Multiple workers sharing tasks

[martincrisford]

Hello Simio Forum, I have an issue I can’t quite get my head around.

In a warehouse model I have created I have a server that (via a task list table) seizes workers (2) from a list and a vehicle for a series of tasks.

In reality both workers work at the same time blending the individual tasks involved.

How can I reproduce this in the model plus what will happen if I only have 1 operator.

Issues

1. Can I seize both operators to perform a single task but if I have only 1 worker can the cycle time be extended

2. If I separate the individual tasks to worker 1, worker 2 (not done in reality) what happens if I only have 1 worker can he perform all tasks.

Cheers

Martin

[dsturrock]

Your 1st question requires a bit of careful logic to select from a varying availability of resources. But once you get them you can use an expression like this for your processing time if its linear:

NominalProcessingTime/ModelEntity.SeizedResources.NumberItems

Or if its non-linear something like this:

Math.If(ModelEntity.SeizedResources.NumberItems==1, 10.0, ModelEntity.SeizedResources.NumberItems==2, 6.5, ModelEntity.SeizedResources.NumberItems==3, 4.2, 2.8 )

Here's an example, but it was created in 8.145 so it may not work correctly until we post 8.145 (soon).SeizeMultipleFromAListOfWorkers.spfx

 

For your second question this seems like a perfect application of a simple TaskSequences inside Server. You would specify 2 parallel (potentially concurrent) tasks, each selecting from the same resource list. If only 1 resource is available, the tasks will get done sequentially, but if more than 1 is available they will be done concurrently.

[agraunke]

This is one of my favorite ways to have a server "delay" based on the work content and the quantity of workers available over time (for example, if the activity starts with one worker and then another becomes available part-way through to help):

http://www.simio.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2196&p=7149#p7149

-Adam