Getting operators to change shifts

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Laura H3 asked Apr 27, '19 Joseph Gillespie commented Jun 21, '19

Getting operators to change shifts

I have a model of a bakery production line. There are 8 operators, 4 do a 12 hour shift then the next 4 take over while the others go off shift. While on shift, each operator gets a 20 minute break, when this happens, operator X takes over.

I have it working for a the mixer on the first shift with operator X taking over but it doesn't seem to work for the process of moving a flow item from a queue to a processor?

The other issue I have is operators 5-8 don't go to the processors or 'start work'?

My model is attached, any help would be greatly appreciated. v8.fsm

Thank you

Software Version:

FlexSim 18.2.3

timetables

v8.fsm (126.3 KiB)

· 1

Joseph Gillespie commented · Jun 21, 2019 at 05:33 PM

@Laura H3

Was Ben's answer helpful to you? Do you have any further questions?

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Answer 1 · 2019-05-17T20:22:19Z

Benjamin W2 answered May 17, '19 Benjamin W2 edited May 17, '19

Hi Laura,

I see that there are 2 parts to your question. I hope I can help.

Part 1: 'OperatorX' Failure to Cover for Operators on Break

It looks like the issue was caused by Operators 2-4 having center port connections to both the dispatcher and the object where they are performing tasks.

Some objects (such as a Queue or Processor) generate tasks for a task execute to perform. When using a dispatcher, the object will send the task to the dispatcher through a center port connection (S-connection). The dispatcher will then send the task to the task executors which are connected to the dispatcher using port connections (A-connections).

In your case, the objects were bypassing the dispatcher and sending them to the operator. Since the dispatcher never received the task, it could not send it to 'OperatorX' when the original operator was unavailable.

Part 2: Operators 5-8 Not Showing Up for Work

The main problem here is that Operators 5-8 are not receiving tasks from dispatchers. In the model that you attached, only Operator 7 is connected to 'MixerDispatcher2.' On the scheduled shift change at 18:00, operators 5-8 change states from "scheduled down" to "idle". At this point they are ready to begin work, but have no tasks to complete.

To fix this you need to connect them to the proper dispatcher. The second row of dispatchers is unnecessary, so delete those. Instead, connect the first row of dispatchers to operators 5-8 using port connections (A-connections). These operators will not be able to receive tasks from the dispatcher.

However, 'OperatorX' is currently ranked higher than operators 5-8 on the dispatcher. This means that any task that comes to the dispatcher will go to him if he is available. To change this, double click on a dispatcher and go to the "general" tab. In the "Ports" section, select "Output Ports". In the box to the right you should be able to see all operators connected to the output ports on the dispatcher. Make sure that 'OperatorX' is ranked at the bottom. To do this, select 'OperatorX' and click the "Rank v" button.

This should fix both problems.

On a side note, your process jams up during the second shift because the mixers run out of ingredients and toppings. If you tell the source to make some more you will see operators 5-8 take over.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

getting-operators-to-change-shifts-2.fsm (126.0 KiB)

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