Assembly planning overview

You can use the Assembly Planning module to plan the assembly of product variants, and to generate assembly orders in Assembly Control. Assembly Planning does this for assembly lines in a mixed model flow production environment, which is characterized by high volumes, and many variants of complex products.

The main processes in Assembly Planning are as follows:

  1. The product variant is generated
  2. The product variant structure is generated
  3. The assembly part requirements are calculated
  4. The assembly orders are created

The following sections provide an overview of these processes. For detailed information, refer to the online Help of the related sessions, and to the related topics listed at the end of this document.

Step 1. Set parameters

Before you can use Assembly Planning, you must set the APL parameters in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0500m000) details session. Note that the behavior of several sessions depends on one or more of the following parameters:

  • Is Master Company

    If this check box is selected, your current company is defined as the master company. The master company can be one of the companies of the assembly line, or a separate company. The master company is used to store master data, such as product variants and BOMs.

    If this check box is cleared, all the fields in the Generic Item - Assembly Line (tiapl2500m000) session are disabled.

  • External Assembly Parts and Operations

    If this check box is selected, an external source delivers the flattened assembly parts and operations to Assembly Planning.

    If this check box is cleared, the assembly parts and operation are flattened during the calculation of the assembly parts requirements.

  • External Product Variant Structure

    If this check box is selected, the generic BOM relations between the generic end item and the engineering modules are delivered to Assembly Planning from an external source. LN provides no functionality to copy this information to the product variant structure.

    If this check box is cleared, the generic BOM relations between the generic end item and the engineering modules are copied from the generic BOM to the order-specific BOM when you run the Generate Product Variant Structures (tiapl3210m000) session.

  • Test Mode

    If this check box is selected, the Assembly Planning module operates in test mode. You can maintain data that is otherwise maintained by external packages.

    If the External Assembly Parts and Operations check box is selected, this data is maintained externally:

    If the External Assembly Parts and Operations check box is selected, you cannot maintain this data from within LN, unless you operate in test mode.

    You can also run the Actualize Assembly Line Costing Data (ticpr0215m000) session for a manually chosen effective date.

Step 2. The product variant is generated

The product variant is generated on sales order entry. In the Sales Order Lines (tdsls4101m000) session, the sales order line specifies the generic item that is sold, and other data, such as the required offline date, price, and so on. One of the specifications can also be the effectivity unit, which can be used to configure the product variant.

For production purposes, the information that is entered on the sales order line is stored in a product variant. The product variant represents the specific product that is sold. You can view the product variant in the Product Variants (tiapl3500m000) session.

Step 3. The product variant structure is generated

So far, the product variant is only a reference to the product without production data. This production data must be determined by generating the relations between the generic sub-items and engineering modules that make up the generic end item. These relations are solved based on effective dates and/or units.

When Product Configuration is not used the generic sub-items and engineering modules are retrieved from the generic BOM, which you can view in the Generic Bill of Material (tiapl2510m000) session. The result of this process is stored in the product variant structure, which is displayed in the Product Variant Structures (tiapl3510m000) session.

If you use Product Configuration, the relations to the generic sub-items and engineering modules that make up the generic end item are resolved against the generic BOM in the Product Configuration module.

The relations between the generic BOM and generic sub-items are resolved when you enter a sales order. The relationships to engineering modules are resolved in a separate process.

The assembly parts and operations that are required to assemble the end item are stored below the level of the engineering modules. In the Flattened Assembly Parts and Operations (tiapl2520m000) session, you can view the parts and operations per engineering module. The operations are defined in the Operations (tiapl1500m000) session. Operations are assigned to line stations in the Operation Assignments (tiapl1510m000) session.

Note the following

  • Generic sub-items can also have their own generic sub-items. To each generic item one or more engineering modules can be related.
  • If the External Product Variant Structure check box is selected in the details of the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0500m000) session, only the relations between the generic items are solved. The relations to the engineering modules are delivered from an external source.

  • In LN, there are three ways to retrieve the flattened parts:

    • Import
      To import the flattened parts and operations, you must select the External Assembly Parts and Operations check box in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0500m000) session.
    • Manually
      You can define the flattened parts and operations manually in the Assembly BOM and Operations (tiapl2520m000) session.
    • Through EDM
      You can obtain the flattened parts through EDM, which involves a flattening procedure.
  • In LN, the flattened parts and operations are delivered from an external source. Therefore, the External Assembly Parts and Operations check box in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0500m000) session is always selected. As a result, you can maintain the data in several sessions only if you work in test mode.
  • Product variants that are no longer required, can be deleted by means of the Purge Product Variants (tiapl3200m000) session.
Step 4. The assembly part requirements are calculated

If the product variants and product variant structures are generated, the assembly part requirements can be calculated, and assembly orders can be created. Assembly part requirements are calculated, based on the product variant structures and the flattened assembly parts.

The assembly part requirements are calculated for product variants whose planned offline date falls in the demand time fence. The demand time fence is defined in the details of the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0500m000) session.

The calculation is based on segment schedules that indicate on which date the assembly parts are required for each segment, based on the offline date of the assembly order. Segment schedules are displayed in the Segment Schedules (tiapl4500m000) session.

When the assembly part requirements are calculated, they are transferred to Enterprise Planning.

Step 5. The assembly orders are created

Assembly orders are created for product variants whose planned offline date falls in the assembly order time fence of the roll-off line. The assembly orders are created by Assembly Planning, but are stored and executed in Assembly Control. In a multicompany situation, assembly orders are created for each company.

Assembly orders can only be created for assembly lines that are actualized, which means that the lines are released for use in the production process. Only assembly lines that are valid can be actualized. You can both validate and actualize assembly lines in the Actualize Assembly Lines (tiasl1231m000) session. You can also validate the assembly lines in a separate session: the Validate Assembly Lines (tiasl1230m000) session.

Assembly order creation uses the concept of line-station variants (LSVs). LSVs store the materials and operations per line station. You can use the Refresh and Freeze Assembly Orders (tiapl3203m000) session to refresh and freeze assembly orders. Orders that are refreshed, are updated with changes in the product variant or product variant structure. Orders that are frozen, are no longer updated automatically. Frozen orders can only be updated manually in Assembly Control.

The update of assembly orders also applies the concept of LSVs. The update actually determines whether the LSVs that can be created based on the new product variant and/or product variant structure, would differ from the existing LSVs. If that is the case, new LSVs are created, where required, and sent to Assembly Control.

In the Product Variant - Assembly Lines (tiapl3520m000) session, you can view on which assembly lines a product variant is assembled. The session also displays whether the required assembly parts are already allocated in Assembly Control, and whether the assembly order on the specified assembly line is frozen. Note that on another assembly line, the same order can be not frozen or only partly frozen.

Note

Related topics