Understanding Subprocesses

Subprocesses allow you to collect data from a process with multiple sub components. Examples include:

  • A casting process with multiple moulds
  • A filling process with multiple fill heads

If you make machine adjustments at the parent process level (for example, Filler Machine), you should collect data for the parent process. Keep in mind you can still keep track of the subprocess that transformed the part being measured.

If you make machine adjustments at the subprocess level (for example, Fill Head 12), you should collect data for the subprocess. You can collect data on all subprocesses or you can select a set of subprocesses from a list each time data is collected. Enact is flexible and can accommodate either of these scenarios.

Configuration

Setting up subprocesses takes only a few steps:

  1. Processes: In the Processes landing page, create the parent process and select the Contains Subprocesses checkbox, which converts all child processes to subprocesses.

    The parent process MUST be at process hierarchy level 5 (Department) or lower to contain subprocesses. Processes from the process hierarchy levels 1 to 4 (Company, Division, Region and Site) cannot contain subprocesses.

    After creating the parent process, create each subprocess, assigning it to the parent process. For example, on a filling machine process, the separate fill heads will each be assigned as child processes to the filling machine. The process hierarchy will look something like this:

    For more information, please see Creating Processes.

  2. Process Model: When configuring the operation details processes, you must only select parent processes. Do not select any subprocesses. If you only select one parent process, Enact will automatically skip process selection during data collection. For more information, please see Configuring Operation Details.

  3. (Optional) Data Collection Configurations: By default, operators must collect feature data for every subprocess under the selected process in the data collection. By configuring your data collection settings, you can control how the data collection handles subprocesses, including the following:

    • Ignore subprocesses and only collect data for the selected parent process.
    • Provide the operator with a subprocess checklist, allowing the operator to select the desired subprocesses.

    For more information, please see Required Information Tab in Configuring Data Collection Settings.

  4. (Optional) Process Tags: With process tags, you can group subprocesses, allowing operators to select a set of subprocesses and collect data for those subprocesses only. To configure this functionality, do the following:

    1. Create a new tag group, and add unique process tags to the tag group. For more information, please see Creating Tag Groups.
    2. Edit each subprocess, assigning the desired process tags. For more information, please see Editing Processes.
    3. In the Subprocess Selection page, select the new process tag group. For more information, please see Reserved Tags Tab in Configuring Global Settings.

  5. Dashboards: In level-based tiles, you can examine subprocess data using the tile's Define Levels function, adding both the parent process level and the subprocess level. For more information, please see the following: