D-Crossing production cycle boundaries
This chapter explains how PCS processes workload that crosses production cycle and battle plan boundaries.
Crossing production cycle boundaries may be very common for shops with continuous batch windows. When the production cycles are contiguous and the battle plans are auto-activated, any outstanding workload transitions to the next battle plan in an orderly fashion.
Contiguous Production Cycle
The end time of one production cycle has to be within one minute of the start time of the next production cycle for them to be considered "contiguous".
Here's how the settings from the first battle plan are reconciled with the settings in the second battle plan:
Defaults and Options
In general a job belonging to the first battle plan retains its defaults and options when it transitions to the next battle plan; a job belonging to the second battle plan has the defaults and options applicable to its production cycle. Changes to the defaults and options in the active battle plan affect any applicable jobs in the second battle plan, including the transitioned jobs.
The exception is the treatment of a shifted acceptable time for an application - this value, Shf is not carried forward to the new battle plan, nor are any values for After Shift Time. If the shifted time for the application is still applicable, you must re-specify it in the second battle plan.
Alerts
Alerts are not applicable to any one battle plan, though filters may be set to restrict an alert to a specific production cycle (e.g., PC=APEXTUES). As the production cycle changes so does the set of applicable alerts.
If an alert is set in the Manage Ready/Active Battle Plan sub-dialog for an application, PCS automatically adds the filter for that production cycle and application.
Installation Lists
Installation lists are for this battle plan only, for a specific day-of -week production cycle or all production cycles. Thus when one production cycle ends and the new production cycle begins, the set of installation lists available to view is based on the new production cycle.
Exempt Job Instance List
In general, the Exempt Job List is used when the PCS Forecast Collection Utility is run and applies to all battle plans created after that.
Demand Job List
The Demand Job List is used when the PCS Forecast Collection Utility is run and applies to all the battle plans created after that.
If a job is confirmed during the first battle plan, it transitions the same as any other battle plan job. If the job is not confirmed in the first battle plan, and then is demanded in during the second battle plan, it is confirmed according the list for the second battle plan.
External Process List
The External Process List is used when the PCS Forecast Collection Utility is run and applies to all the battle plans created after that.
Battle Plan Activation Options
This option sets the number of battle plans, or the number days, over which a job can persist. If either limit is reached, PCS no longer displays the job; however it may still be in the system and need to be cancelled.
See the Battle Plan Activation Options for specification details.
Manually Activated and Closed Battle Plans
Hopefully a battle plan is activated close to the start of the production cycle. For instance, jobs expected by the battle plan might have already started; if they haven't completed, the battle plan will recognized them and proceed as normal.
If the battle plan is started some hours after the production cycle, some jobs may have started and completed, with their CA 7 status already unavailable. In this case these jobs are marked as Skipped in the active battle plan. Experience data is not collected.
If the workload is not complete when the production cycle ends and no new battle plan is activated, then the battle plan persists until all the jobs are completed.
If a battle plan is manually closed with jobs not yet complete and no new battle plan takes over, the information for these jobs in the closed battle plan is their status at the time of closing. Jobs already assigned to the PS queue continue being processed by SLM without any new information from PCS. Pending jobs are not processed by PCS and receive their non-PCS default treatment.
Non-contiguous Production Cycles
Though it is optimal that production cycles are contiguous (with no gaps between them) and the associated battle plans are auto-activated, there may be circumstances when there are gaps between production cycles or between manually started battle plans.
A tree started when there is no active battle plan is not processed by PCS nor are any of its triggered jobs. This can create confusion if the next battle plan expects the tree - its jobs are marked "skipped" or "did not run" when in fact they did and muddy the waters for jobs that legitimately were skipped or did not run. If a battle plan is manually started and one of the triggered jobs from a tree started in the gap is submitted, PCS treats it as an ad hoc job.
While production cycles should not have gaps between them, they also should not overlap, since jobs might be expected by more than one battle plan, causing similar confusions as described above.
Next Production Cycle
This is a feature in the Defaults and Options sub-dialog, where the next production is named so some defaults can be retrieved from the second production cycle.
See the details in Next Production Cycle section.
Relaxed fit rule
This rule is applied only at a production cycle boundary and only applies to acceptable times. See Acceptable Time Considerations for details.