What is Cepheo Extended Production Handling

Dawid Kaczmarek Updated by Dawid Kaczmarek

Introduction

CEPHEO Process Industries for D365FO is an advanced and highly specialized solution for companies within process manufacturing, which builds upon the comprehensive functionality available in Microsoft D365FO.

This document describes the features for: CEPHEO Extended Production Handling.

It will cover features such as:

Multiple bulk batches (mix's) to cover/supply one or more finished product batches.

Multiple finished product batches based on the same bulk batch.

Automatic reporting as finished of bulk batch, when performing reporting as finished using back flushing for finished products.

Extensions for the firming consolidated batch order functionality on Planned orders

Consolidated batch order extensions

New forms for Production planners to utilize the Mix pool and consolidation extensions.

All the above, and more, is described in detail in this document.

This module is part of a collection of modules, that all together are the total offer from CEPHEO for the Process Industry running D365FO as ERP platform.

When all modules are installed, the overall production flow is designed to support all processes shown in the following figure:

Figure 1: High-level overview of process flow for a manufacturing company within the Process industry

Campaign production definition " Manufacturing a series of batches of the same product in sequence in a given period of time and/or maximum number of batches followed by an appropriate (validated) cleaning procedure"

In this feature we address the need for being able to handle production of different mix sizes of the same Bill of Material version (for productions) or Formula version (for batch orders). This principle of dividing a Campaign up into fixed or variable mix sizes depending on the resources available and keeping track of this on a 'Campaign' level, is also known as Production leveling or smoothing, the goal being to produce e.g., intermediate products (bulk products) at a constant rate and with minimal waste. On a production line, as in any process, fluctuations in performance increase waste. This is because equipment, workers, inventory, and all other elements required for production always must be prepared for peak production. This is a cost of flexibility.

This feature adds the option to setup a Mixing principle on the BOM or Formula version, a mixing size and whether the mix size is fixed or not. The functionality is not only available for Batch orders, but also for regular Production orders. The overall solution for mix production, is to have one production order for each mix and a collection of production orders for the whole campaign. This way each mix can have one or more samples/quality orders representing the mix, and can be controlled, traced, and released individual by the advanced quality system.

To keep track of the different campaigns, a Mix pool ID is automatically created and assigned to all productions within the mix-pool.

Prerequisites

To support the model, different prerequisite must be fulfilled:

  • If traceability is needed, tracking dimension group of the product must have Batch marked as active for the item to produce.
  • One of the mix principles must be selected for the BOM/Formula where you want to use the functionality.
  • A number sequence for the production mix-pool ID must be setup

Setup of BOMs and Formulas

The setup is done for each BOM/Formula version and the mixing principle can have the following values:

  1. [Manual creation] : No mixing principle is selected and no split into mix's is carried out, but if Fixed mixing size is filled in, this will still be respected when creating a production- or batch order manually. Settings in coverage groups for use of specified BOM or formula version, are also accepted.
  2. [Production creation] : Running the MRP will create one planned order for each Batch size (as in standard D365FO). When firming the planned order or creating a new production/batch order manually, several production orders are created automatically (one for each mix and bound together by the same mix-pool). The BOM/formula version being used is the BOM/Formula version chosen for the quantity of the Mix pool.
  3. [Planned order] : Running the MRP will create several planned orders (one for each mix) and distribute the planned orders for the quantity of the mix-pool (Mix/Batch size). The planned orders will be given the same mix-pool Id from the mix-pool number sequence. When firming the planned orders, production orders are created, bound together by the mix-pool ID. The BOM/Formula version being used is the BOM/Formula version chosen for the quantity of the campaign. 4. [Planned order (no mix pool)] : Running the MRP will create several planned orders (one for each mix) and distribute the planned orders for the quantity of the mix-pool (MIX/Batch size). The planned orders will NOT be given a mix-pool Id. When firming the planned orders without mix-pool, production orders are created without mix-pool Id, and they will NOT be bound together by a mix-pool ID (unless Mix pool ID has been setup on the Released product). The BOM/Formula version being used is the BOM/Formula version chosen for the quantity of the campaign.

Mixing size is controlling the quantity for each mix. This is the quantity that will be used for planned orders and production creation, dependent of the chosen mixing principle for the BOM/Formula version.

Fixed mixing size is controlling whether, it is allowed manually to create a production or Batch order in a quantity which is not a multiple of the mixing size. This control is done independent of the chosen mixing principle. If carried out with the mixing principle "Production creation" it will only be possible to create production orders of the fixed Mix-quantity.

