Production Process Assignments

Internal Table Name: ProductionProcessAssignments

Use the Production Process Assignments table to create rules for selecting which Production Process to use when multiple processes are available. You can also link a process to another process. In addition, this table enables you to determine which processes can be used in which periods.

Period

Technology: NO S

Table: ProductionProcessAssignments

Internal Name: PeriodName

Type: Short Text (50)

Select one of:

• the specific Period to which the Production Process Assignment applies,
• (ALL_Periods) to apply the assignment to the complete model horizon,
• the Period group to which the Production Process Assignment applies in a multi-period model.

Period assignments work as follows:

• (ALL_Periods) only assignment – The process is assigned to the entire horizon of the model. In a multi-period model, the assignment is for all periods.
• (ALL_Periods) with additional period assignments – The horizon-level record (ALL_Periods) sets the basis for the assignment policy and costs. Period-specific assignments override the horizon assignment for the period specified.
• Period-Specific Assignments Only – The process is assigned to the periods specified and unavailable in other periods. If there is no process assignment defined in a period, the model can still produce the product; it does so without using a process. For example, if you define an Production Process Assignment for Period 1 only, the product will still be produced in the other periods, but without the specific Production Process.

Site

Technology: NO S

Table: ProductionProcessAssignments

Internal Name: FacilityName

Type: Short Text (100)

Select the site or site group for which the Production Process Assignment applies.

Product

Technology: NO S

Table: ProductionProcessAssignments

Internal Name: ProductName

Type: Short Text (100)

Select the product or product group for which the Production Process Assignment applies.

Process

Technology: NO S

Table: ProductionProcessAssignments

Internal Name: ProcessName

Type: Short Text (100)

Select the process for which the Production Process Assignment applies.

Assignment Policy

Technology: NO S

Table: ProductionProcessAssignments

Internal Name: SelectionRule

Type: Short Text (255)

Select the Assignment Policy that determines how the Production Process Assignments will be used. Each site-product pair must have the same Assignment Policy for all process options. Some Assignment Policies are affected by the value of Policy Parameter:

Split By Ratio example

You can use Split By Ratio to use multiple processes for the same Site-Product combination. For example, the following Production Process Assignments are valid:

However, if you try to split across multiple Sites, the solver will not use more than one Site. For example, if you define:

the solver will evaluate the ratios for each site independently, with ratios as shown below:

It will then use either DC_A (with two Processes) or DC_B (with one Process) to handle the Production based on costs and constraints. One method to use the two Sites is to establish the split in the Site Sourcing Policies table:

then define the split for the two Processes at DC_A:

Link To Process example

You can use Link To Process to link processes of one type to processes of another type.

For example, assume the following Production Processes:

The following Production Process Assignments are valid:

Default: None

Policy Parameter

Technology: NO S

Table: ProductionProcessAssignments

Internal Name: SelectionParameter

Type: Short Text (255)

This field is used in conjunction with the "Split by Ratio", “Split by Probability”, and “Link to Process” Assignment Policies.

• Split by Ratio – Define the ratio between multiple processes on the same Site-Product combination. These are then used to generate the proportional split. You cannot split between multiple Sites for the same Product in a Period. For example, if you have two processes that can be used with a “Split by Ratio”, you could define the Policy Parameters as 6 for one record and 2 for the other. Based on the ratio between these two values, the Production Process Assignment would be 75% for the first record and 25% for the second.
  You can express the Policy Parameter as 0 to 100, or 0 to 1. For example, values of 25 and 75 are evaluated the same as values of .25 and .75.
• Split by Probability – the assignment of processes for a given Site-Product combination is chosen based on the percentages set in the Policy Parameter field:
  • If the value is non-zero, use the exact value. For example, if you enter 50, then 50% uses this record. The Policy Parameter values should add up to 100, which represents 100%, however if the inputs do not add up to 100, the values will be scaled to 100 automatically.
  • If the value is 0, this is treated as 0% and this record is not considered (similar to setting Status = “Exclude”).
  • If the value is null, this record is considered “free”. In the case that all records with non-zero parameter values add up to less than 100%, the solver can determine the percentage for any free records. In the case that the non-zero parameter records add up to 100%, the free records are not considered (similar to Status = “Exclude”).
  You can express the Policy Parameter as 0 to 100, or 0 to 1. For example, values of 25 and 75 are evaluated the same as values of .25 and .75.
• Link to Process – Enter the name of the process to which the current process is linked. Only Production Processes are available when linking from a Production Process Assignment.

Default: 1

Status

Technology: NO S

Table: ProductionProcessAssignments

Internal Name: Status

Type: Short Text (25)

One of Include, Exclude.

Choose the Production Process Assignment status:

• Include - This Production Process Assignment is to be included in a simulation or optimization run.
• Exclude - This Production Process Assignment is to be excluded from a simulation or optimization run.

Default: Include

Notes

Technology: NO S

Table: ProductionProcessAssignments

Internal Name: Notes

Type: Memo

Enter optional descriptive notes about the Production Process Assignment.