Production Sequencing – Craft Beer

Posted on: December 15, 2019 | By: David Occhionero | Microsoft Dynamics AX/365

Production sequencing is a function in D365 Production control that is not always configured.  An example of sequencing an be applied to a fictional company who uses D365 for producing craft beers.  The facility may only have a couple of tanks and the beers to produce in each of these thanks may need to be sequenced to maximize run times and quantities and minimize cleanups.

The scenario

Let’s assume that our fictional company has 3 flagship beers and a 4th that is seasonal.  The flag ships in this example are the Pilsner, Sour, and IPA while the Stout is a seasonal beer that is available once every couple of months.

Sequence Setup

In my example I have created a two-month sequence and have ranked each sequence value.

Item Configuration

I applied my sequence values to my items in D365.  This scenario is simple because each sequence value has a 1:1 relationship with an item number.  If the scenario had two pilsners variants, we may have applied two pilsner item numbers to the pilsner sequence.  D365 would have picked up both item numbers when master planning.

MRP/Resource Setup

Now that the item configuration portion of the sequencing is complete, we must navigate to the tank (Resource in D365) where brewing execution is occurring.  Here we will select the two-month sequence for the stout seasonal.

The final piece of setup involves the execution of the sequencing in MRP.  There is a flag under the master plan that tells MRP how many days are in each campaign cycle.  Continuing our beer example, our campaign is good for 2 months, because of the 60-day setup.  The sequencing time fence setup also comes into play for looking “x” number of days in the future for requirements.

Once configuration is complete and the master plan has run, find and act on the appropriate orders from the Sequenced planned orders page.

Other considerations

  • When coming up with a sequence ID think about levels of granularity
    • Would this sequence apply to all seasonal across a year (i.e. a Hazy in the summer, an Oktoberfest in the fall?)
  • Does the sequencing time fence have to be dialed in more than other time fences?

 

For additional information scheduling in D365, or MRP in general please feel free to reach out to us at info@loganconsulting.com or (312) 345-8817.

All the best!

Logan Consulting
www.loganconsulting.com



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