Allow version switch in Master Planning is controlling whether the logic for splitting planned orders into mix sizes, is allowed to select another BOM/Formula version if the quantity being split does match another BOM/Formula version – or, has to stay on the original BOM/Formula version even if the quantity will be smaller than a “From formula size” for the BOM/Formula version. This functionality applies when using the Mixing principle ‘Planned order’ (with or without Mix pool) as the split here is calculated during run of masterplans.

When using Planning optimization to create planned batch/production orders, you can use the Mix pool functionality (for principle ‘Production creation’ by activating the parameter shown below: Figure 2: Setup of mix principle for BOM/formula version Figure 3: Mix settings at creation of a new batch order

In the case above, the fixed mixing size of 10 does not comply with the wanted quantity of 135, and an error is shown. The dialog for creation of production/batch orders is showing Mix information related to the BOM/formula version chosen.

Figure 4: Setup of mix principles for BOM version

An example: A bulk product has been setup with several BOM versions for different formula sizes and each of these are setup with different Mixing principles A demand forecast for site 1 has been setup for 10 ea. of the Bulk product every 7 days for 2 months.

D365FO will select the BOM version based on the formula size (In this case a version with Principle 'Production creation' and a fixed Mixing size of 5 ea). When running the MRP to generate planned orders, 8 planned orders of 10 ea. will be created, and when firming these 16 production orders are created with 8 Production Pool ID's (Campaigns) to link them. Each mix order created holds its own batch number, enabling the Quality control module to work per Mix or per LP in a mix as well.

The Production pool ID (with an extension of a number sequence and mix-pool overview functionality) is used to link the orders as a Campaign and supporting the request for being able to trace on Campaign level.

Integration of the Extended Production Handling module with Planning Optimization.

  1. It is possible to use all mixing policies: Production creation, Planned order, and Planned order (no mix pool). This provides greater flexibility in managing production using mix pools within the Planning Optimization environment.
  2. However, we strongly recommend deactivating the functionality " Support for splitting and grouping planned orders for Planning Optimization " at this time. Under certain conditions, it may lead to the generation of a large number of unnecessary planned production orders.
  3. Support for rounding planned batch orders to multiples of the Mix size has also been improved. In the latest version, rounding is enforced and follows Planning Optimization rules—always rounding up.

Note:

The module is primarily designed to support process manufacturing, but most functionalities have also been adapted for discrete manufacturing. However, rounding to multiples of the mix pool does not apply in discrete scenarios. Therefore, this functionality does not work when the mix size is specified on the BOM version.

Disable rounding to Mix Size

By default, planned batch orders and production orders are automatically rounded to the nearest mixing size, including both the formula size and its multiples. This behavior is triggered when any mixing principle other than Manual creation is selected. However, in certain business scenarios, this automatic rounding may not be appropriate. Therefore, a parameter has been introduced to allow disabling this functionality.

A new parameter named Disable rounding to Mix Size has been added to the Mix pool production setup form. By default, this flag is set to No . To disable rounding, set the flag to Yes . [Production control > Setup > Mix Pool Production > Mix poll production setup]

Note: It is recommended to first change the Mixing principle to Manual creation for all formulas, then set the flag to Yes, and finally change the Mixing principle back to the required value.

Setup of Mix pool ID on released products

A Mix pool ID can also be setup as a fixed value for a released product. This is done on the "Engineer" fast tab for the product, where all created Mix pool can be selected for a product.

Figure 5: Mix pool ID setup on Release products

The Mix pool setup for a released product, will be used when the mixing principle on formula/BOM version is setup to "Planned order" and "Planned order (no mix pool)". The selected Mix pool will be used instead of a new number from the number sequence and will be used for manually created production/batch orders and planned orders.

If using the "Firm and consolidate" feature, the fixed mix pool will however be overruled by the number sequence.

Mix pool and Planning optimization
Path: Product information management/Products/Released products/Engineer/

In Supply Chain Management, master planning is managed by the Planning Optimization Add-in for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, which enables master planning calculation to occur outside Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management and the related SQL database. This way of planning can be switched on (for 2 or above tier cloud environments) in the ‘Planning optimization parameters’ (Master planning/setup/)

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Firming planned orders

The master planning will choose the BOM version to use (By site, date-validity and quantity) and act according to the setup.

When creating planned orders, for BOM/Formula versions setup to use the mix principle of "Planned order", a mix pool ID will be available for each planned order.

