Introducing the Plant Model
The main function of the plant model in Plant Applications is to describe definable properties of discrete operating units (equipment) that make up production lines.
Plant Applications provides a five-level hierarchical tree for creating a model of your plant layout. The five levels are:
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Department: The Department is the top level of the tree and can be used to group production lines that produce similar products.
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Production Line: Production Lines are a collection of equipment that operates together to produce a product.
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Production Unit: Within the production line, production units are used to define a discrete unit of operation and which are capable of consuming materials and producing products. The production unit is the key element in the plant model where models, variables, calculations, products, recipes, and production events are associated. Because production units represent independent events, such as downtime, waste, and production runs, a production unit in the Plant Applications plant model may or may not be a physical piece of equipment on your plant floor. Production units must be defined by the events you need to capture.
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Variable Group: Variable Groups are used to group similar variables, which are associated with a specific production unit.
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Variables: Variables are discrete data elements that provide a location for data storage and generation. For example, variables can be lab tests or process values for a specific production unit.