Managing Consumables

You can manage consumables by adding or removing them from machines, robots, or transfer activities. Consumables help to complete tasks since they are objects that the action uses to the point of depletion during a simulation. Consumables can include batteries, welding rods, sanding discs, magnets, castors, and wheels.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin: Open a scenario that includes a machine or a robot and a transfer activity.
See Also
Context Menus
Adding Activities
Edit Time Distribution Dialog Box

Add a Consumable

You can add a consumable to a machine or a robot with the Add Consumable command.

  1. Click the Resource Configuration command from the Programming section of the action bar.
  2. In the Resource Configuration table that appears, right-click a machine.
  3. Mouse over Consumables and click Add Consumable .
  4. In the Add Consumable dialog box that appears, define the consumable's attributes.


    You can define the following attributes for the consumable:
    • Consumable Name: The name of the consumable.
    • Type: The measurement unit in length, width, or volume.
    • Total Consumable: The total consumable value.
    • Replenish Point: The replenish point for the consumable.
    • Stop Resource to Replenish: Allows you to specify whether or not the resource stops to replenish consumed materials.
  5. Click Assign Replenish Activity and edit the activity's attributes.


    The replenish activity is a generic activity type. You can define the following attributes for the replenish activity:
    • Name: The name of the replenish activity.
    • Duration: The duration of the replenish activity.
      • Time Distribution : Opens the Edit Time Distribution dialog box, where you can edit the time distribution for the Duration attribute.

    • Start Position: The start position for the replenish activity.
    • End Position: The end position for the replenish activity.
  6. Click Assigned resource pools > Assign.
  7. In Resource Pools dialog box that appears, select a single resource from the list, or select multiple resources by holding Ctrl while selecting several resource pools.


  8. Click OK to close the dialog box.
    The assigned resource pool is listed in the Assigned resource pools section of the Add Consumable dialog box.
  9. Define the newly assigned resource pool's attributes in the dialog box.


    You can define the following attributes for the assigned resource pool:
    • Start Position: The start position for the resource pool.
    • End Position: The end position for the resource pool.
    You can use also the Assign command to add more resource pools and the Unassign command to remove resource pools from the replenish activity.
  10. Click OK.
    The dialog box closes and you have added the consumable to the machine or robot.
    Note: Every time you create a consumable, the command automatically creates a replenish activity that is a generic activity type. This activity appears in the generic activities node under the machine or robot with a consumable. When you delete a consumable, the command deletes the consumable's generic activity as well. You can only delete the consumable's generic activity when you delete the consumable.

You have added a consumable to a machine or robot.

Edit a Consumable

You can edit an existing consumable in the Resource Configuration table.

  1. Click the Resource Configuration command from the Programming section of the action bar.
  2. In the Resource Configuration table that appears, right-click a consumable and click Edit .
  3. Use the Edit Consumable dialog box that appears to edit the consumable.


  4. Click OK to close the dialog box.
    The edited consumable is listed in the Resource Configuration table.

You have edited an existing consumable.

Assign a Consumable to a Transform Activity

You can assign a consumable to a transform activity.

  1. Click the Resource Configuration command from the Programming section of the action bar.
  2. In the Resource Configuration table that appears, right-click a transform activity and click Edit .
  3. In the Edit dialog box that appears, go to the Consumable Management section and click Assign Consumable.
  4. In the Consumables dialog box that appears, select a single consumable or multiple consumables by holding Ctrl and selecting several consumables.


  5. Click OK to close the dialog box.
    The consumables that you added to the transform activity are listed in the Consumable Management section of the Edit dialog box.
  6. Edit the consumable's consumption rate by weight with the Consumption Rate attribute.


    Note: For every execution of the transform activity on a machine or robot, the simulation deducts the defined consumption rate from the total consumable value. When this consumable value presses the replenish point value, the replenish activity begins and the consumable reloads on the machine. During the replenish activity's execution, whether or not the resource stops depends on what you specified for the Stop Resource to Replenish option in the Edit Consumable dialog box.
  7. Assign additional consumables with the Assign Consumable command, or remove a consumable from the transform activity with the Unassign Consumable command.
  8. Click OK to close the dialog box.
  9. Optional: Click Open HTML Report .
    A report appears that displays each consumable's statistics.

You have assigned a consumable to a transform activity.

Remove a Consumable

You can remove all the consumables from a machine or a robot with the Remove all Consumables command.

  1. Click the Resource Configuration command from the Programming section of the action bar.
  2. In the Resource Configuration table that appears, right-click a machine with assigned consumables.
  3. Mouse over Consumables and click Remove all Consumables and review the list of consumables in the Delete Consumables? dialog box that appears.


  4. Click Yes and close the Resource Configuration table.

You have removed all the consumables from the machine or robot.