Linked Lines#

Estimated time to read: 8 minutes

Overview#

The Linked Lines feature provides a logical way to associate Resources that belong to the same production line, and to prevent Materials from being dispatched to Resources on a different line once processing has begun.

Without this feature, when multiple lines share the same service at a given Step, the system allows dispatch to any eligible Resource regardless of which line the Material started on. The Linked Lines feature enforces line continuity by:

• Storing the line the Material was last processed on.
• Validating the target Resource line at Dispatch & Track-In.
• Filtering the Resource selection list to show only Resources that belong to the Material's current line.
• Handling line assignment when Materials enter or return from Rework and Off-Flow.
• Allowing operators with the appropriate permission to manually change a Material's current line.
  
  

Topics#

• Concept
• Line Assignment
• Dispatch Validation
• Track-Out Behavior
• Rework and Off-Flow Handling
• GUI Resource Filtering
• Change Material Line
• Scenario
• Configuration
• Lookup Tables
• Executing Linked Lines

Concept#

The feature introduces a line-tracking concept based on the following attributes:

• MedDevResourceLine – defined on a Resource, identifies which line the Resource belongs to.
• MedDevCurrentLine – defined on the Material, stores the line the Material was last processed on.
• MedDevOriginalLine – defined on the Material, temporarily stores the current line when the Material enters a Rework or Off-Flow, and is cleared when the Material returns.
• MedDevReturnToOriginalLineOnReworkExit – defined on a Flow, it will determine if the value of the Material's MedDevCurrentLine attribute is saved in its MedDevOriginalLine once it enters the Flow in the context of a Rework or Off-Flow action.
• MedDevClearCurrentLineOnReworkEnter – defined on a Flow, it will determine if the Material's MedDevCurrentLine attribute is cleared once it enters the Flow in the context of a Rework or Off-Flow action.

Line Assignment#

A Material's line is established at Track-Out. When the Material completes processing at a Resource:

• If the Resource has a MedDevResourceLine value, it is stored in the Material's MedDevCurrentLine attribute.
• If the Resource has no MedDevResourceLine value, the Material's MedDevCurrentLine attribute is cleared.

Materials created via Partial Track-Out inherit the same line assignment logic, ensuring split Materials follow the same line as their source Resource.

Dispatch Validation#

When a Dispatch or Dispatch & Track-In operation is performed, the system validates the Material's current line against the target Resource's line:

Track-Out Behavior#

At Track-Out :

• If MedDevResourceLine is not empty, then MedDevCurrentLine is updated to that value.
• If MedDevResourceLine is empty and MedDevCurrentLine is not empty, then MedDevCurrentLine is cleared.
• Materials created via Partial Track-Out follow the same rules and have their MedDevCurrentLine set accordingly.

Rework and Off-Flow Handling#

When a Material is sent to a Rework or Off-Flow, the behavior is controlled by the two Flow-level attributes:

When the Material returns from Rework or Off-Flow:

• If MedDevOriginalLine is not empty, then MedDevCurrentLine is restored from MedDevOriginalLine, and MedDevOriginalLine is cleared.
• If MedDevOriginalLine is empty, then MedDevCurrentLine is cleared.

GUI Resource Filtering#

When the user opens the Dispatch or Dispatch & Track-In Resource selection list:

• If the Material's MedDevCurrentLine is empty, no filtering takes place.
• If the Material's MedDevCurrentLine is not empty, only Resources with a matching MedDevResourceLine value and/or no MedDevResourceLine value at all are shown.

This filtering is implemented via the MedDevDispatchLinkedLineResourceFilter DEE.

Change Material Line#

Operators with the appropriate permission can manually update a Material's current line directly from the Material Details, Step View, or Resource View pages.

The Change Line button is visible only to users who have been granted the MedDev.ChangeLine feature permission. When clicked, a single-Step wizard is displayed that shows the Material's current line and allows the operator to select a new line from a drop-down list populated from the MedDevProcessLines Lookup table.

Confirming the wizard without selecting a new line is not permitted. A validation message is displayed and the operation is blocked until a valid selection is made.

