Overview of machine type properties

The process and output parameters of each machine type align with that machine type's functionality and characteristics. The system comes with a number of default machine types + default properties that correspond to each machine type. When adding machine types, it's recommended to choose for the source a machine type that's closest in its properties to the new machine type. Sources serve as a kind of base template that save time in the following step of customization, since both existing and new machine types are usually customized to reach an accurate reflection of the actual machine type at the production site. Customization of a machine type's properties is achieved by editing existing properties and adding new properties (see following). These properties are used in various places in the system, for example, in recipes.

How to add a new machine-type property

Go to Setup > Site Configuration > 5 (Step 5 - Define Machine Types).
Click the index of the target machine type and then click its Properties tab.
In the Properties tab you'll see that the machine type has a number of default properties set. Each machine type will have different default properties.
In the Actions Menu choose Create New Property.
In the Create New Machine Type Property dialog box:
1. Select the source for the property. (Sources serve as a kind of base template that save time in the following step of customization.)
2. Set its name.
3. Click Finish.
The property is added to the list of properties in a new row.
1. Click the index of the property to open its pop-up form and configure the property's various settings (see following section for information on each setting). Save changes and close the form.
2. Make sure the property's Is Active check box is active, otherwise it won't be presented in the recipe form.
3. In the Display Order cell, enter a number to set the property's ordinal position in the recipe form relative to other production parameters. The system uses an ascending order, with the smallest number first.
4. (optional) Enter tooltip text to guide users what this property is for, or to provide any other helpful hints for entering values for this property.
5. Set whether the property is shown in recipes on the Operator app and if Operator app users can edit its value.
6. Click Save changes.

Walkthrough example of adding a property

Configuring each machine type property

Click the index of the property to open its form. The form includes three tabs: General, Display and Calculations. See the following sub-sections for information on the configurable settings of each tab.

Note: There are several fields that can be configured both in the property's dedicated form and in the property's row on the machine type's Properties form. The most current setting will apply to both levels.

General

Property English descr.	Enter the name of the property that will be presented in the Recipe's Production Parameters section. It's helpful to indicate the units for this property. For example, Unit Weight (g).
Property local descr.	If the site's local language is not English, enter here the name of the property in the local language.
ERP ID	If the property has an identifier in the client's ERP system, enter it here. NOTE: The property must have an ERP ID value when using data synchronization.
Is Active?	If this check box is cleared, the property isn't displayed in the Recipe's Production Parameters section.
Allow Change / Is Editable	Select one of these check boxes to enable editing the property's value.
Allow Null	Properties that allow null, are properties that don't require filling in a value. If this check box is cleared, the property is a required parameter.
In Gantt	Select to add this property to the list of columns that can be shown to the left of the Gantt chart.
Always Saved	Set whether this property's value should be saved in the recipe regardless of if it was changed while editing the recipe, or not. This ensures its current value in the database table is used in the recipe.

Display

Data Type	Choose the property's data type: combox (drop-down list) number Boolean text
Display On Channel	Select this check box to add this property as a column in all the recipe's channels. NOTE: The property can be assigned either to the channel, or to the split--not both. If neither of these check boxes are selected, the property is displayed in the recipe's Production Properties section.
Display On Split	Select this check box to add this property as a column in all the recipe's splits. See note above in Display On Channel.
Display Standard Value	Keep the default of displaying the property's value.
Display Lower Tolerance	If the property has a lower control limit, display its value.
Display Higher Tolerance	If the property has an upper control limit, display its value.
Matrix Display	Currently not in use.
Matrix Display Type	Currently not in use.
Round	Set the number of digits following the decimal point per your required numeric precision.

Calculations

Here you can set functions that will be run to calculate the value of the property.

The function syntax is to surround the entire function with parentheses, to add the parameter indicator .FValue to each parameter, and to apply square brackets to each property. All mathematical operators are supported.

