Production Tracking (PRT)

Production Tracking (PRT) is a specialized database designed for the purpose of tracking products as they progress through a factory.

  • PRT:Administration Interaction
  • PRT: Uses
  • PRT: Assignments
  • PRT: Associations
  • PRT: Decisions and Control Tools

PRT: Administration Interaction

Production Tracking has three points, which are:

  • The PRT User Interface.
  • Configuration files that you use to define your application
  • Optional application subroutines that you can use to customize your application

PRT: Uses

You can use Production Tracking to:

  • Receive information on items as they move through the production facility
  • Request information on the contents of Regions through which Items are being tracked
  • Add new Items to be tracked
  • Delete or modify Items currently being tracked; Locate specific Items being tracked
  • Place or remove external holds on tracked Items
  • Move Items between Regions.

PRT: Assignments

  • Each product in Production Tracking is assigned a tracking item that represents its location and associated attributes (e.g. Color, Part number, Entry time) within the PRT database.
  • Physical areas of the factory are assigned Regions in the PRT database.

A product's physical location corresponds to its tracking item's location, defined within PRT by its PRT Region and PRT Region Location.

PRT: Associations

Products and areas are often associated in some physical or logical fashion on the factory floor, a concept represented within PRT by a hierarchical grouping scheme.

Feature Description Note
1 One or more items Are single entities. Items can be associated with one another to represent the progress of a group of products through the factory.
2 Each location
  • Contains one or more items.
  • Is a physical space within a region.
3 Each Region
  • Contains one or more locations.
  • Must be the member of at least one tracking region group.
 Example Regions can represent bins, conveyors and workstations on the factory floor that are in physical or logical proximity to one another.
4 A PRT Group
  • Contains one or more regions.
  • All regions in the group must be assigned to the same PRT process service ID.
 Groups:
  • Organize regions by physical location or by function.
  • Allow a user to search for items, or groups of items, based on several criteria.
5 A PRT Service Supports an independent list of one or more groups.
6 PRT Services Have one or more (multiple) copies of the PRT process running simultaneously. Services are at the highest level of the hierarchy with a unique object name,

PRT: Decisions and Control Tools

Within the PRT database via several subsystems, items can be

  • Added
  • Deleted
  • Moved or
  • Modified

Subsystems include the following.

Subsystem Can do the following:
Transition Points (CIMPLICITY points) Move items from region to region based upon location or identification.
Basic Control Engine (BCE) Perform all functions available in PRT.
Application Programming Interface (API) Perform all functions available in PRT.
Graphical User Interface (PRT_UI) Perform all functions available in PRT.