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Resource Modeling

Consumable or Replenishable Resources

Certain types of resources can be consumed or replenished by an activity. Examples include energy, water and money. For example, a powder coat paint operation uses a powdered coating process to paint chairs. Each chair uses .6 lbs of paint and when the powder paint reservoir reaches 10 lbs., it is replenished back up to 300 lbs.

Keeping a Resource through Two or More Activities

Consecutive activities require the continued use of a resource. (If this is the only resource working at these activities, it may be possible to model the entire activity sequence as a single activity.) For example: A manufacturing cell consists of three manually performed operations (Operation A, Operation B and Operation C). A single resource (Operator) runs the cell performing all operations consecutively for each part before starting a new one.

Prioritizing Resource Access from Different Activities

In this solution two different activities have different priorities for acquiring a particular resource. For example, two different operations (Op A and Op B) in a manufacturing cell require the same operator (Bob) to run the machine. In situations where both operations are waiting for Bob to become available, it is desirable to have Bob run Op B before running Op A when he becomes available.

Prioritizing Resource Access for Two Different Entity Types at the Same Activity

This solution shows two different entities at the same activity being given different priorities for acquiring a particular resource. For example, two different claim forms (High Priority and Low Priority) are processed through an approval process. Both require the use of an officer but High Priority claims should always be processed before low priority claims.

Sharing Resources

Sometimes two or more activities or moves require the use of the same resource to perform the activity. For example, jobs coming into a print shop are loaded into one of two different printing machines (Print 1 and Print 2) depending on the type of job it is. Both machines require the use of an operator to load and start the machine which takes N(2,.8) minutes to complete.

Using Alternative Resources Solution A

An activity or routing can use one of several different resources to perform the task. For example: Patients entering a surgical department prep room are prepped by a nurse or a surgical assistant, whichever is available first. Prep time takes N(5,1) minutes. Solution A uses Activity Logic. Solution B uses Resource Groups.

Using Alternative Resources Solution B

An activity or routing can use one of several different resources to perform the task. For example: Patients entering a surgical department prep room are prepped by a nurse or a surgical assistant, whichever is available first. Prep time takes N(5,1) minutes. Solution A uses Activity Logic. Solution B uses Resource Groups.

Using a Resource at an Activity

Some activities require the use of a resource to perform the activity. (Note: if a resource is dedicated to a single activity, it is generally unnecessary to model the resource explicitly. The capacity of the activity implicitly represents the number of resources working there.) For example: An Operator runs a punch press, but is sometimes needed to perform other tasks to be defined elsewhere in the model. The punch press has a cycle time of 1.2 minutes.


 
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