About Stages
Each stage is an operation within the factory that needs to be scheduled. A stage is a group of process steps: stages that define the sequence of production in your factory. The combination of stages and product groups imposes a structure on your product model. This structure is then defined in detail in terms of process steps and individual products. A distinction is made between the product flow types:
- Main product
- By-product (both outflow)
- Inflow product
Put another way, at stage level, the flow consists of product group to stage to product group, and there are three types of product flow: inflow, main product flow, and by-product flow.
Stage Types
The stage type determines the nature of the main products in that stage. Five stage types exist.
- End Stage is used for end items and is the last stage in a route of stages. Production requirements and sales orders are related to this stage type. Inventory is not managed for this stage; only the processing of the product is scheduled. If you are manufacturing bottles of olive oil, when the bottle stage is complete, there is no outflow or tank associated with it.
- Coupled Stage is where scheduling of the processing and storage of the product is done. The storage will be scheduled in tank resources. Through the tank schedule, a coupled scheduling between stages is possible.
- Decoupled Stage is used for raw materials and packaging materials. It is where scheduling of the processing and storage of the product is done. The storage will be scheduled as an inventory point. The inventory point will be replenished based on inventory levels. Only process and enabling resource groups can be related to this stage type. Decoupled stages are not linked to tanks.
- Depletion Stage is for by-products. It is where scheduling of the depletion and storage of the product is done. The storage will be scheduled as an inventory point. The inventory will be depleted based on inventory levels. Only process and enabling resource groups can be related to this stage type.
- CIP Stage is used for clean-in-place batches. You select this type of stage when creating a CIP step. This stage type behaves as a decoupled stage. Consequently, only decoupled main product groups and decoupled main products can be used. See About the CIP solver.
Finding Stages
You can find stages in one of three ways:
- Use the standard entry window by selecting .
- Select a stage and then click the or button to select all stages before or after the stage selected.
- Search on type using the Select type list box.
These tabs are displayed in the Stages entry window:
- General tab - This tab contains generic information for stages.
- Scheduling tab - This tab allows you to enter information related to scheduling batches and restrictions. These options become the defaults when creating inflow.