Object - Buffer

Beginner's Guide to Moicon

What does this article cover?

Buffers are temporary storage resources created by a processor.

Properties

Select a Buffer in your process model, the menu allows you to change properties.

  • Process Name: Buffer name.

  • Capacity: The maximum amount of resources that the buffer can contain.

  • Capacity Thresholds - Min (%); Max (%): If the buffer is being underutilized or is at or near capacity, an alert will be triggered.

  • Output Rate: Number of items output by unit of time.

  • Items produced: Total number of items produced.

Output Rate and Items Produced Indicators

The Output Rate is a measure of how quickly a Buffer object produces items. It is typically expressed in terms of the number of items produced per unit of time, such as items per minute or items per hour.

The Items Produced indicator is a variable that tracks the total number of items that have been produced by a Buffer object to monitor the overall efficiency of the Buffer object.

In a manufacturing system, the Output Rate and Items Produced indicators can be used to help optimize production and identify bottlenecks or other inefficiencies in the process. For example, if the Output Rate is low, it may indicate that the Buffer object is not operating at its full capacity, or that there is some other constraint that is limiting production. On the other hand, if the Output Rate is too high, it may result in an excess of inventory, which can increase storage and handling costs.

Overall, the Output Rate and Items Produced indicators are useful tools for understanding and improving the performance of Buffer objects in a manufacturing system.

Set the Output Routing Options

If an item is sending material to many targets, the Output Routing parameters are used.

Example: Items that come out of an assembly process, might be stored in one of numerous containers awaiting shipment. The materials are routed based on the possibilities available.

Choose the preferred Output Routing type from the drop-down menu:

  • Fixed Priority: The first target that was defined is given priority.

  • Shortest Queue: Select the target with the shortest queue.

  • Longest Queue: Select the target with the longest queue.

  • Round-Robin: Regardless of queue length, rotate targets in sequence.

  • Automatic re-routing: Automatically re-route remaining items in case selected output is at capacity