Batch Sensitivity

Batch sizes are defined on a routing to indicate that a physical constraint, such as a tank or mixer size, is associated with the routing.  If a fraction of a batch must be produced, the same amount of time is needed to produce the fraction as is needed to produce a full batch.

Two fields on the routing relate to this situation:  the sensitivity flag and the sensitivity factor.  These fields also appear on the Labor Requirements File (maintained with Shop Floor Control), which identifies the labor required to produce a manufacturing order.

The sensitivity flag indicates whether a fixed time operation is truly fixed (flag equal to No) or fixed time per batch (flag equal to Yes).  For example, the sensitivity flag for a cooling step would be set to no if the cooling location were large enough to be used for infinite batches.  The sensitivity flag for a mixing step would be set to yes if the mixer could only handle 100 gallons at a time.

The sensitivity factor is used to determine the point at which an additional batch of time is needed to complete an order.  For example, if the batch size for the mixing step is 100 pounds and the sensitivity factor is ten percent, an order quantity of 111 would require a second batch of time.

The sensitivity factor is used to calculate the number of batches necessary to fill an order as follows:

Number of Batches = Order Quantity - ((Sensitivity Factor / 100) * Batch Quantity)
                                                      Batch Quantity