Processor Waiting for Operator but Operator is Stuck

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Tom S4 asked Apr 14, '24 Tom S4 commented Apr 17, '24

Processor Waiting for Operator but Operator is Stuck

I have attached an example model that replicates my issue. I have a processor with >1 max content. An operator is required for the setup time, but not for the processing time. Sometimes the processor gets stuck waiting for operator while other items are processing. This stops the processor and all of its items, causing the operator to be deadlocked in a utilized state. Any potential solutions here?

waiting for operator stuck utilized.fsm

Software Version:

FlexSim 23.0.15

processor setup wait for operator

waiting-for-operator-stuck-utilized.fsm (30.7 KiB)

Answer 1 · 2024-04-15T10:20:43Z

Felix Möhlmann answered Apr 15, '24 Tom S4 commented Apr 17, '24

A maximum content larger than 1 is not supported when using operators. See the linked post for an explanation and possible workaround.

https://answers.flexsim.com/questions/146595/machine-waiting-operator-already-utilized.html

Though with this being the setup time there would also be the question whether other items stop processing while the new one is set up or if they can continue.

If the process of other items continues, you could just use a second processor placed in front to simulate the setup time (with a max. content of 1).

Otherwise, I think it might be easiest to implement this through Process Flow. Listen to the "Setup Time" event, then stop the processor and build out the task sequence for the operator.

waiting-for-operator-stuck-utilized_1.fsm

waiting-for-operator-stuck-utilized-1.fsm (40.9 KiB)

· 1

Tom S4 commented · Apr 17 at 02:43 PM

Thanks for the response. I don't want to stop the processing of other items while the new item goes through setup/waiting for operator, and it's too expensive to model ~10k different processors (with max content of 1), so I think I'll model a separate setup activity and do some offline math to convert to the correct equipment statistics. Thanks again.

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