I have many types of parts, each flow item having a part number label and I'd like to be able to track how many of each part are currently in the model. In the past, I've created a tracked variable for each part, but that was before process flow. Any ideas for a better solution? My flow items are being created in process flow. I need to be able to retrieve the WIP values at any given time during the simulation.
With Process Flow you have two options:
The old method still work for Process Flow. Just after you create the Item, (or wherever you want to start tracking.) Simply add in a a custom code activity. One of the pick-list options in the Custom Code activity is to update (increment or decrement) a tracked variable. Then merely do the same thing where you want the tracking to stop. (If it's at a sink, merely have the Custom Code right before the sink.) IF you want to have data for each part type, you'll need a tracked variable for each part.
Alternatively you could use a Zone. Create a zone with different subsets equal to the different part numbers. Whenever the token creates the item, have that token then enter the zone. Then have the corresponding token leave the zone, when the item leaves the system. You can then get statistics on the Zone. You can get the content of each subset in the Zone from a dashboard widget. (There's specifically a dashboard widget for subsets of a zone)
Either of these should give you the WIP for each part number.
For the zone solution, a partition would work as well, right? For this particular problem, are there advantages/disadvantages of using either? From what I can tell, one difference is that partitions don't need to be defined before hand like subsets do.
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