Sawtooth merge Conveyor

We are trying to simulate our distribution center and we are currently working on the conveyor piece. We have 5 lines of conveyor that merge onto one sawtooth merge conveyor. The 5 lines release, onto the sawtooth merge, round robin with a time of 10 seconds per line. I'm having problems with getting the proper timing on the 5 lines of conveyor and the sawtooth merge. Has anyone else delt with a sawtooth merge? And how do I go about getting the round robin release to work correctly? I know it's going to be on my exit triggers of the 5 lines of conveyor on on the entry trigger of the merge but I'm pretty sure I have to write code and I'm not sure what to write.

Thank you for your help,
-Casey-

Casimira,

I am not sure, if I understood correctly what you wanted to do. Attached you find a model with these changes:
- Direction of MergeSort adjusted
- PullRequirement changed
- EntryTrigger changed

The way it works is as follows: Everytime a FlowItem reaches the end of an infeed conveyor, the pullrequirement is evaluated. This compares the port ALL entryports with the value of the label EntryPort. If an item is available at the specified port it enters the mergesort. Whenever an item enters, the label is incremented and reset to 1 once it overruns the number of input ports.
The tricky part is to open and close all outputs in the EntryTrigger to make sure, the PullRequirement is evaluated again. Otherwise nothing is going to happen when there is an item available at any input port.

Come back with any questions if I missed the point.

Best wishes

Ralle
aka Ralf (Flexsim)

Hi Ralf,
I must be doing something wrong. When I try to open the file you attached I receive an error saying, "Them compiler detected syntax errors. Would you like to open Visual C++? This facilitates checking the syntax." What am I doing in correctly?
Thanks again,
-Casimira-

Hi Casimira,

I checked the uploaded file and it works for me. Which Flexsim version do you use? The model I posted is in 5.1.2.

Best wishes

Ralle
aka Ralf (Flexsim)

I am using version 5.0....is it possible I have a setting off somewhere? Thank you so much for all of your help

Casimira,

I would suggest to either update your version to 5.1.2 or to download the evaluation version and install it parallel to your 5.0 install. So you could watch the model an 5.1.2 and apply the changes to your model in 5.0.

Best wishes

Ralle
aka Ralf (Flexsim)

Ok, I was finally able to see what you suggested.....unfortunately I'm not able to have the latest Flexsim version and my version on the same PC. So I have to uninstall one and reinstall the other. But that's ok.

The next part of this is how to get the merge to be set to a "round robin" timing. So each conveyor releases every 10 seconds and I have 4 conveyors connected to the merge. When one conveyor releases the other 3 let product build until their 10 seconds has come to turn. It's round robin because of the product flow and the timing with the flow. If conveyor 3 doesn't have product then the timing is split the between the other 3.

Hopefully this makes sense.

Thank you for all of your help.

Originally Posted by CasimiraFederspiel

Ok, I was finally able to see what you suggested.....unfortunately I'm not able to have the latest Flexsim version and my version on the same PC. So I have to uninstall one and reinstall the other. But that's ok.

From the installer notes txt file:

================================================== =============================

Normally, only one Flexsim 5 installation can be installed on a computer at a
time. To install multiple 5.x versions on one computer, see the "How To Install
Multiple 5.x Versions On Your Computer" instructions below before installing.

================================================== =============================
How To Install Multiple 5.x Versions On Your Computer

For some of our users, it is useful to keep several versions of Flexsim 5
installed on the same computer. Here are instructions for keeping several
working copies of various Flexsim 5 versions installed simultaneously.

1. BEFORE you install the new version, do the following:
2. Create a new folder (not in the c:\Program Files or c:\Program Files(x86)
folders) on your hard drive for the saved version.
3. Copy (do NOT move) the entire Flexsim5 folder (default location is
C:\Program Files\Flexsim5 or C:\Program Files(x86)\Flexsim5 on 64-bit OSs)
of the current version to your newly created folder.
4. Change your desktop icon properties (right mouse click on icon) to reflect
the location to which you copied your current Flexsim 5 version. Also
change the name of your icon slightly so it won't be overwritten by the
new version when you install it.
5. Install the new version as per the Installation instructions above.