· Operations that have an Effective From date greater than the Target Date will not be included in the scenario

· Operations that have an Effective To date lesser than the Target Date will not be included in the scenario

· Operations that have an Effective From date equal to the Target Date will be included in the scenario but applying these operations back to the database will only result in updating their station assignments, no new rows will be created for such operations.

The time rank selection shows the time rank and the default is Observed then Calculated then Estimated.

1. Next select Product Line Type as Mixed Model Line and Line Type as Single Sided in the line details box and click ‘Next’.

2. This screen allows you to select the routing and the models (in case of mixed model) that have to be considered for the line balance. The daily\weekly\monthly\annual demand percentage for the models can also be specified here.Note: The sum of all demands should be 100%.

First, click on the 'Select' button and select a routing ID . Next, click on the Add button in the Model Details section and select the models to be added (use the shift key to select multiple models). Provide the demand percentage for each model and click on the next button.

1. Once the model information is in, the next step is to select the operations. By default all the operations are selected, the user can exclude/include operations. The work zone is a new column on this screen, this column indicates to the user the zone for the operation. This zone for the operation is defined in the routing sheet.

2. Provide Work Station Information - The plant selection will be automatically done based off the selected routing. Click on the 'Add Existing' button to select the work stations (use the shift key to select multiple stations) to be added to the scenario. The work zone is a new column on this screen, this column indicates to the user the zones available at the station. Along with zones the suer can also define Multiple Operators for a station. The operator count column indicates the same.

The user need not select a station, the line balance tool will automatically generate stations for a Type I balance.

For station with multiple operators, the work assignment at these stations will depend on th number of operators defined at the station. For e.g. two operators would indicate twice the work. The algorithm also tries to distribute the tasks evenly across different operators.

At this stage the user can do a manual balance by opening the unassigned list control. Open the control, select the operations to be assigned to a station, right click on the selection and select the 'Assign to Station' option.

Select the station and click OK, this moves the tasks to the assigned station.

Automatic Balance

1. Click on the default assignment icon or from the Actions menu select the Default Assignment option.

2.Next based on the type of balance - minimize stations or minimize Takt time, provide the desired Takt time or provide the desired number of stations. There are two algorithms for creating the line balance assignment,

Monumental resource constraint

If the ‘Consider Monumental Resource Constraint’ is checked and if an operation is assigned a resource, the algorithm will consider assigning a process to the workstation that has the resource, over other operations. However, please do note that the Precedence Constraint has priority over Monumental Resource Constraint.

Note: · The monumental resources are specific to a scenario.

· Ensure that the resources are mapped to correct stations

Task Grouping constraint

The task grouping feature allows the users to group tasks together. The grouping is done to ensure that certain tasks are always performed together, as one entity. In order to group tasks select the Task grouping option from the Edit menu.

1. Initially all tasks are ungrouped.

2. Next select the tasks that are to be grouped together and right click in the space highlighted above. Select the 'Add to Group' option

3. Type in the name of the group and click OK. If the user has already created groups, the tasks can be added to any existing group

4. The group now behaves as one entity, i.e. if the user tries to move HP001-1 from one station to another, HP001-2 and HP001-4 will also move along with it. Also since it is one entity, the time of the group is the sum of all three tasks.

5. If the user creates a group with tasks that violate precedence, for e.g. a group with task HP001-1 and HP001-5 , the task grouping editor will allow the user to create such a group. However when the balance is run, the following alert is shown.

Violations

There are three violations shown in the line balance task list -

1. R (Resource Violation) - This will occur if there is a resource mapped to the task that is not available at the station.

2. M (Monumental Violation) - This will occur if there is a monumental resource mapped to the task that is not available at the station.

3. P (Precedence Violation) - This will occur if there is a task out of precedence in the task list. Multiple Operators and Zones

The user is now allowed to define a zone for a task and define multiple operators and zones for a station. The station settings are restricted to a scenario where as the operation settings are on the routing sheet.

The tasks are assignment is based on the zone of the task and the zones of the available stations. If there is zone mis-match the tool will try to create new stations with the appropriate zone. As for multiple operators the number of tasks being assigned to a station will be dependent on the number of operators at the station.

For example, station 002 has two operators,

By switching the view to Operator View, the operator assignment can be seen -

Assembly Planner 1.0

Note: In order to modify the the

Apply Scenario Cases

The different cases in the Apply Scenario can be best explained through an example. The Target Date for this example is 10/15/2007. The IN - OUT result at the bottom explains the dates on the task post balance i.e. if a task moves from its current station the time in date at the new station is the IN date and the time out date at the current station is the OUT date.

1. Case 1 - The first case is for an operation whose effective from date less than the target date and effective to is greater than the target date.

Effective From LT Effective Thru GT

Effective From 6/6/2007 Effective Thru 12/1/2007

IN 10/15/07 - 12/1/07 OUT 6/6/07 - 10/14/07

1. Case 2 - This is for an operation whose effective from and to dates are less than the target date. In such a case the task does not come into the line balance scenario.

2. Case 3 - This is for an operation that is to start in the future, a date beyond the target date. In such a case the task does not come into the line balance scenario.

3. Case 4 - This is similar to the first case, the difference being that the Effective To date is et to infinity.

4. Case 5 - This is similar to case 3, the difference being that the Effective To date is et to infinity. In such a case the task does not come into the line balance scenario.

Effective From GT Effective Thru INF

Effective From 11/1/2007 Effective Thru 12/31/2030

IN NOT INCLUDED OUT NOT INCLUDED

6. Case 6 - This is a special case, the effective From date is the same date as the Target Date. The operation was set to start on the same date as the target date, such operations will be included in the line balance, however if they do move to a different station the tasks are not timed in/out, only their station assignments are modified.

7. Case 7 - This is similar to case 6, the difference being that the Effective To date is et to infinity.

8. Case 8 - If the effective through date is the same as the target date, the tasks are not included in the balance.

Sequencing of Tasks

Applying the scenario will sequence the tasks in the routing sheet. The Operation Sequence Numbers are generated automatically once the line balance scenario is applied. The numbers are generated based off the station assignment, i.e. tasks in first station get an operation sequence number beginning with 10 (10.01, 10.02 and so on), tasks in the second station have numbers beginning with

20.

Note:

1. Current Operations -In a situation where operations get reassigned to a station that already has operations, upon applying the scenario, the operation sequence number of all the tasks in that station will be re-generated. This implies that an operation may not have moved but will be assigned

2. a new operation sequence number because of new tasks that come in. All such tasks that have a new operation sequence number, whether already present in the station or newly added to the station, will be timed in (at new station) and timed out (at previous station).
1. Future Operations -For a scenario that is applicable for a future date, the station assignments and operation sequence numbers for such operations will be updated. Such tasks will not be timed in or timed out.

Apply Scenario Alerts

1. Missing stations - if the stations in the line balance scenario are not present in the plants table, an alert is thrown with the list of the missing stations. This will happen if the user creates new station in the scenario.

2. Current Date is beyond Target Date -If the date of applying the scenario is beyond the Target date of the scenario.

3. Not Checked out or Checked out by someone else -If the routing is not checked out by the current user (the user who created the scenario) or is checked out by a different user.

unassigned list. If this operation is for an existing station the user can simply assign the task to the respective station, however if the station is not a part of the scenario the user has to then edit the station details of he scenario and add that station. Note: the user should also set the sequence of the station.

The report displays the old station and the new station the task moved to.