Accurate Parts Counting & Data Integrity with FactoryWiz Monitoring

8.7.9 Counting Parts



The settings in the Counting Parts pane define when FactoryWiz™ Monitoring determines that a machine cycle is complete.

These settings are extremely important; they directly affect the accuracy and validity of the information contained in automatic reports and the data used for OEE calculations.
 
In addition, poorly configured settings may affect the performance of FactoryWiz™ Monitoring.

While a machine is running, all the data collected by FactoryWiz™ Monitoring from that machine is saved to a single record in the database until a cycle completes. This section is where you configure how FactoryWiz™ Monitoring determines that one cycle is complete, closes the record, and begins a new one.
 
You must configure this in order to get accurate part counts and OEE calculations, and to keep individual records to a manageable size. If FactoryWiz™ Monitoring is unable to recognize the end of a cycle and continuously adds the machine’s data to a single open record, this record will slow FactoryWiz™ Monitoring down and make it impossible to analyze performance data for that machine. If no part count is available set to OUT OF CYCLE.

This section begins with a question: “When should FactoryWiz mark a cycle as complete and begin a new cycle record?” FactoryWiz™ Monitoring can use several different events as cycle completion signals. The drop-down list below this question has a list of options. The list will vary depending on the type of machine you are configuring so you will only see the options supported by that type of machine.

The options that may be listed are:

·         CNC Permanent Part Counter

·         CNC Resettable Part Counter

·         Macro Variable Change

·         P-Code Variable Change

·         PMC Bit On

·         Manual Only

·         Part ID Change

·         Hourly

·         Out of Cycle

·         Supported Completion Signal

CNC Permanent Part Counter & CNC Resettable Part Counter

If the machine has a part counter and if that counter is working properly, these are the recommended options. If one of these options is selected, FactoryWiz™ Monitoring will close out the cycle record every time the counter changes, including when a resettable counter is reset to 0. If a machine is producing multiple parts per cycle, each cycle record will cover all the parts produced during that cycle.

Note: If a machine’s counter is not working properly, FactoryWiz recommends switching to the Out of Cycle option until the problem with the counter is resolved.

Macro Variable Change

You may program an increment to the value of a macro variable to signal the end of a cycle. For example, if your program causes the value of variable 501 to increase at the end of each cycle, select the Macro Variable Change option from the drop-down list, and then enter the address “501” in the text box.

P-Code Variable Change

You may also choose to have FactoryWiz™ Monitoring close a cycle record when a p-code Variable changes. Select the “P-Code Variable Change” option from the drop-down list and enter the p-code variable’s address in the text box below.

PMC Bit On

If you select the “PMC Bit On” option and enter a PMC bit address in the text box, FactoryWiz™ Monitoring will close out a cycle record whenever that PMC bit turns on.

If the machine is producing more than one part per cycle, the macro variable may increase by number of parts produced. For example, if the machine is producing five parts per cycle, the macro variable containing the part count would probably increase by five at the end of each cycle.
  
If you want FactoryWiz™ Monitoring to increment the part counter by the same amount as the variable, select True in the when watching the part counter… text box. If you select False the dashboard part counter will increment by one every time the macro variable is incremented, regardless of the magnitude of the macro variable’s increment.

Manual Only

If you wish to signal cycle completion directly by including instructions to send a signal to FactoryWiz™ Monitoring at the end of each cycle in your program code, select the “Manual Only” option.

Part ID Change

Selecting the “Part ID Change” option will cause FactoryWiz™ Monitoring to close out the cycle record every time the part ID changes. This will result in undercounting any time a machine runs multiple parts with the same ID in succession.

Hourly

If you select the “Hourly” option, FactoryWiz™ Monitoring will close the cycle record and start a new one at the end of each hour. This will usually result in an inaccurate and unreliable part count, but it will prevent cycle records from growing large enough to slow down FactoryWiz™ Monitoring. This option should only be selected if you cannot use any of the previously described options.

