MachineMetrics Integration Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Introduction
The MachineMetrics and VISUAL ERP integration is using automated workflows to send data between both systems. The first release of this solution is designed to support these two main functions:
- Automate the MachineMetrics job import function based on a VISUAL database view of work order operations.
- Automatically create VISUAL labor tickets from the MachineMetrics production data with configurable options.
The following questions have been asked by Synergy staff or customers or prospects regarding our MachineMetrics integration solution. Expand the Table of Contents above to review all the questions. Please keep in mind that some of these items will be transferred to a Zoho Project list of Enhancement Ideas if they are not critical requirements for the initial release of our integration solution. Enhancements will be prioritized and added to our roadmap for future solution updates.
How could using MM as a dispatch align with Scheduling since MM doesn't display a recommended order?
Since the MachineMetrics operator dashboard and job system is not designed to be a dispatch solution, our integration has not been designed to replace or enhance any previous job dispatch functionality. Most customers will have several other operations that are part of a work order but do not use a MachineMetrics connected machine. So other standard solutions need to be used including the Foreman's Dispatch Report, Scheduling Reports, and Shop Floor. We have asked the MM developers about adding other fields to the "Select Job" function that could include work order operation scheduled dates or WO want dates. But then that view would also need to support sorting beyond the standard alphanumeric sorting by Job ID. It is also worth mentioning that our job import workflow is based on a view in the database, so jobs can be filtered using other methods. It's feasible that the job list could contain only the one, two, or X number of jobs that a supervisor wants the operators to run on a specific day or shift.
Is it sending the WO Resource or the Scheduled Resource? I.e. if you have groups what’s getting transferred over to MM?
The job import is only sending the Work Order Base ID, Lot ID, Split ID, Sub ID, and Operation Sequence Number. It is not sending the WO Resource ID as that is not required for labor reporting. The Resource ID is used to assign the Job to a specific machine. That would be the Resource ID on the Work Order with a possible cross-reference to MachineMetrics Machine ID using a user-defined fields in Shop Resource Maintenance. Since there could be an issue with groups and/or the ability to schedule an operation to use a different resource (Machine ID), this could be an issue with the job import routine. This item will be added to an issue list in the MM Integration Issues Zoho Project to be reviewed and discussed further.
ISSUE
Does it let multiple people scan into multiple resources at the same time (prorate labor)?
MachineMetrics does allow individual operators to Start multiple jobs, even if they have not used the "Stop Job" for previous running jobs. The integration currently does not support prorating an operator's time. This issue raises the questions of employee labor cost versus machine running cost and other factors (prorate cost vs prorate hours). However, if a customer is currently reporting labor manually or with Wedge Barcode or with Shop Floor Mobile, our integration will likely need to mimic those other labor collection methods. It is possible to create labor tickets with our integration in a way that prorates labor if that's what the customer needs. There is an Infor KB article with more details on the ACT_CLOCK_IN and ACT_CLOCK_OUT fields that handle these situations. This item will be added to the integration enhancement idea list.
Enhancement Idea
Is it the employee logged into MM that matches the employee whose labor ticket it is?
Yes, the Operators in MM need to be created with the first few digits or alphanumeric characters matching the Employee IDs in VISUAL. This configuration will be part of the customer implementation of the MM-VISUAL integration.
If you make a change in Visual LTE, does it talk back to MM data to correct it?
No, it is not possible to change MachineMetrics data with this integration. Any labor reporting corrections need to be made on the MM side and then edit or re-create the labor tickets.
If logging into MM, will it look at predecessor operations (out of sequence setting that prevents visual labor ticket)
No, our integration can't prevent the operator from starting operations out of sequence in MachineMetrics. It should be noted that two integration options were considered. One was using VISUAL Shop Floor for the Clock-in/Clock-out and Start Job/Stop job transactions and then send the Start Job/Stop Job commands to MachineMetrics. Then only the quantity complete and quantity deviated would be returned to VISUAL. The other option was to continue to use the Operator Dashboard in MachineMetrics for the Start Job/Stop Job commands and bring all the production time and production quantity back to VISUAL. It was decided that we first pursue the latter integration method. It's possible we will consider the other option (using VISUAL to control Labor) in the future. In that scenario, normal VISUAL rules like predecessor operations would apply.
Enhancement Idea
Have we vetted this against a real customer database yet and gone through the paces/tests. What is the plan to pilot this?
No, not yet (as of May 31, 2021). We have several customers interested and the first few customers will be our test customers.
How does MachineMetrics handle the "Setup Complete" or "Run Complete" for VISUAL labor tickets?
The term "setup" in MachineMetrics is more about tracking machine running time that should not be considered part of production. There are options for each job (operation) to start in production, start in setup, or start in setup with expected time. If configured, our integration can capture setup time from the job. Setup would be assumed to be complete when the same job enters production. The MachineMetrics operator dashboard currently does not prompt the operator if a job (or operation) is complete when they select "Stop Job". Our integration cannot, therefore, automatically mark operations as complete in VISUAL without that prompt. We are considering using a user-defined field for "percentage of quantity complete" to automatically mark operations complete in VISUAL. The default might be greater than or equal to 100%. However, if a customer wants to enter 95%, for example, our integration workflow can mark an operation complete if the quantity reported complete is greater than 95%. We have an open request to MachineMetrics to add a prompt for the operator to indicated if an operation should be marked complete.
Enhancement Idea
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