Assumptions#

To use the Linked Lines feature, the process should follow these assumptions:

• Resources that belong to the same line are assigned the same MedDevResourceLine value.
• Resources that are shared across lines, or not part of any line, should have MedDevResourceLine left empty.
• A Material with an empty MedDevCurrentLine is not subject to any line restriction at dispatch.

Scenario#

Configuration#

To assess how this feature is addressed, consider a simplified two-line assembly model:

Basic entities like Step, Resource, Flow, Product, and Material can be configured as detailed below:

• Steps:
• Step1
• Step2
• Step3
• Step4
• Resource:
• Resource001
• Resource002
• Resource003
• Flow – Flow 1
• Product – Product 1
• Material – Material001

Two parallel lines are defined:

• Line 1 – Resources: Resource001
• Line 2 – Resources: Resource002

Lookup Tables#

1. Create a Lookup Table MedDevProcessLines and add the line entries:
   
   

2. Assign the Resource Attribute MedDevResourceLine to each Resource using values from the Lookup table:
   
   

3. Assign the Flow Attributes to the Rework/Off-Flow Flows as required:

4. MedDevClearCurrentLineOnReworkEnter
5. MedDevReturnToOriginalLineOnReworkExit
   
   

Executing Linked Lines#

This section explores the Linked Lines operations. To test and execute this functionality, follow the use case outlined in a Step-by-Step scenario.

1. In Step Step1, perform a Dispatch & Track-In of Material Material001 to Resource Resource001
   
   
   

   • No validation error is raised because the Material's MedDevCurrentLine attribute is empty at this point.

2. Perform a Track-Out of Material Material001 from Resource Resource001

   • Material Material001 is updated with:
   • MedDevCurrentLine = Line 1

   

   
   

3. Move the Material to the next Step Step2, try perform Dispatch & Track-In of Material Material001 to Resource Resource002 (Line 2)

   • If all eligible Resources are assigned to lines different than the Material's from their MedDevResourceLine attribute value, an error message is displayed
     
     
   • Otherwise, the action will be able to proceed.

4. Perform a Dispatch & Track-In of Material Material001 to the correct Resource Resource002 (Line 1)

   
   
   - No validation error is raised because both line values match. - Material Material001 remains with: - MedDevCurrentLine = Line 1

5. Track-out Material Material001 from Step Step2 and continue to Step Step3

   • At Track-Out, MedDevCurrentLine remains Line 1.
     
     
     

6. In Step Step3, process the Material into Resource Resource003 until track-out Material Material001

   • Resource Resource003 has no MedDevResourceLine assigned.
     
     

   • At Track-Out, because the Resource line is empty, MedDevCurrentLine is cleared.
     
     
     

7. Manually update the line for Material Material001 using the Change Line button

   • From Material Details, click the Change Line button.

   Note

   The Change Line button is only visible to users who have been granted the MedDev.ChangeLine feature permission.
   For more information on feature access, refer to Linked Lines Feature Security section in the User Guide.
   
   - The Change Line wizard opens, showing the Material's current line (displayed as empty since it was cleared in the previous Step).
   
   

   • Select Line 1 from the dropdown list and confirm.
     
     

   • Material Material001 is updated with:

   • MedDevCurrentLine = Line 1
     
     

8. Send Material Material001 to the Rework Flow Rework

   The Rework Flow is configured with: - MedDevReturnToOriginalLineOnReworkExit = true - MedDevClearCurrentLineOnReworkEnter = true
   
   

   Note

   The store-original Step executes before the clear Step. MedDevOriginalLine captures the current line value prior to any clearing. - Material Material001 is updated with: - MedDevOriginalLine = Line 1 - MedDevCurrentLine = Cleared
   
   

9. Complete the rework process and return Material Material001 to the main Flow

   • Material Material001 is updated with:
   • MedDevCurrentLine = Line 1
   • MedDevOriginalLine = Cleared
     
     
   • The Material resumes with its original line enforced, and dispatch validation will apply again from this point.

For more information on Linked Lines, see Linked Lines in the User Guide.