Assembly Line Structure Parameters

By setting parameters, you can tailor the functioning of the module to company specific requirements.

Implemented software components

Ensure that the desired parameters are enabled. For example, you can select the following check boxes:

  • Terms and Conditions

    This module is optional. To use terms and conditions, you must select this check box.

  • Assembly (APL/ASC/ASL)

    The Assembly Planning module is used to plan the assembly of product variants and to generate assembly orders in Assembly Control.

  • Product Configurator (PCF): This module is optional. To use product configurator, you must select this check box.

Assembly control parameters

Start Manufacturing > Manufacturing Parameters > Assembly Control Parameters (tiasc0100m000). Use this session to define parameters for Assembly Control.

Note: Changing parameters in this session can have widespread affects throughout the Assembly Control module.

Number Groups and seriesYou must define the number group and series for the following elements used in Assembly Control:

  • Orders
  • Clustered line-station orders
  • Line station variants
  • Reference number

The four number groups and series must differ from each other. You must select a number group that is dedicated to production in the Number Groups (tcmcs0151m000) session.

General parametersSpecify the desired parameters. For example, the Transaction Processing parameter is used to do the following:

  • Process and store financial transactions.
  • Allocate assembly parts.
  • Backflush hours and material requirements.

You can set the value of the Transaction Processing field to the following:

  • Line Station Based

    Select this parameter for high-volume environments. The data for line-station orders is added together, for each line station, to form one clustered line-station order (CLSO) for each day. Processing is carried out at an aggregated (line station) level. You will receive production results for each period when you use line-station-based transaction processing.

    You can use this setting when the following occur:

    • You do not need to trace back to the original assembly order
    • Costs are posted to the assembly line
    • Results are calculated by period by assembly line

  • Order Based

    Select this for low-volume environments. Calculating for each assembly order provides more detailed information and creates more data, which can lead to performance problems if you have many assembly orders. One CLSO is created for each assembly order each day. Processing is carried out for each individual assembly order. You will receive production results for each order when you use order-based transaction processing.

Bucket definition

Start Manufacturing > Assembly Control > Application Management > Buckets (tiasl1501m000).

A bucket is a unit of time used for planning and backflushing. Allocation and backflushing are done per line station per bucket when you use line station based transaction processing, which means that all the line station orders in one bucket are combined. Therefore, the number of transactions are reduced, compared with order based transaction processing. The performance is further enhanced if you use larger buckets, because this reduces the number of transactions.

  1. Click Bucket Definition on the appropriate menu. The Bucket Definition (tiasl1100m000) session starts in which you can define the buckets based on your requirements.
  2. Click Generate Buckets on the appropriate menu of the Bucket Definition (tiasl1100m000) session.
  3. Check the Buckets (tiasl1501m000) session to see if the buckets have been generated successfully.

Segment schedules

Start Manufacturing > Assembly Control > Application Management > Segment Schedules (tiapl4500m000). Use this session to calculate and display segment schedules.

Segment schedules indicate when the assembly parts that are required for the work in a particular line segment must be delivered to the shop floor warehouse. For each segment on a line, a range of offline periods is defined. For each period, a date is scheduled on which the assembly parts are required. Therefore, every product variant whose requested offline date falls within one of these periods requires its assembly parts for the segment in question on that date. The advantage of these schedules is that the assembly part requirements can be determined from the schedule, if only the requested offline date of the product variant and the segment of the assembly parts is known.

Segment schedules are used for a rough planning of assembly part requirements, especially in the more distant future, that is, the period after the allocation time fence but before the demand time fence. The schedules cover the entire period in the demand time fence, including the allocation time fence. The segment schedules appear in the Segment Schedules (tiapl4500m000) session.