Fill, empty, reuse model

Question

question

wildesy asked Feb 05 2024 at 12:31 PM Jason Lightfoot commented Feb 12 2024 at 10:48 AM

Fill, empty, reuse model

Hi,

Hoping someone can put my on the right path as I’m struggling to figure out a solution currently.

I want to model a situation where on model start there are 200 racks, each with 20 empty crates/boxes on them. These crates are picked up by a transporter in their stack of 20, taken to a loader until all 20 are filled. After being filled they are transported back to any available empty storage rack until an unloader calls for them. Once the unloaded calls for them, they are transported, fully emptied and then returned by to an empty space in the racking.

Essentially the same 200 stack of boxes are removed from storage, filled, placed back into storage, removed and emptied, and then placed back in storage finishing the loop. No source or sink technically exists as the base item exists on startup and is never fully consumed.

Is this something I could model in Flexsim? Note I am very new to Flexsim and struggling to find any comparable examples for reference.

Software Version:

FlexSim 24.0.0

looping no sink no source

· 3

Joerg Vogel commented · Feb 05 2024 at 1:48 PM

@Wildesy, yes! A logic environment called Process Flow is made for this kind of task. You need not a source or sink object. Process Flow Activities handle your logic for just some rack objects and stations for load and unload actions. But we encourage students to build their own models and ask questions, if they run into problems. If you look closer at this site, you will find many examples, not necessary exactly what you request but they are very similar. And a good advice is, you do some tutorials.

1 ·

wildesy Joerg Vogel commented · Feb 06 2024 at 6:16 AM

Hi Joerg,

Thanks a lot for the quick reply. This was the information I was after, just wanted to make sure this was something I could achieve because everything I had worked through and watched to date had a model that used a sink and source.

I'll check back in with the forum as I progress if I have any more specific questions. This isn't a school project just FYI, this is for my company! Not trying to get easy solutions to homework/an assignment, haha.

Thanks again.

0 ·

Jason Lightfoot ♦♦ commented · Feb 12 2024 at 10:48 AM

Hi @wildesy, was Jason Lightfoot's answer helpful? If so, please click the "Accept" button at the bottom of their answer. Or if you still have questions, add a comment and we'll continue the conversation.

If we haven't heard back from you within 3 business days we'll auto-accept an answer, but you can always comment back to reopen your question.

0 ·

______

Cookie preferences

Your privacy is important to us and so is an optimal experience. To help us customize information and build applications, we collect data about your use of this site.

May we collect and use your data?

Learn more about the Third Party Services we use and our Privacy Statement.

Strictly necessary – required for our site to work and to provide services to you

These cookies allow us to record your preferences or login information, respond to your requests or fulfill items in your shopping cart.

YES

Improve your experience – allows us to show you what is relevant to you

These cookies enable us to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we use to deliver information and experiences tailored to you. If you do not allow these cookies, some or all of these services may not be available for you.

YES

NO

Customize your advertising – permits us to offer targeted advertising to you

These cookies collect data about you based on your activities and interests in order to show you relevant ads and to track effectiveness. By collecting this data, the ads you see will be more tailored to your interests. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

YES

NO

Are you sure you want a less customized experience?

We can access your data only if you select "yes" for the categories on the previous screen. This lets us tailor our marketing so that it's more relevant for you. You can change your settings at any time by visiting our privacy statement

Your experience. Your choice.

We care about your privacy. The data we collect helps us understand how you use our products, what information you might be interested in, and what we can improve to make your engagement with Autodesk more rewarding.

May we collect and use your data to tailor your experience?

Explore the benefits of a customized experience by managing your privacy settings for this site or visit our Privacy Statement to learn more about your options.

Answer 1 · 2024-02-07T10:37:23Z

Jason Lightfoot answered Feb 07 2024 at 10:37 AM Jason Lightfoot edited Feb 07 2024 at 11:24 AM

You don't need process flow to create a fixed number of items only at the start of the simulation- you can also model that with a source that has a non-repeating schedule and arrival times of zero seconds. If you don't want those arrivals to appear in any statistics (since they're there at the beginning) then set a warmup time to 1 second (applies to process flow method too).

question