.g. in the order view by customer you can see if an order is scheduled on the corrugator, complete with starting time and program number, or if the order so far only has been deckled but not definitely scheduled yet.

The PC-Topp.NET Program Memory page now indicates which programs contain orders that require special scores. You can identify those programs by the small red icon ( ) next to their program number.

If you click on such a program number the combinations view opens with red icons in front of those orders in the program which have to be run with special scores.

This feature is particularly useful if there are restrictions for special scores which the Automatic Optimization cannot take into account, e.g. if there is only a limited number of certain score types available. With the new marker the planner can easily distinguish the programs concerned and check if the restriction is observed.

Plants with two or more corrugators will benefit from this new feature: On the PC-Topp.NET Program Memory page each corrugator has its own separate program memory. But in the corresponding DOS program the program memory of all corrugators is displayed in one continous screen, with separate sections by corrugator.

So far, each new run used to be appended at the very end of Program Memory, no matter what corrugator it was scheduled on, and had to be moved to its proper place manually.

Now each new run automatically appears at the end of the right corrugator's section - no more need to manually reorganize the list. The same applies to programs which are moved from one corrugator to another: Don't be confused when they seem to disappear the moment you change the corrugator code - they simply have automatically been moved to the end of the Program memory section of the target corrugator.