Help needed with combining multiple products using one Combiner in FlexSim – Final Year Project

[zainab_jebari]

Hi everyone, I am currently working on my final year project and I need some guidance on how to model the combining of multiple products in FlexSim using a single Combiner object.

The details of my project are as follows:

• Product 1:

  • Components: 1 Cable Type 1 + 1 Cable Type 2 + 1 Tube Type 1

  • Assembly time: 9 seconds

• Product 2:

  • Components: 1 Cable Type 3 + 1 Cable Type 4 + 1 Cable Type 5 + 1 Tube Type 2

  • Assembly time: 14 seconds

My goal is to use one Combiner object in FlexSim to assemble both types of products with different component inputs and different assembly times.

Could you please advise me on how to configure the Combiner or suggest the best modeling approach to handle this multi-product assembly efficiently?

Thank you very much for your support.

[PabloCASP · Accepted solution]

Hello, The combiner receives the container or main component through port 1 and the content or secondary components through the remaining ports. That said, in the onEntry trigger there is an option called Update Combiner Component List in which you can reference a table with the number of items you need from each port. So, if you have a label on the main entity identifying whether it is the base piece of product 1 or product 2, you can have a table listing the required components for each product type (rows represent product types, and columns represent the output ports from the second one onward, with each cell indicating the number of required components of that type).

You can use the same label to set up the process time with the option values by case.

[zainab_jebari]

Thank you for your response and explanations. However, the proposed solution did not work in my case. I have configured the combiner with port 1 for the main component and the other ports for the secondary components, as well as the table to define the quantities per product. Despite this, the parts are not assembling correctly.

[aldo_martindelcampo · Accepted solution]

Hi @zainab_jebari, 

Heres a example how you could use labels and GlobalTables for update combiner quantity for each product.

I hope it helps you

[PabloCASP]

can you share this version of the model?. ill have a look at it.

[moehlmann_fe]

If you didn't make any changes to the "Update Combiner Component List" trigger code then the table needs to be transposed. Columns are the products and rows the quantities per input port.

[zainab_jebari]

Thank you guys for helping me out! I really appreciate it.
I have a small additional question: I want to limit the production of each PSF to 10 units each (10, 10, 10).
I tried to limit this by setting the maximum quantity in the queues, but the process stops as soon as PSF1 reaches 10 while the others remain at 9 pieces. Also, I want to make sure that before sending the lot to the next station, all three PSF types have reached their limit of 10 units.
How can I handle this so that the production only stops when all three types reach their limit?

Thanks again for your support!

[zainab_jebari]

Thank you very much for your solution it worked! However, I’ve run into an issue with the cables. When the combiner finishes assembling the first two cables with the tube, it stops and doesn’t complete the remaining cables. Could you please advise why this might be happening and how to ensure it finishes all of them?

[aldo_martindelcampo]

Could you please add the model so can check what is happening?

[zainab_jebari]

yes of course !

[aldo_martindelcampo]

Hi @zainab_jebari What’s happening here is that the tube type is requiring connectors of type 1 and 2, which are precisely the ones that have run out. That’s why the combiner is in the 'collecting' state — it’s waiting specifically for those items.

[zainab_jebari]

No, I don't think that's the problem, because the same issue occurs in this model. When the combiner finishes assembling the first two cables with the tube type 1 , it stops and doesn’t complete the remaining cables.

[aldo_martindelcampo]

Hi @zainab_jebari, 

I reviewed the model and i find that in certain moment the combiner is waiting for an item, so I added a table on DashBoard of content vs time, and we can see that the queue has a content of 0, is the conecction for what combiner is waiting (I modify the first source).