Operators to move batches to closest work station by availability

Question

question

Dillan J asked Jan 5, '23 Jason Lightfoot edited Jan 6, '23

Operators to move batches to closest work station by availability

I need my operators to move a batch (5 boxes) from one queue to several other queues. i want them to always take 5, and to put them in the closest queue that has availability (queue capacity at 6).

attached is a simplified version of my model. the final version will have dozens of drop off queues.

right now the operators only take one box, and their route seems to be random.

currently using Dispatcher to handle multiple operators, and Astar to make barriers.

Thank you for your help.

Test model - DJ.fsm

Software Version:

FlexSim 21.1.5

dispatcher astar navigator

test-model-dj.fsm (45.9 KiB)

Answer 1 · 2023-01-06T18:49:41Z

Jeanette F answered Jan 6, '23 Jason Lightfoot edited Jan 6, '23

Hello @Dillan J,

@Jason Lightfoot and I worked on a solution. There are two instanced process flows.

The DropQueue process flow is an instance for each of the receiving queues. The queues are pushed to a list when they are available for a load of boxes. Once they are pulled from the list then the token advances to the wait for events that first check that the content of the queue rises past 3 items and then falls to one item. These wait for events make sure the token doesn't get pushed to the list till it is available again.

The PickQProcess process flow is an instance of Queue 4, the queue the the boxes are picked up from. The Event Triggered source creates a token for each item that enters the queue. These tokens are then batched into groups of 5. The group of 5 then pulls a queue from the list and uses the query to find the closest available queue. Then there is a task sequence to load and unload the boxes.

Because the puller in the pull from list activity is set to current the backorder settings in the Drop Queue list must not have 'Unique Pullers Only' checked.

test-model-dj_jl.fsm

1673030859529.png (19.7 KiB)

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1673030942486.png (10.9 KiB)

test-model-dj-jl.fsm (63.1 KiB)