There are two separate Statuses that can be applied to any Material Batch within Flows. This article breaks down the functions and when they are applied.
There are various locations where these Batch Statuses can be viewed. The primary view is directly in the Material Batch page in Flows.
Within the QR app, the Batch Statuses are able to be seen at the top of the Batch Action page.
Material Batch - Overview Status
The Batch Status identifies where in the production process a material batch is currently placed:
Idle - This material batch is currently waiting in storage, ready to be used in production.
In-Use - The material has been loaded into a machine (or added via a top-off hopper).
Done - This material has either been consumed as part of the production process to make a part, or has been marked as Scrap and unable to be used in future production runs.
The flowchart below highlights the different processes that change the status of a material batch.
Material Batch - Powder Quality Status
We have implemented various Material Batch Quality Statuses, so that you can see at a glance whether the selected batch is 'ready to use'. Typically, this will mean that the material (powder) is virgin stock, or whether it has been cleaned after production by being sieved.
New - This is material that has come straight from a manufacturer as a lot. It has not been used in the production process and has not entered the build chamber of a machine.
Unsieved - This is material that has been used as part of production, but was not consumed by the manufacture of the parts. The system suggests that the batch will require sieving prior to being reloaded into a machine for future production runs - see the image below.
Sieved - This material batch has been put through the sieving process and is ready to be reloaded back into a production machine to be used.
Unknown - This status is only used for historic batches that have not been used since the Powder Quality Status was added to Flows. When you undertake an action on a batch with this status, the system will update it to sieved / unsieved based on the action performed.
Our QR app will warn you if you are about to do an action to / with a Material Batch that risks contaminating other material that is at a status of New or Sieved. These actions include direct actions, such as:
Loading material into a machine
Blending a material batch with another batch
Topping off a machine
Topping off a container that already contains material.
Usage Cycles
As material is used as part of production, the number of usage cycles increases. As standard, Flows counts the number of times the material is reclaimed from the build chamber as the trigger to increase the number of usage cycles by one tick.
Some customers have asked that the sieving process also counts towards the Usage Cycle increase. We can customise the system so that it tracks your requirements - we'd love to hear from you at support@authentise.com.
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