Introduction

In this blog post, you will learn how to create a production process that calls an API to create process lots automatically. But first, let’s start with a brief overview of process lots!

Benefits of Process Lots

In SAP Digital Manufacturing, a process lot is a group of SFCs (Shop Floor Control) with a unique ID. Process lots help you to simplify the execution of SFCs with common production characteristics. They ensure control and traceability of production activities throughout the manufacturing cycle. Overall, they streamline manufacturing operations and guarantee more efficient workflows.

Process lots offer many benefits to manufacturers, depending on your industry and your specific business requirements. For instance, you can use them to schedule orders, monitor material movement, maintain quality control, optimize inventory, analyse performance, and meet regulatory standards.

You can manage and work with process lots in the Work Center and Operation Activity PODs. You can add and remove SFCs from a process lot at different points during the manufacturing process. However, the SFCs within a process lot cannot be processed separately, as the lot is processed as a whole.

There are different methods available for creating process lots. This blog post will specifically focus on how to create process lots by creating a production process in the Design Production Processes app. This method is highly recommended because SFCs are automatically grouped into process lots once an event that you define in the production process happens.

Read the procedure or watch the video below for a step-by-step demonstration.

Procedure

Prerequisites

• You have configured a Work Center or an Operation Activity POD to work with process lots. Learn more about this on Configuring PODs for Process Lots | SAP Help Portal.
• You have at least two eligible SFCs to add to your lot.
• You have the role of Automation_Engineer or Production_Engineer to create production processes.

Procedure

Step 1. Create a production process design.

1. Choose the Design Production Processes tile from the SAP Digital Manufacturing Launchpad.
2. In the Design Production Processes app, choose Create.
3. In the dialog box that appears, enter a name for your production process.
4. Choose Create.

Step 2. Create a new production process.

1. On the Welcome screen, choose the ‘Add’ icon to create a new process.
2. Enter the same name that you gave to your process earlier and select Cloud from the Runtime Type dropdown box.
3. Choose Create.

Step 3. Define your production process.

1. Choose the ‘Pencil’ icon to open the Editor.
2. From the Controls panel, drag and drop a Start and an End element onto the canvas.
3. Search for the Create Process Lot element on the Services and Processes panel. You can find the element below the Process Lot node.
4. Drag a Create Process Lot element to the canvas and drop it between the Start and End elements.
5. Connect the elements in order using the arrow icon.

Step 4. Add parameters to the elements in your canvas.

1. Choose the Create Process Lot element to check the required input parameters.
2. Choose the Start element to add those input parameters.
3. Choose Manage Parameters from the side bar menu.
4. In the Manage Parameters dialog box, choose Create 3 times to add the different parameters.
5. Enter ‘number’ as the name of your first parameter and select String as its data type.
6. Enter ‘plant’ as the name of your next parameter and select String as its data type.
7. Enter ‘members’ as the name of your last parameter and select StructureArray as its data type.
8. Open the Schemas browse and search for ProcessLotMemberApiModel.
9. Select the schema and choose Add.
10. Choose Save.
11. Choose the Create Process Lot element to add input parameters to it.
12. On the Input tab, select ‘number’ from the number (String) dropdown list and ‘plant’ form the plant (String) dropdown list.
13. Open the members browse to select the structure array value for the ‘members’ parameter.
14. Choose Save and then Continue.
15. Choose Save All to complete the design of your production process.

Step 5. Deploy your production process.

1. Choose Quick Deploy and then Deploy and Activate.

Step 6. Check that your production process runs correctly.

1. Choose Run.
2. In the new dialog box, enter the name of your process lot in the number field and the name of your plant in the plant field.
3. Open the members browser and delete lines 3 to 9 from the Input Structure Value, as shown in the following image.
4. Enter the name of your plant and the number of the SFC you want to include in your process lot.
5. Repeat the structure shown in step 3 for every SFC that you want to add to your lot. You can also copy and paste the code sample below:

   [
       {
           "sfc": {
               "sfc": " ",
               "plant": " "
           }
       },
       {
           "sfc": {
               "sfc": " ",
               "plant": " "
           }
       }
   ]

6. Choose Run again. Your production process is now running, and your process lot should be visible on your POD.

Conclusion

In conclusion, process lots play a crucial role in SAP Digital Manufacturing by helping manufacturers optimize their production processes, improving quality control, enhancing traceability and ultimately increasing efficiency throughout the manufacturing lifecycle. You can create your own process lots automatically by executing a production process in the Design Production Process App.

You can visit SAP Digital Manufacturing | SAP Help Portal for more information about process lots.

If you found this blog post helpful, please give it a like and share it with your colleagues! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.

Best wishes,

Irene Cano