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Adam M5 avatar image
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Adam M5 asked Jeanette F commented

Combiner followed by separator does not separate into original flowitems

Tire mounting 29 Sep_1.fsm

Thank you for taking the time to look at my question.

I am attempting to create a model that will simulate tire mounting operations by using a combiner and a separator to represent a tire mounting machine.

My problem centers around the visuals as flowitems leave the combiner and separator.

I have two sources; one creates orange boxes and the other yellow spheres.

If I set the combine action of the combiner to “Join”, I have the box and sphere flowitems coming into the combiner and leaving as a single flowitem (I added a trigger to change the shape of the flowitem to a green cylinder as it is leaving the combiner going into Queue1).

This is an action that I want…show two flowitems becoming one.

However, when the sphere goes into the separator and is processed, it leaves the separator as a green sphere from port1 and goes into queue1; the green sphere is not broken down into its original components of yellow sphere and orange box.

If I go back and change the combine action of the combiner to “Pack” and do not change the trigger, the orange box is changed to a green cylinder and the yellow sphere is still visible; the sphere and cylinder move as one flowitem from Queue1 to the separator.

The good news is that once the flowitem is processed by the separator, the green cylinder goes to Queue2 and the yellow sphere to Queue3…downside is that the green cylinder does not go back to being an orange box.

I need the box and sphere flow items to retain their original properties since they will be assigned to a specific rack (or floor storage) location once they leave Queue2 and Queue3 (I will add that feature at a later date).

Any suggestion to show two objects becoming one and the separated into two again is greatly appreciated.

FlexSim 22.2.1
combinerseparatorunpack
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Jeanette F avatar image
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Jeanette F answered Jeanette F commented

Hello @Adam M5,

There are important differences between the combiner using the Join or Pack. With Join, it will take the first item and "join" it with the other flow item. The other flow item is deleted. It does not exist any more. In the Pack scenario the first flow item is a container for the other flow items. To visually see the second flow item enter the first flow item in the combiner you need to use a flow item that can be a container like the tote or pallet. I suggest using one of those containers and changing its visual to the orange box.

You have a trigger on the combiner to change the visuals of the object. If you would like the green cylinder to change back to the orange box then you will need to have another trigger that visually changes this. I suggest an on entry trigger on the Queue it enters after the separator.

I implemented these changes in the model.

tire-mounting-29-sep-1_JF.fsm


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Adam M5 avatar image Adam M5 commented ·

Thank you Jeanette! That works for the visualization.

I assume that since I am using pack >>> unpack that any labels assigned to the flow items will not change as it moves throughout the model?


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Jeanette F avatar image Jeanette F ♦♦ Adam M5 commented ·
Yes, the second flow item is just move to be within the first flow item, so it remains the same besides its location.
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