What are recipes?

Recipes are the basic instructions and ingredients for manufacturing a product. Recipes define which parameters and materials are involved and required in production. Both the parameters and materials differ between products. For example, products based on mixing multiple materials per a known formula in assembly lines will have different definitions than products based on a single material manufactured via CNC machines. It’s usually the responsibility of planners, technologists or engineering specialists to design (and continuously improve) the product recipe.

All products and jobs in the system have a recipe. A product’s recipe is the primary recipe. Therefore, when creating a job for manufacturing the product, the job’s recipe fields are populated with the values set for the product recipe. You can then adjust the job's recipe values to meet the specific context it's running in, for example the cycle time might be different if the job is running on a slow machine.

If the product’s recipe isn’t maintained in Matics, the initial job recipe can be populated with values set elsewhere, such as third-party systems.

This doesn’t mean you can’t adjust the recipe. You can adjust it and any other job recipe manually, you can also reuse recipe settings of previous successful job runs to make efficient adjustments.

The job recipe in use should always reflect what is happening and available on the production floor.

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Can I use Matics without recipes?

No. For Matics to provide reliable analytics it has know what the recipe standards are. The real-time data collected by sensors is measured against the current standards set in the job recipe, which means that these recipe values are used for calculating the job KPIs such as Machine Availability, Cycle Time Efficiency, OEE and other production performance indicators. So if for example the value for cycle time (rate) is incorrect, the unit count will be skewed.

How are recipes entered to Matics?

Recipes may be imported to Matics from external ERP / MRP systems after mapping recipe fields to corresponding fields in Matics.

Recipes can also be created from scratch in Matics when adding a product.

Added value of managing recipes in Matics

From version 3.0 entering batch information in recipes, provides a materials traceability benefit of tracking batch consumption. (Available in both the Web and Operator apps.)

This is in addition to making ad-hoc real-time adjustments to active recipes that has been available always.

And for sites that do not have an ERP/MRP system for managing recipes, Matics is a complete recipe management solution.

Recipe structure

Basic structure of recipes

The basic structure of a recipe in Matics comprises a production parameters section in which the production parameters are set or adjusted, and two material planning sections: one with channels (using any number from 1 to 99) reflecting material inputs that are calculated by weight, and one with a single channel (called channel 100) that reflects those material inputs that are discrete, countable units. These channels can be divided to splits when the material is a complex material created by mixing multiple materials together. Channel 100 can also be divided to splits when the output is a combination of units, such as packaging that's comprised of a box, padding and labels, or when the production process makes use of countable materials, such as a precursor product that's part of the recipe's product.

All recipes will include production parameters with a number of mandatory settings, but not all recipes will include channels of material inputs calculated by weight and a channel dedicated to material inputs counted by discrete units.
Some recipes may have only channel 100 materials, and some recipes may have only channels of materials calculated by weight (1 to 99).

Production Parameters (Channel 0)

Production Parameters was previously called 'Channel 0'. This section details the process and output parameters for the product. The Machine Type selected when a product is created determines which production parameters are included in this section. See more in Preliminary configuration s (below).

A recipe will always include a measure for the production rate: units in cycle, cycle time, meters per minute, weight per minute or another measure per the machine type. The value set for this measure serves as the standard to which the actual production rate as detected by the controller is compared.

Comparing the recipe standard's value to the actual measure is the basis for calculating OEE and cycle time efficiency.

Channels 1-99

Channels 1 through 99 are used to specify those materials that are calculated by weight percent, as a percentage of the total cycle weight.

Every channel (or split, if applicable) will specify a single material and its target weight percent by cycle weight.

Channel 100

Channel 100 is used for specifying precursors, components, packaging materials, labels, etc.

Any material that's consumed by unit (either partial or whole), rather than by weight, should be specified in Channel 100.

The recipe form

Recipe form variations

As mentioned in the overview, there are a few differences between the product recipe and the job recipe, which correspond to each form's function.

Even though a product recipe can be edited, it's considered to be the stable basis for job recipes.
Job recipes are meant to be adjusted to the current context. They provide the option of using reference recipes to compare values when deciding what changes to apply. Adjusted job recipes can be saved as reference recipes for future reuse.
The Approve recipe action is relevant only to job recipes and will change the job's status from 02 -- resources have been allocated, to status 03 -- recipe has been approved and the job is now ready for production.
If your job approval workflow includes two steps: one in which the recipe is approved by a technologist and only then the job is released by the planner, see the short article on decoupling job approval from job release.
The Reload recipe action applies to both product and job recipes and loads the most current recipe structure set for the machine type. This control is available at the job level once the recipe has been approved.

NOTE: The product's recipe properties and channels reflect what was set for the selected machine type at the time of product creation. For example, which properties are included in the production parameters, which properties are included in channels, the number of channels and splits and so forth. Changes made to the machine type after that are not applied to the product's recipe.

If you want to make use of a machine type's updated configuration, create a new product to replace the initial product and in that product's form, design the recipe to make use of the updated machine type's configuration.

When creating a new job for a product, the job recipe will be based on the product's recipe, and its editable values may be adjusted per the specific context such as the machine the job is running on, the quantity to produce (Units Target) and so forth.

Editing recipe forms

There are a number of editing flows for job recipes:

Manual changes - individual changes you make to recipe values.
Reference recipe changes - base changes on other recipes that were used for this identical production setup (same product, same machine, same mold if applicable, and same materials).
Combination - start by applying a reference recipe and then tweak specific values as needed.

There are also a number of options for saving the modified recipe:

Save changes - saves your adjustments in the current job recipe only.
Save as Product Recipe - saves your adjustments in the current job recipe AND in the product's recipe.
Save as Alternative Recipe - saves your adjustments in the current job recipe AND as an alternative recipe that can be used when manufacturing this product again. Read more about alternative recipes below.

