Packing#

Estimated time to read: 16 minutes

Overview#

A Package is created from one or more Products. The Product Type of which must be Packaging. And although associated to a Product, a package hierarchy can have various Materials.

In Critical Manufacturing MES, packing is understood to be any type of box, package or container used for the purposes of transportation or shipping. Additionally, packing can take place at many levels as shown in the example below:

flowchart LR
subgraph Product
  direction LR
  subgraph Packing["Protective Packaging for every level"]
    direction LR
      A1[Transportation Packaging] -.->|Pallet| N1[Level 4]
      A2[Warehouse Packaging] -.->|Corrugated Box| N2[Level 3]
      A3[Secondary Packaging] -.->|Box| N3[Level 2]
      A4[Primary Packaging] -.->|Plastic Bag| N4[Level 1]
  end
      A5[Finished Product Materials] -.-> Packing
end

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Packing levels#

Critical Manufacturing MES distinguishes between two levels of packing as shown in the table below:

Table: Different Packing levels

Primary Packing#

Primary packing consists of creating the packages of the first level - Level 1 packages. These are the packages that directly contain the WIP.

Secondary and Above Packing#

Secondary and above packing consists of packing packages of Level 2 or above in other packages. This operation is referred to as multiple level packing.

Package#

The Package entity is part of the Material Logistics module, which must be properly licensed in the system, and it can be accessed from the Business Data menu of Critical Manufacturing MES.

Product#

A Product is where packing begins, and a Product is always associated to a Material.

As every manufactured product needs to be shipped, it also needs to be packed. However, there are different packing processes depending on the immediate outcome of what is packed.

Critical Manufacturing MES caters for various packing processes and has related them to levels, as seen above.

This tutorial will help you understand how Level 1 and Level 2 are configured, and will use a basic scenario with non-trackable packages for Level 1.

Packing Material - Level 1#

Level 1 is also called product packing and it is typically created on the shop floor. Remember that the contents of packages at this level is always a Material. Therefore, for the purpose of this tutorial, for Level 1, you will pack cookies into individual plastic bags:

Setting up Packing Level 1#

To have a functioning Packing module, you have to set up Critical Manufacturing MES entities as shown in the following table:

Table: Steps to set up Level 1 Packing

The next sub-sections will cover the required configuration steps in more detail.

Step 1: Lookup Table#

1. Edit the PackageType Lookup Table to add the package type you will need. For Level 1 packing you will be using plastic bags:

   

Step 2: Service#

1. Create a Service of Processing Type Process:

   

2. Create a Service of Processing Type Consumable Feed:

   

Step 3: Resource#

1. Create a Resource of Processing Type Process. This is your main Resource, and you will configure it to have Number of Consumable Feeds Positions equal to 1:

   

   Note

   A Resource must have the same Number of Consumable Feeds Positions as Products in the BOM. For this tutorial you only need one.

2. Create a Resource of Processing Type Consumable Feed:

   

3. Manage Consumable Feeds of Resource of Processing Type Process to attach the Resource of Processing Type Consumable Feed:

   

   Note

   Remember that Resources of Processing Type Consumable Feed are needed for the consumption of raw materials according to the BOM. Therefore, they need to be attached to the packing station where you are doing the packing.

4. Manage Services of Resource of Processing Type Process to add the previously created Service (Step 2 above):

   

5. Manage Services of Resource of Processing Type Consumable Feed to add the previously created Service (Step 2 above):

   

Step 4: Step#

1. Create a Step of Processing Type Process. Use Grams as the Primary Units, and Cookie Manufacturing for the Area:

   

2. Create another Step with the same configurations as above but with a different name:

   

3. In the Service Context view of the Steps you just created, add the previously created Services (Step 2 above):

   

   

4. If you now Refresh the Service Context of the created Services, the corresponding Steps will be available:

   

   

Step 5: Flow#

1. Create a Flow. For this tutorial, use Production for the Type and Sequential for the Flow Type:

   

2. Edit the Flow, add the Step Plastic Packing, Save, and set Effective:

   

3. Create another Flow with the same configurations as above but with a different name:

   

4. Edit the Flow, add the Step Feeder Step, Save, and set Effective:

   

Step 6: Product#

1. Create a Product that must have Packaging as its Product Type, and remember that this is the Product you will use to pack your cookies - the one that will be in your BOM. The Default Units is Grams (Units Lookup Table):

   

   In the Packing section of this wizard remember to enter the Type as previously defined in the PackageType Lookup Table, the Level, and the Weight (this weight refers to the plastic bag).