Figure 6: Production mix-pools at firming of planned orders

When choosing planned orders for firming, a control is carried out and a warning shown if not all planned orders for a production pool has been selected for firming. The warning can be ignored if wanted.

Figure 7: Firming planned orders in pools

The use of Mix-pool ID's can be combined with the use of consolidated Batch orders according to the following logic:

If using the mix principle 'Planned order', the planned consolidated Batch order will be created according to the mix principle.

If using the mix principle "Production order", the production orders for consolidated Batch orders will be created when firming the planned consolidated Batch order.

Production orders – Mix-pools

When working with mix principles, an overview of the different mix-pools (campaigns) and the associated production orders is available from [Production control / Area page / Common / Production orders / Production orders – Mix-pools]

Here production-/batch orders assigned with a mix-pool ID can be found and further managed. By default, only mix-pools being used (allocated to 1 or more orders) are shown, but all mix-pools can be shown when activating the menu "Show all".

Figure 8: Production pool/campaign overview

The design of the form will allow to open or close view of the fast tabs.

The same form is available from the Production mix-pool form. This is found in [Production control / Area page / Setup / Production / mix-pools] where a menu is available showing information for a specific mix-pool.

Under [Production control /Common/Production order – Mix pool] an overview of all Mix pool ID's can be seen.

For the mix-pools, it is possible to activate the filter function for status on production orders. The status shown is the lowest status for all production orders within the current mix-pool ID.

Figure 9: Mix-pool filtering

From the mix-pool form, the Mix pool overview for a specific production pool can be shown.

For each level in the BOM/Formula structure, the summarized quantity is shown. This is to have an easy way to see if further production orders should be added to or removed from the mix pool. The calculation of quantity will not be performed for mix-pools containing co-product.

Add to or remove from production orders to mix-pool

Here are features to add and remove production orders to/from mix-pools. If adding a production order from another mix-pool, the mix-pool will be changed for the production order.

Figure 10: Add/remove production orders to mix-pool

When adding or removing production orders to/from a mix-pool, a form is shown with available production orders. One or more production orders can be selected and added/removed to/from the mix-pool.

Figure 11: Add production orders to mix-pool. For production orders using one of the mixing principles, change of mix-pool can be done if the production status is less than

Planning using production mix-pools

The use of mix-pools is extended to be shown in the Dispatch form for resources, to be used as information when making re-planning of jobs for a resource.

Figure 12: Planning using production pools

When selecting jobs for re-planning, the information of the mix-pool is also shown in the sequence tab page of the form

Figure 13: Planning using production pools

The Up/Down functions can be used to re-order the wanted job before scheduling is carried out for the selected jobs.

In the job scheduling form, the mix-pool is also available.

Figure 14: Job scheduling using mix-pools.

When planning is done from the production overview, the forms for operation and job planning are also showing information of the mix-pool.

Figure 15: Operation scheduling using mix-pools.

Use with sequence and consolidated batch order

If using mix and campaign principle – AND sequencing or consolidated batch orders for the same item numbers, it is recommended to setup the mix-principle for the BOM versions used, as "Planned order".

When firming consolidated batch orders, the form for firming now has the possibility to assign a mix-pool to the consolidated batch order and all planned production orders in the consolidated order. This can be done by activating the menu [Add to mix pool], or automatically if using the menu [Firm and consolidate with mix pool] from the planned order form.

Figure 16: Firm consolidated batch orders

When working with consolidated batch orders, the mix-pool can manually be added to the consolidated batch order by using the menu [Add to mix pool]. The individual production orders in the consolidated order can be assigned to a different mix-pool if needed.

Figure 17: Consolidated batch order and mix pool

If using the feature of automatic reporting as finished for a consolidated batch order, all the production orders that you would want to be part of the automatic reporting as finished, must be assigned to the same mix-pool.

If all production orders within the consolidated batch order are assigned to the same mix-pool, the content of –and handling/updating of the production orders, can be performed using the mix-pool overview form. This can be opened by the menu [Mix pool overview] or directly in the menu [production control/Common/Production orders –Mix pools].

Consolidated batch orders- add/remove, to/from mix pool

If working with the consolidated batch order on a detailed level using mix pools, and some of the bulk or packed orders shouldn't be part of the mix pool anyway, bulk and packed orders can be removed from an existing mix pool as well as be added to a mix pool different from the one for the consolidated order itself.

How did we do?

Release notes Cepheo Extended Production Handling

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