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Remote Shipping#

Estimated time to read: 4 minutes

The Remote Shipping functionality is associated with the Material and Container entities. Its usefulness is visible when there is a need to move or ship Materials, and sometimes their Containers, from one site to another.

Note

The sites that you use must be connected to each other.

This document will guide you through the setup and usage of the Remote Shipping functionality.

Overview#

Remote Shipping comprises sending Materials, and optionally their Containers, from one Critical Manufacturing MES instance to another. Critical Manufacturing MES supports Material and Container loops, in other words, Materials and Containers that are shipped and then returned to the original sending system.

The remote shipping process uses an Integration Entry mechanism through a generic Integration Handler, which is configured to handle Integration Entries with messages related to remote shipping and acknowledgement through the Process Remote Material Shipment DEE action (provided out of the box).

Info

For more information, see MES Integration.

Remote Shipping Material#

The remote shipping material process works in the following manner:

  1. You must ship the material in Critical Manufacturing MES (similar to the local shipping process).

  2. The local Critical Manufacturing MES triggers a new Integration Entry with InTransit Material, and optionally Container, information.

  3. The Integration Entry at the source triggers a new Integration Entry in the target system through a web API based on the remote site information.

Remote Receiving Material#

The remote receiving material process works in the following manner:

  1. The target Critical Manufacturing MES system reads the information from its Integration Entries. It then creates a temporary remote export object with the Material, and optionally Container, information.

  2. In the Facility View you select a Material from the Remote field of Materials to Receive and then select Receive on the top ribbon.

  3. The Receive operation will create a Material, and optionally Container, for its own remote export object and will trigger an acknowledgement message for the source system by using the Integration Entries mechanism.

  4. The source system will receive and terminate the Material, and optionally Container, when it processes the acknowledgement message.

Configuring Remote Shipping#

To configure remote shipping between two Critical Manufacturing MES instances, follow the information below.

For the purpose of this tutorial, the following environments were used:

  • https://source-system.dev
  • https://target-system.dev

Target System#

Ensure that the remote shipping infrastructure is up and running and that there is connectivity between the two different sites. This should include network, firewall and security.

Configure the Site for the source system (example: AP-Site-01) according to the Configure Remote Site instructions:

Screenshot showing a remote shipping setup with infrastructure and connectivity requirements.

Tip

Remote Export Address - This is the URL address when you log on to the system (see the browser address bar).

Remote Export Tenant - Tenant name available on the address bar when you are in the login screen of the MES system.

Remote Export Token - Token created in the remote environment according to the Creating Access Tokens for a User instructions.

Create a local Facility to receive shipped Materials with no Site associated:

Screenshot showing a facility creation form with fields for "Facility Name" and "Site".

Source System#

Configure the Site for the target system (example: AP-Site-02) according to the Configure Remote Site instructions:

Screenshot showing a remote facility configuration setup with a previously created site, as per Configure Remote Facility instructions.

Create a remote Facility with the previously created Site according to the Configure Remote Facility instructions:

Screenshot showing a remote facility configuration setup in a source system.

Info

The remote Facility must have the same name as the corresponding Facility in the target system.

In the source system from a local Facility, go to the Shipping Information section and associate the remote Facility to allow shipping:

Screenshot showing the Shipping Information section in the Source System.

Mark as many Steps as intended with the Allow Shipping property.

Ship Material normally and specify whether Containers should also be shipped.

Info

For the Shipping process to succeed, the Product must exist in both the local and remote Facilities.

Info

If the Material has user-defined attributes, they will only be created in the remote Facility if the same attributes (same name and same data type) exist in the remote Facility.