For example: (([ProductWeight.FValue] + 2) *.8)

Standard Value Calc Function	Function for calculating the property's value.
Lower Tolerance Calc Function	Function for calculating the property's lower limit value. For example if the lower limit is 90% of the property's standard, the function could be: `(ProductWeight.FValue *0.9)`
Higher Tolerance Calc Function	Function for calculating the property's upper limit value. For example if the upper limit is 110% of the property's standard, the function could be: `(ProductWeight.FValue *1.1)`
Calc Update	The policy for applying Standard Value Calc Function calculations to this property's standard (indicated in the recipe with a calculator icon): Always Update - the value retrieved from a specific table if custom scripting was implemented is used for populating this property's value in the recipe. This will overwrite any other input, for example from data sync or manual entry. If there's a function in the Standard Value Calc Function field it will be ignored. Applying this policy overwrites input from data sync and manual entry. Update When Null - the value from the Standard Value Calc Function calculation is applied ONLY when there's no value for this property in the recipe. Update By Calc Function - the value from running the function in Standard Value Calc Function is used for populating this property's value in the recipe. This will overwrite any other input, for example from data sync or manual entry. Calc Update settings apply only to the property's standard, not to its upper and lower limits.
Tolerance Update	The policy for applying the Lower Tolerance Calc Function and Higher Tolerance Calc Function calculations: Update Tolerance - the value from running the functions is used for populating this property's upper and lower limits in the recipe. This will overwrite any other input, for example from data sync or manual entry. Do nothing - The tolerance functions are ignored after the first time the tolerance calculation function is run and this opens the option to update the tolerance settings manually.
Calc Order	Set with an ordinal number when this property is calculated in complex functions--those functions that make use of other properties to calculate a recipe standard. The number you set here is relative to the ordinal number of other properties and determines if this property is calculated before or after other properties. It requires understanding the correct calculation sequence to make sure you're not creating an infinite recursion.

The special case of the 'Units in Cycle' property

All recipes need to include the standard for how many units are produced in a cycle, this standard will be the basis for related performance calculations. The source for what the recipe will use and what the system will base its calculations on is determined in the machine-level > Connectivity-Data section's > Units In Cycle setting. The options are: Units in Cycle from Mold, Units in Cycle from Product, Units in Cycle from Job Recipe.

Units In Cycle from Mold

When this option is selected, the value filled for the mold's Cycle Units (Actual) parameter will be used as the recipe standard and any Units in Cycle setting at the job's recipe level will be ignored.

Units In Cycle From Product

Basing the Units In Cycle value on a product setting is an uncommon use-case and is considered to be a less convenient implementation.
If this option is selected, the value filled for the product's Pallets Units* parameter will be used as the recipe standard. (*Can be customized)

Units In Cycle From Job Recipe

When this option is selected, the value filled for the job recipe's Units in Cycle production parameter will be used as the recipe standard. This parameter's name may be different at your site for and for different recipes, since it's based on the 'MoldCavities' property, a property included in every machine type's default properties, which can be labeled as you wish. In the screen capture below you can see on the left the property's default legacy name 'MoldCavities' and on the right its current labeling for our demo site in the English and Local description fields:

MoldCavities machine type property with default name and updated labels

Overwriting the source units in cycle value

Change units in cycle is available as an action for jobs in status 03 (approved for production) and status 11 (suspended), in addition to jobs in status 10 (actively running).

This can be very useful for those who plan production with the Gantt and their production is based on molds, since it enables viewing the correct job duration when there's advance notice of changes to the units in cycle. For example a mold with a damaged cavity. This will overwrite the value that's populated in the job from any of the sources above (mold, product, job recipe).

Enable this through the new machine-level Overwrite new jobs' source Units In Cycle value check box.

Overwrite Units in Cycle From Source on New Job check box in context

Channel percentage property

For extrusion machines that integrate dosing systems you may want to provide the option of setting the relative percentage of each channel's materials in job and product recipes.

Where the relative percentage of a channel will be shown in the recipe form

To do so, you must enable the ChannelPC property and configure its display settings as follows:

Make sure that for the extrusion (or extrusion-based) machine type the ChannelPC property is active.
The ChannelPC property is available only for this type of machine.
In the ChannelPC property's Display tab, select the Display On Channel check box.
Still in the Display tab, verify that the Display On Split check box is cleared.
Save changes.