Auto-Consumption of Lineside Inventory

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Introduction

This automation will speed up your production processes by reducing the manual input of data into your assemblies’ as-built records. When you complete either the first or last step of a run, the automation will search for available locations and consume inventory based on the mBOM for that run. Serial-tracked items will not be consumed. This automation will consume older revisions of the same part.

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Part Interchangeability

This automation will consume older revisions of the same part if they are available. For example, let say you have 3 revisions of the same part with inventory at the location:

• Rev A - Quantity of 10 on hand at the location
• Rev B - Quantity of 30 on hand at the location
• Rev C - Quantity of 5 on hand at the location

If the mBOM requires a quantity of 40 of that part then auto consumption will consume:

• 5 of Rev C
• 30 of Rev B
• 5 of Rev A

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Setup

This manual guides users through setting up an auto consumption system to automatically consume lineside inventory upon completion of a designated run step.

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Getting Started

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Key Concepts

• aBOM (As-Built Record): A digital record of components used in production.
• Auto Consumption: Automated consumption of inventory items from predefined locations.

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Setup

To ensure the automation runs correctly you need to set up a location hierarchy and locations on the procedures you want to run Auto Consumption for.

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Location Hierarchy:

Below is an example of the location hierarchy you will need to set up in order for the automation to run.

• Workstation: This is where the run steps are being completed. Can have inventory stored on itself or have child racks/totes under it.
• Child: The parent location is a workstation. Tote or rack.
• Parent: This is a work cell or work area. Can contain workstations and one lineside rack. Workstations under this parent will pull from the one rack.
• Sibling: Lineside rack location. Workstations have access to this location (MOST COMMON METHOD OF CONSUMPTION)

• In the above example, the work is being done at the location called “Workstation.” Because both “Lineside Rack 1” & “Lineside Rack 2” are siblings of “Workstation,” both are candidates for autoconsumption.

Procedure Configuration: To get the automation to run correctly you will need to specify a location on the procedure step. This will be the workstation location. To do so, use the drop-down in the procedure editor as shown here:

• We recommend that you set up a location on every step but at this time only the first or last steps need to have a location specified for the automation to run correctly

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Configuring the Automation

Navigate to our integrations page and search for Auto-Consumption. Press configure

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Step 1: Configure ion-api Connection

• refer to the API key documentation for information on how to get your API keys
• input your API keys into the following boxes and select your environment

Step 2: Setup Consumption Methodology

• Consumption Method:
  • First: first step of run (recommended)
  • Last: last step of run
• Consumption Location (see diagram above for more information):
  • workstation: consume directly from inventory at the workstation where the run step is being worked on
  • child: consume from child rack or tote of the workstation (limit 1 per workstation)
  • sibling: consume from the rack that is a sibling of the workstation (has the same parent as the workstation limit 1 per parent). Example: lineside rack

Step 3 (Optional): Setup a Manual Trigger The Auto-Consumption automation lets you configure a manual trigger. This is useful for situations when part inventory present on the build requirements gets moved to consumption location after auto-consumption has run. To configure this, add a boolean custom attribute on Runs. While configuring the Integration set the Manual Trigger Custom Attribute value to the name of the custom attribute you’ve added. To use the manual trigger, navigate to the desired run, open the Run Attributes and Labels modal and toggle the custom attribute we’ve just added from false to true. Note: toggling from no selection to True will not trigger, must be from False to True. If you don’t want a manual trigger, set Manual Trigger Custom Attribute to n/a. Step 4 (Optional): Limit consumption to specific work centers By default, auto-consumption runs throughout your factory. To restrict it to a chosen set of locations, set Auto-Consumption for Specific Locations to true, then add location IDs to Auto-Consumption Locations. The automation compares the list against the location set on the run’s first or last step, whichever your Consumption Method uses. A run consumes only when that step’s location is in the list. The list has no effect unless Auto-Consumption for Specific Locations is true. For example, a car plant running a phased rollout can limit auto-consumption to its battery pack stations: set Auto-Consumption for Specific Locations to true and list those stations’ location IDs. Runs whose triggering step runs elsewhere continue to use manual kitting. To add final assembly later, add its stations’ location IDs to the list. Step 5 (Optional): Notify a user of shortages To send a report when auto-consumption can’t fully consume the required parts, set Notified User to that person’s user ID. Leave it empty to send no report.

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Configuration reference

This table summarizes every option in the Auto-Consumption configuration:

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Frequently asked questions

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Coming soon

• Consumption of substitute parts