System Overview

Avista monitoring equipment is installed at the corrugator to verify cut counts and stacker discharges. A LaserJet printer is located at each stacker, an Avista Tag Manager Station is installed near the Bander, and an Avista Workstation is located in the Shipping Department. All stations are connected to an Avista Plant Network.

Prior to the first stack discharge for a new order, the System generates a printout at each stacker detailing the new order number, customer name and load building pattern. The tag is configurable to specific needs and generally contains order information used by the Stacker Operator for quality checks. An order summary sheet can be printed at the end of each order containing a list of all units produced for the partial as well as the counts, number of stacks and customer information for each load. This results in an accurate unit inventory for each unit produced or scrapped. Using data obtained from the monitoring equipment, the Tag Manager determines the actual number of sheets produced for each stacker discharge. It also assigns a unique control number to each completed unit and prints the load tag(s) with all required information, the actual sheet count and control number.

The Bander Operator views the individual units and load tags as they approach his work area. If he needs to correct, replace or generate a tag before banding the unit, he uses the Tag Manager software to produce the new tag on a printer located at his workstation. Using the System, the Operator simply selects a unit in the unit list and uses the Tag Manager’s edit features to make the necessary modifications. Once the modifications are complete, a new tag is automatically printed.

System Configurations

System configurations allow operators to specify if they wish to automatically print incoming tags, automatically print tags after edit and print Start of Order and End of Order summary tags. A Load Building Configuration Table maintains the smart load building parameters used to determine the stacking pattern for each unit produced. A Tag Configuration Table maintains information on all of the tags currently configured for the system.

Unit Manipulation

The Tag Manager allows an operator to edit tags in the unit list or load previously created units back into the system for re-printing of load tags, creating batches or for unit manipulation. The Tag Manager maintains a fixed number of old unit information in the queue for quick access to re-print or edit load tags before it automatically begins to remove older data. New units can easily be added to an order and created in the database using the Load Units feature. Once the unit(s) are loaded, an operator can then print tags for the unit, join one or more units together, split a created unit into smaller units, change unit counts, scrap units, and view history information on the status of the unit. Any and all unit manipulation is recorded and displayed in the unit history window.

Corrugator Management Solutions