Preliminary configurations

Setting the production parameters included in a recipe

As mentioned above, a recipe's production parameters are determined by which type of machine the product recipe uses.

To configure the machine type's recipe production parameters refer to the Machine Type Properties article.

Configuring channels and splits

The recipe's channels and splits are determined by which type of machine the product recipe uses and on which machine the recipe is running. Refer to the Configuring Channels and Splits article for information on how to do so.

Determining whether the job splits or not when its recipe changes

You can apply polices that will automatically split active jobs (status 10) when there are changes in the recipe by selecting these machine-level check boxes in the machine's General settings tab:

Automatically Split Job On Units In Cycle Change (Policies section)
Automatically Split Job On Material Change (Inventory section)
Automatically Split Job On Batch Change (Inventory section)

Setting the recipe validation policy

Recipe validation checks whether the raw materials in channels 1 to 99 sum up to 100% and what to do if they don't.

This is set at the machine level as a general policy for activating jobs, and for each of the machine's channels for determining if a changed recipe (for any job, not just for active jobs) can be saved through the Recipe Validation parameter.

NOTE: Recipe validation doesn't apply to channel 100.

To set the recipe validation policy for activating/active jobs, you'll find the Recipe Validation parameter in the target machine's General tab > Policies section.

Permit non 100% recipes - even if the job's recipe's materials do not sum up to 100%, the job can be saved and activated.
Proportionally change recipe - if the job's recipe's materials total to either less than 100% , or more than 100%, the system will adjust the materials' percentages proportionally to reach 100% and then save the job, which can afterwards be activated.
Deny and alert - if the job's recipe's materials do not sum up to 100%, saving the recipe triggers an error and such a job cannot be activated.

You'll also find the Recipe Validation parameter in the target machine's Channels tab for each channel. Enforce validating that the channel's materials indeed total to 100% by selecting the 'Deny and alert' option. This will prevent saving faulty recipes for all jobs, even inactive jobs.

Determining who can change recipes and on which devices

The role the user fills determines whether the recipe form will be available on Matics Web. There's also the machine-level setting Allow Edit Recipe, which determines whether users of the Operator App can edit the recipe too.

Recipe workflow

Procedure

Create a new product:
1. Go to Production > Products > click the + (add) control in the top-right.
2. In the product dialog enter values for the required fields. As mentioned above, the recipe's properties and channels are determined by the chosen machine type.
3. Click Add. The new product record is added to the Products table.
Click the index of that product to open its form.
Click the Recipe tab.
Reload recipe to apply the most current recipe structure.
Click Edit Recipe.
Fill in the recipe.
Save changes.
Click the ACTIONS MENU and choose New job.
1. In the Create Job From Product dialog select the department and the units target.
2. Click Finish.
In the job form that opens:
1. Select the machine the job will run on.
2. Click Save. (The job's status changes from 01 to 02.)
3. Click the Recipe tab.
4. Click Edit job recipe to adjust the recipe's production parameter values and required materials as needed.
  Parameters indicated with the calculator icon, are dynamically auto-calculated per the values of other production parameters they base their calculations on.
5. (Optional) Click the Reference recipe toggle to view reference recipes and adjust values per the reference. Activating Reference recipe functionality can support informed decision-making. It enables comparing current values to other values set for producing the same product.
6. Save changes. There are three options of where recipes changes are saved, see section above.
7. Click Approve recipe. The Job Recipe of every job must be approved before the job can be activated. This will progress the job from status 02 to status 03, which means the job recipe has been approved for production.

Walkthrough

See how the procedure above is carried out (without using reference recipes):

Recipe terminology

Product recipe

The standard recipe of the product. Should list the ideal production process as originally developed by the process engineers. It is cataloged under the product screen and is not dependent on any particular equipment (machines, molds, etc.). A product can have only one Standard Recipe, which will be available for reference for any job, irrespective of the machine and/or mold allocated for the job.

Alternative recipe

An Alternative Recipe is a recipe saved by a user so that it may be referenced in the future. Similar to the Job Recipe, an Alternative Recipe is resource-dependent. Therefore, only jobs produced using the same resources (machine and mold, if applicable) will be taken into account.

Practically, this means that an Alternative Recipe for machine A will only be available as a reference for jobs assigned to machine A. And if machine A can make use of two different molds (mold 1 and mold 2), the alternative recipe that's set for machine A + mold 1, will not be offered for a job running on machine A with mold 2.

Alternative Recipes can drive knowledge sharing and the exchange of know-how across individuals and teams and help to ensure that knowledge accrued through experience drives process optimization.

Alternative recipes can be automatically applied by configuring this at the machine level. In the Policies section, there’s the combination of the Dedicated machine's recipe on job activation flag and Dedicated machine's recipe on job activation drop-down list (Product + Machine or Product + Machine + Mold) for enabling auto-assignment of alternative recipes to jobs. If there are multiple alternative recipes that can be assigned to a job, the system will apply the most current active alternative recipe that was saved in the system for the set criteria. Managing alternative recipes is done through the Alternative Recipes management page (Production > Alternative Recipes).

Last MEJ (Most Efficient Job)

The system will automatically promote the Job Recipe of the most recently completed job which achieved the highest OEE mark. Only jobs which achieved an OEE of 0.7 (70%) or higher will be taken into account.

Similar to the Job Recipe, this recipe type is resource dependent. Therefore, only jobs produced using the same resources (machine and mold, if applicable) will be taken into account. If a product is produced on different machines, a different job will hold the record OEE for each of the machines.