The operator after transporting 15 items stops.

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MajWest asked Aug 19, '24 Logan Gold commented Aug 23, '24

The operator after transporting 15 items stops.

Hi, am building a FlexSim model where an Operator is responsible for the following sequence of tasks:FS Model.fsm

1- The Operator transports Flowitems from Queue 1 to a Processor. After each transport, the Operator performs a setup operation that takes 2 seconds.

2- Once 15 Flowitems have been processed at the Processor, the Operator needs to switch Queues and move to Queue 2 and transport one Flowitem to the same Processor.

3- Return to Queue 1: After completing the task for Queue 2, the Operator returns to Queue 1 to continue the cycle.

After processing 15 items the operator stops, i think it is something with the processflow. I have attached the model.

Software Version:

FlexSim 24.2.0

variables operater conditional port decide activity procesflow

fs-model.fsm (52.2 KiB)

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Logan Gold ♦♦ commented · Aug 23 at 04:36 PM

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

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Answer 1 · 2024-08-19T08:56:09Z

Felix Möhlmann answered Aug 19, '24 Felix Möhlmann commented Aug 19, '24

You use an event triggered source to create a token for each item entering Queue1. This means that these tokens essentially represent the items in the Process Flow and the logic is build from the perspective of the item ("I need to find an operator to move me to the processor").

In your post you describe the logic from the perspective of the operator. Probably because it's easier. As such I would also build the Process Flow in the model in this way. Have one persistent token that represents the operator. This token can then cycle between picking 15 items from Queue1 and 1 item from Queue2. A list is a good way to access the available items.

Note that I added an extra field to the list in the attached model that denotes the name of the queue the item is in.

fs-model-fm.fsm

capture1.png (28.8 KiB)

fs-model-fm.fsm (152.0 KiB)

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MajWest commented · Aug 19 at 09:29 AM

Hi @Felix Möhlmann , Thank you so much for your fast response, that's an interesting and new approach to me. I was wondering if it it possible to have a different setup time (delay), for example triangular (5, 15, 10), after unloading the flowitem from queue 2.

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Felix Möhlmann MajWest commented · Aug 19 at 10:41 AM

Sure, but in order to sync the operator and processor they both need the same number. I would write the setup time to a label on the token in the Run Sub Flow activity. Then later also copy it to the item so both the processor and the delay activity can access the value.

fs-model-fm_1.fsm

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fs-model-fm-1.fsm (53.2 KiB)

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