Out Of Cycle

Selecting the “Out of Cycle” option will cause FactoryWiz™ Monitoring to close out a cycle record every time the machine stops. This will result in over counting parts if a machine has to stop in the middle of a cycle and undercounting if a machine does not need to stop between parts.

Supported Completion Signal

Select Supported Completion Signal for a legacy machine connected to FactoryWiz™ Monitoring through an ADAM box and the ADAM box is configured to receive a part advance signal from the machine. See ADAM (Legacy) Machines for more information.



If you have selected a cycle completion signal that indicates the number of parts produced per cycle, you may use that completion signal to update FactoryWiz™ Monitoring’s Parts Per Cycle field, by checking this box. FactoryWiz™ Monitoring will use the magnitude of the change in the completion signal to set the Parts Per Cycle field. For example, suppose you have configured the completion signal to be macro variable 501. If macro variable goes up by 1 at the end of each cycle, FactoryWiz™ Monitoring will set the Parts Per Cycle field to 1. If macro variable 501 goes up by 7, FactoryWiz™ Monitoring will set the Parts Per Cycle field to 7. 

If you do not select this option, the magnitude of the change in the completion signal will not affect FactoryWiz™ Monitoring’s Parts Per Cycle field.

FactoryWiz™ Monitoring recommends selecting this option, by checking the box, if you are using a CNC part counter, macro variable, or P code variable as a completion signal.

FactoryWiz™ Monitoring displays a dashboard part counter for each machine in List View. This counter may also be displayed on wall monitors and tablets if they are available.

This counter can be configured to reset at specific times, such as midnight or the beginning of a new shift, or it can be configured to respond to a reset signal from the machine.

Note: This only affects the real-time part counter displayed by FactoryWiz™ Monitoring. It does not affect data collected & analyzed for reporting purposes or OEE calculations.

 

The drop-down list contains several reset options, including: 



 

·         Part ID Change – the dashboard counter will reset when the part ID number changes.

·         Each Shift – the dashboard counter will reset at the beginning of each shift.

·         Midnight – the dashboard counter will reset at midnight.

·         Report Day Start – the dashboard counter will reset at the beginning of each report day (this time is set in the Shift Configuration)

·         Mirror CNC Resettable – the dashboard part counter resets when the resettable CNC resets;

·         Mirror CNC Permanent – the dashboard part counter resets when the permanent CNC resets;

·         Mirror Macro Variable – the dashboard part counter displays the current value of a macro variable;

·         Mirror Setting Variable – the dashboard part counter displays the current value of a setting variable;

·         Mirror P-Code Variable – the dashboard part counter displays the current value of a p-code variable.

·         Job Change – the dashboard part counter will reset when the job number changes.


If you select an option that mirrors a macro, setting or p-code variable, you must use the text box below the drop-down list to enter the address of the variable you want to mirror.





You can control where the reference runtime for the part comes from.

Options are:

  1. Lookup Table
  2.  Manual / DPRNT
  3. Macro Variable
  4. Disabled


Lookup Table

The lookup table is table RefTimeData in the database. There are several columns in this field, but this feature only uses:

  1. FTCNC
  2. FTPartID
  3.  FTCycleTime (seconds)
  4. FTLoadTime
  5.  FTUpdated
  6. FTSite
  7. FTDepartment


You can load this data in the form of a CSV file by clicking
Cycle Time Table Import.

The CSV file must have column names that match the columns listed above.



On Part ID change, FactoryWiz will look at this table to obtain the reference runtime seconds (FTCycleTime). It will first lookup based on CNC + Part ID, if no records are returned, it will try just Part ID.

If you select an option that uses a variable, you must use the text box below the drop-down list to enter the variable that you want to use.

Do not use the Lookup Table option if you wish to select jobs on the tablet using the New Job widget. See Reftimedata.

 

Manual/DPRNT

For machines that support DPRNT, you can capture the reference runtime (seconds) from a DPRNT Command. See DPRNT Command List for more information.

Macro Variable

For ethernet machines where you can capture macro variables, you can store the runtime (seconds) into a variable in the CNC program. Input the variable in the field below.

High Volume Mode







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