   You also have to enter Label Specification (LabelSpecification Generic Table) and Label Specification Field (LabelSpecificationField Generic Table) information. You need these fields because the packing process frequently uses barcode scanning, and you need to be able to read the package when, for example, you are adding a package of Level 1 into a package of Level 2.

   

   Note

   Remember that because you are not tracking Level 1 packages, the Label Specification defined here will then also be used for Level 2.

2. Create a Product of Type Finished Good. This will be part of your Material to pack:

   

Step 7: BOM#

1. Create a BOM that must have Packing as its Scope, and the Units are as before:

   

   A BOM of this scope must only contain one Product of Packaging type, which is used as the reference to calculate the contents of the plastic bags. You could have other Products as BOM Items in this BOM, such as stickers for the outside of the bags (informative or fun) or small gifts to go with the cookies in the bags, but their Product Type would have to be other than Packaging.

   For the purpose of this tutorial your BOM will contain only the one necessary Packaging type Product.

2. Manage BOM Items and add the previously created Product:

   

Step 8: BOM Context#

1. Configure the BOM Context in the packing step, which for this example is Plastic Packing:

   

2. You can also configure the BOM Context by using the BOMContext Smart Table. In this case, Step information has to be entered:

   

Level 1 Packing Test#

To test that Level 1 packing is working you should create a Material with the cookies Product, you need to make sure you have created a Material containing the cookies bag Product, and it is attached to the feeder Resource, or you can attach this consumable Material inside the packing wizard using the Insert Barcode function. Then Dispatch and Track-In your cookie Material. At this point the Pack button should be available in the top ribbon:

You are now ready to pack your cookie Material following the instructions provided in Pack Material.

Packing Material - Level 2#

Level 2 is also called logistics packing, and it relates to multiple levels of packing that is required for transportation and distribution. Fundamentally, it consists of packing packages into a package of the level immediately above. Remember that the packages of Level 2 are always trackable, and that the contents of packages at this level are always other packages. Moreover, for the purpose of this tutorial, you will be packing your plastic bags, into a Level 2 box package:

Setting up Packing Level 2#

To have a functioning Packing module, you have to set up Critical Manufacturing MES entities as shown in the following table:

Table: Steps to set up Level 2 Packing

The next sub-sections will cover the required configuration steps in more detail.

Step 1: Lookup Table#

1. Edit the PackageType Lookup Table to add the package type you will need. For Level 2 packing you will be using boxes:

   

Step 2: Service#

1. Create a Service of Processing Type Process:

   

Step 3: Resource#

1. Create a Resource of Processing Type Process:

   

2. Associate the Service you just created (Step 2 above) to this Resource.

   

Step 4: Step#

1. Create a Step of Processing Type Process. At this level we have to mark the Packing Step field as True and define the From Packing Level and To Packing Level:

   

Step 5: Flow#

1. Use the Flow created for Level 1, create a new Version, add the Box Packing Step, Save, and set Effective:

   

Step 6: Product#

1. Create a Product that must have Packaging as its Product Type, and remember that this is the Product you will use to pack your cookie packs:

   

Step 7: Smart Table#

1. Level 2 uses a Step Level Configuration (Step 4 above).
2. Configure the MaterialPackingContext Smart Table to establish the Package Product that will tell you for a certain material context and packing level what is the specific box/package product to be used:

Level 2 Packing Test#

To test that Level 2 packing is working, you can use the Material you packed in Level 1. Track out the Level 1 Material and Move-Next to the Box Packing Step:

Then Dispatch and Track-In the Material at which point the Pack button is available in the top ribbon:

You are now ready to pack your cookie Material following the instructions provided in Pack Material Packages.

Remember that the Open and Close Operations are configured in the PackingOperations lookup table: