Occupancy information for auxiliary equipment can be just as important as main equipment’s, especially in processes currently in operation where the number of available auxiliary equipment to fit the needs of this process may be limited. SuperPro Designer presents a utilization information on the currently supported auxiliary equipment (CIP Skids and SIP Panels) in a variety of formats (similar to main equipment).
This chart is essentially part of the main equipment occupancy chart (EOC) assuming auxiliary equipment are allowed to be presented. The Equipment Occupancy Chart (Single Batch) and Equipment Occupancy Chart (Multiple Batches) are presented when you select Single Batch or Multiple Batches, respectively, on the Charts } Equipment Occupancy menu of the application. By default, the EOC for a process will include on the y-axis all main equipment as well any auxiliary equipment (CIP Skids, SIP Panels) currently utilized by the process. However, selecting Include / Exclude / Order Equipment from the right-click menu of the chart allows you include exclusively (if needed) just the auxiliary equipment of your choice in the chart. The same command is also available from the Equipment Occupancy Chart Style: Contents Tab.
For a full description of all services offered by the equipment occupancy chart, see Equipment Occupancy Chart.
The auxiliary equipment gantt chart is shared with the main equipment gantt chart (EGC). The Equipment Gantt Chart (Single Batch) and Equipment Gantt Chart (Multiple Batches) are presented when you select Equipment GC or Equipment GC (Multiple Batches), respectively, on the Tasks } Gantt Charts menu of the application. You can customize the contents of the main equipment’s gantt chart to show both main and auxiliary equipment or just auxiliary equipment. By default, the EGC for a process will include all main equipment as well any auxiliary equipment (CIP Skids, SIP Panels) currently utilized by the process. However, selecting Include / Exclude / Order Equipment from the right-click menu of the chart allows you include exclusively (if needed) just the auxiliary equipment of your choice in the chart. The same command is also available from the Equipment Occupancy Chart Style: Contents Tab.
For a full description of the equipment Gantt chart, see Equipment Gantt Chart.
As auxiliary equipment (like CIP skids) are sometimes a bottleneck in the scheduling of a process, users may find the auxiliary equipment demand chart very useful in answering the following question: “Given the current scheduling of operations in my process, how many skids are needed to service the CIP operations?” Note that in answering the question we don’t have to set specific assignments of skids to operations. This chart essentially tracks how many CIP operations (that require a skid) are ‘on’ (or active) during the execution of a single batch or during multiple (stacked) batches. The CIP Skid demand Chart (Single Batch) and CIP Skid demand Chart (Multiple Batches) are presented when you select Single Batch or Multiple Batches, respectively, on the Charts } Aux. Equipment Demand } CIP Skids menu of the application. Similarly, the SIP Panels demand Chart (Single Batch) and SIP Panel demand Chart (Multiple Batches) are presented when you select Single Batch or Multiple Batches, respectively, on the Charts } Aux. Equipment Demand } SIP Panels menu of the application.
Once specific assignments of auxiliary equipment to operations that require them have been made, users need to know how ‘heavy’ is the current utilization of available units. Such information can be used in two ways:
a) Realign the engagements such that there is a more evenly distributed use of the equipment
b) If there is a need for a new assignment, use the equipment that is currently less utilized
The auxiliary equipment utilization breakdown can be presented when you select View } Utilization Breakdown } Aux. Equipment the from the main menu of the application. For a detailed definition of all the terms that appear in the table (busy time/fraction, idle time/fraction, relative load (RL) and relative utilization (RL), see Occupancy Indices.