Using rack slots to sort items by label, and then picking once slot is full?

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Ben R4 asked Jan 16, '20 Ben R4 commented Jan 17, '20

Using rack slots to sort items by label, and then picking once slot is full?

Hi all,

I've got a little model I'm working on (please see attached) where flow units are assigned a random label, 1 to 66. Ideally I would like the process flow to proceed as such -

-The operator to take the first flow item from the conveyor, and puts it in the first available slot in the racks.

- Subsequent flow items with different labels then go on the next available slots.

- When a flow item arrives that matches a previous "type" label, it gets put away in the same slot.

- When a slot has 4 flow items with the same "type" stored in it, the operator then stops picking from the conveyor and puts the stored 4 flow items in the first available queue location.

I've tried using the paint slots function, which means I can label the rack slots 1-66, so flow allocation occurs. But that doesn't help with populating the rack logically from the first available space. Is slot painting any use in the situation?

I'm thinking I'll have to use a dispatcher for controlling the operator. But at the moment my main issue is how can I fill the rack from the first position, but have subsequent flow items with matching labels go to the same storage slot?

My apologies in advance if any of this isn't very clear, and many thanks in advance if anyone can offer me some advice!

Kind regards,

Ben

Software Version:

FlexSim 20.0.0

labels flow items sorting slots

sort-and-put-away.fsm (62.7 KiB)

Answer 1 · 2020-01-16T18:23:12Z

Regan Blackett answered Jan 16, '20 Ben R4 commented Jan 17, '20

See attached if this is what you are looking for. I used this expression in the Rack's Slot Assignment Strategy field:

slot.slotItems.length > 0 ? slot.slotItems[1].Type == item.Type : true

basically this says if there are items in a given slot, then the 'Type' of the first item in the slot must match the 'Type' of the item looking for a slot. If the slot is empty go ahead and use it. Since this field uses a 'for' loop in the code, it should just default to the first slot with space. No slot painting required.

first-or-matching-slot.fsm

first-or-matching-slot.fsm (34.7 KiB)

· 1

Ben R4 commented · Jan 17, 2020 at 05:19 PM

Thanks Regan, lovely bit of code!

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