Traditionally, PC-Topp has been relying on the planner to establish the best possible sequence of orders on the conversion machines, taking into account all of the many criteria that the system knows about, plus any that just a human would know (like that a certain order will always cause problems in the hand of a certain machine operator).
But tasks like putting the orders in the sequence they come from the corrugator, or putting similar jobs together, avoiding ink color changes etc. should be done by a computer to relieve the planner.
Now PC-Topp.NET establishes the best sequence for you automatically at the press of a button, making many bothersome interactions unnecessary. When the system has optimised the order sequence, you can go ahead and improve on it, putting in your own ideas. But you will find more often than not that there is nothing left to improve.
The new functionality arranges the selected orders to achieve a production situation that is as close to ideal as possible under the given conditions. This means that the system schedules the orders in the order of their due date and their availability from the previous machine, simultaneously trying to group orders with similar characteristics like e.g. identical article, ink colors or matching order number together to make production as efficient as possible.
Optimisation Criteria
The following criteria are considered for optimising a given selection of orders (the further down in the list they appear the less weight they have for the optimisation). They are applied if at all possible, i.e. if they aren't overruled by more important criteria.
No Late Orders
The schedule is created in such a way that all orders in the selection are ready on their due date if at all possible.
No Downtime Because of Lack of Orders
All orders must be available in time for the next machine.
Split Orders Are Produced Together
If there are orders that have been split into several parts they are placed one after the other.
Same Article
Orders with identical spec no. are produced successively.
No Insertions in the Existing Schedule
In order not to upset the already established corrugator schedule the system tries to avoid adding orders to the existing corrugator schedule.
No Change of Estimated Starting Times
The optimisation doesn't modify the estimated starting times of the selected orders.
No Change of Available Times
The same is true for the times of availability from the previous machine.
Same Format
Orders with identical format are grouped together to reduce die-cut changes.
Same Board Grade
If there are orders with identical format they also share the same board grade. So they are run one after the other.
Due Date
If the selected orders are run on the same day they are arranged in the sequence of their due dates.
Same Customer Name
Orders of the same customer are placed together.
Ink Color Optimisation
There is one more optimisation criterion whose degree of importance varies according to the circumstances. The optimisation checks the colors required for the selected orders and arranges them in a way that requires the least possible color changes at the machine. Depending on the number of color changes necessary for the batch of selected orders the weight of this optimisation criterion changes - the more color changes, the more important it gets.
How to Make Use of "Optimise This"
When you mark one or more orders for (re)scheduling in a conversion machine plan you will notice a new link in the toolbox: "Optimise This" automatically reorganises your machine schedule with the selected orders. It can integrate unscheduled orders and / or improve the existing schedule, depending on the orders you have chosen.
There are several scenarios where the "Optimise This" functionality comes in handy. You might make use of it e.g. to
Improve a certain part of the schedule
This is useful after having made manual changes like inserting new orders, shifting around or re-scheduling orders already in the schedule etc.
All you have to do is select the part of the schedule you want to optimise. Usually, you will want to keep the beginning of the schedule as it is, because it is already at the machine. Pick the first order that can be moved to mark the beginning of your selection and another one where it should end. (Alternatively you can also press Shift while clicking the last order so all orders in between are selected). The earliest and the latest order in your selection mark the boundaries of the section to be optimised (this is also true if you select more than two orders).
An even more convenient option is to select the order you want to begin with and then click the link "Optimise up to End of Schedule" which appears in the cart if you select just one order.
Insert unscheduled orders into the schedule
If you want to add new orders to your schedule you can select them block wise as explained above or pick them one by one (or even mix both methods). After having clicked the "Optimise This" link the orders are inserted at the end of the schedule in the best possible sequence. (A shortcut to this function is available at the end of the schedule: "Optimise Selection and Insert at End of Schedule" appears when you select only unplanned orders and does the same as the toolbox link.)
Do a schedule optimisation and insert new orders at the same time
You can even combine both procedures in one step: Simply make your selection of scheduled orders and of new orders to be scheduled. The system will optimise the scheduled orders, insert the new ones and optimise them as well - and you have killed two birds with one stone.
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