Printing machines print with a drum to which a plate has been attached. If the circumference of the drum is smaller than the length of the product, printing is not possible. Moreover, if the drum circumference is too large, production efficiency drops. For these reasons, the drum needs to be replaced with a drum suitable for the length of the product. However, replacing the drum takes time and furthermore the printing machine must be stopped during drum replacement. When creating a schedule, we therefore seek to assign setups at the time drum replacement takes place. As mentioned in the previous section, there are three product lengths, 70 cm, 80 cm and 90 cm. Let's set the setup time when the product length is changed. Four orders have been entered. The product length for orders 001 to 003 is 70 cm. The product length for order 004 is 90 cm. The main point is that the setup time differs according to the product length combination. Setups involving such "combinations" cannot be registered in the Integrated Master editor table. Setup combinations are registered in the setup table so that, when the product length is changed, setups are assigned according to the combination. If the length is the same, the setup time is 0 seconds. Here, the setup time when switching from 70 cm to 80 cm is 120 minutes. In all other cases, it is 180 minutes. When != is set in the previous spec or the next spec, cases of differing specs can be registered together. Moreover, the width and thickness are determined by the item, and setups are also required when the item is changed. The item switch setup is set in the item setup table. Once the item has been switched, a 30-minute setup is set to be assigned. In conjunction with the various setup table settings, we also make settings in the Integrated Master editor table. We set 0 in the "Setup" field in the Master use instructions for the printing process. As the result of rescheduling with this setting, setups are assigned when the drum or item is switched. We set 1 in the "Setup" field in the Master input instructions for the printing process. As a result, when the prepress process operation is completed, the schedule for replacing the drum is assigned. Let's set -1 for "MAX suspend time between setup and production" of the printing machine. Once this is done, printing can be started on the same day that drum replacement is done. Let's reschedule. The thin bars assigned between operations are setups. The colors of the bars are color-coded based on length to facilitate understanding. The product lengths are set to Spec1, so display is done with the colors of Spec1. Red indicates 70 cm, and blue 90 cm. When the bar color changes from red to blue, in other words when the length changes from 70 cm to 90 cm, a 180-minute setup is assigned. Let's move the operation by dragging the mouse. We have moved the operation so that Item A switches to Item B. Since the item has been switched, a 30-minute setup is assigned. Next, let's move the operation so that the product length becomes the same. The setup has been eliminated. In this way, it is also easy to factor in setups in consideration of switches into the schedule. Furthermore, since workers frequently perform setups such as drum replacement, let's factor this in too. In the Integrated Master editor table, let's add setup workers. Specify "S0" in the "Instruction code" field. For resource code, we set Setup Worker, which is the workers who perform setups. Specify "0" in the "Production" field. When we reschedule, setups are assigned to Setup Worker also. If the setup workers are off work, just by changing the calendar, the system will look for another working day to assign the setup. In this way, you can easily create schedules that factor in the setup times for switches and the working time of the workers performing the setups.

• published: 30 Mar 2016
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