Understanding Containers

Containers are a type of vessel that are used for sparkling operations. They are used in the system as virtual vessels in the same way as VBTs, describing a collection of containers. They do not represent a separate vessel class. Examples of container types are:

• Layer

• Pallet

• Bin

• Rack

• Bottles

Note: In contrast to barrels, you cannot assign styles or profiles to a container.

When you set a container master record, you define the container based on a container type and capacity that you set up previously. You can define the size of the container based on user-defined smaller container units. For example you can specify that one bin contains a certain number of bottles.

For operation, you can use containers in three different ways:

• As individual containers with a quantity of one to enable individual tracking of containers.

• As single containers representing a collection to enable a higher level of tracking.

  For example, you can set up a container with a capacity of 12 bottles. If you specify two containers in the operations, you actually use 24 bottles, but you track the collection at the container level.

• As single containers representing a collection but with the capability of listing each lower-level container by a reference serial number.

  For example, a layer might include four pallets, and you enter each pallet with a separate reference serial number.

The system provides four base operations that use containers, but you can also use containers for some other operations that are set up to allow overriding the vessel class.