Updating Cycle Time    

This procedure describes how to update the calculated cycle times associated with a particular activity.  The default cycle time for each activity is recalculated as a simulation runs.  This command enables you to determine what the cycle times are without running a complete simulation, and consequently enables you to make modifications to activities prior to running a simulation.

There are two commands that update cycle time:

  • Update Process Cycle Time
  • Update Resource Cycle Time 

This procedure uses Update Process Cycle Time as an example for describing the basic functions of each.  For a discussion of the special features of Update Resource Cycle Time  , see Resource Cycle Time, below, and for a more complete discussion of the resource simulation generally, see About Resource Simulation.

The calculated cycle time differs from the specified cycle time for speed-based activities such as device and robot-based actions; for most assembly and simulation activities, the two times are identical once the cycle time command has been run. 

This procedure can be run with the Gantt chart view of the process present, in which case, the Gantt chart also shows the time of each activity. (See Tools > Options > Digital Process for Manufacturing > Gantt Chart tab in Process and Resource Definition User's Guide). 
To use this procedure, you must have a process created.
It is recommended that you first run the simulation using Process Simulation or Resource Simulation to make sure your process is running correctly (e.g., that your robot is not attempting to reach unreachable tags), and then use the Update Process Cycle Time or Update Resource Cycle Time  to update the calculated cycle times.

  1. (Optional) Click Open Gantt Chart.

    Opening the Gantt chart view enables you to see, graphically, each operation, in sequence, and its associated calculated time.

  2. Click Update Process Cycle Time .

    The Update Process Cycle Time  dialog box appears with a progress bar showing the command updating the calculated cycle time for all the activities in the process.  On the dialog box, the current status (in percents) and the estimated time remaining (in hours, minutes and seconds) is displayed.
    You can click Cancel to interrupt the command before finishing the update. Activities that were already processed before you pressed Cancel do have their cycle times updated.
      If a problem is encountered while the simulation is running (e.g., an unreachable point), the command stops processing at that point.  You can modify the process to eliminate the error, then run Update Process Cycle Time again to finish processing.
 

Resource Cycle Time

  Update Resource Cycle Time    updates the cycle time for the whole resource world (i.e. the whole hierarchy of the processes present in the resource tree is included in the simulation when updating the calculated cycle time).

To be able to see the calculated cycle time, open the Gantt chart for the resource in which you are interested. (See Tools > Options > Digital Process for Manufacturing > Gantt Chart tab in Process and Resource Definition User's Guide).