Repetitive Schedule Allocation
Repetitive schedule allocation is the process by which the repetitive planning process takes suggested aggregate repetitive schedules and allocates them across one or more work in process production lines. After repetitive schedule allocation, the sum of all suggested repetitive schedules for an assembly should always equal the suggested aggregate repetitive schedule for the same assembly.
The repetitive schedule allocation process is driven by suggested aggregate repetitive schedules, and line priorities and line speeds you define in the Oracle Work in Process window, Define Repetitive Assembly. An example of repetitive schedule allocation is illustrated in the following diagram. The example illustrates how various suggested aggregate rates would be divided and allocated across three production lines.
In the example, lines A and B have the same line priority, 1, while line C has a line priority of 2. You assign line priorities to help the repetitive planning process decide which lines it should allocate repetitive schedules to. In the example, you may have customized lines 1 and 2 to manufacture your assembly with minimum waste and optimum speed. It may be possible, but more expensive, to also build the assembly on line C, so you assign it a lower priority.
You define line speeds to represent the rate at which an assembly can be manufactured on specific production lines. Different assemblies may require different line speeds on the same production line. Similarly, the same assembly may require different line speeds on different production lines. The line speed for an assembly, on a given production line, must fall within the minimum and maximum hourly rates defined for the production line in the Oracle Work in Process window, Define Production Line. The example assumes line speeds of 400/hour, 200/hour and 100/hour for lines A, B and C, respectively.
Aggregate Rate Allocation
Notice that until the aggregate rate exceeds 400/hour, the rate is distributed evenly across lines A and B. This is because lines A and B share the same priority, which also happens to be the highest priority defined for the assembly, and because lines A and B have line speeds of 400/hour and 200/hour respectively.
Once the rate exceeds 400/hour, line B is fully loaded. Since there is still capacity available on line A, the repetitive schedule allocation process continues to load line A until it too is fully loaded. It is only when both lines A and B are fully loaded that the repetitive schedule allocation process uses the line priorities to decide which lines to use to allocate any remaining portion of the suggested aggregate rate.
In the example, any aggregate rate between 601 and 700 units/hour is allocated to line C. Once all lines available for building the assembly have been fully loaded, the repetitive schedule allocation process loads any additional unallocated rates evenly across the highest priority lines, in this case lines A and B.
