Katana supports structured routing of production operations, allowing for the organization of tasks either consecutively or in parallel. This guide explores how to set operation sequences and group operations for simultaneous execution, providing flexibility in production planning.
To maintain efficiency, product operations may need to be routed in a specific manufacturing order.
Operations can maintain dependency in several ways:
Some operations can only be started once a different one is finished
Some operations can be done in parallel — 2 operations done simultaneously
A mix of of both consecutive and parallel operations
Understanding operation routings
Operations can use a dedicated sequence number so that they are all consecutive to each other.
Operations can be grouped together so that operations in a single group are considered as parallel operations and have the same sequence number.
Changing an operation sequence
You can change the operation sequence for each Item by navigating to Items screen > opening an Item card > and navigating to the Production operations tab.
Here you will find the Operations are in sequence switch.
Once Operations are in sequence is turned on, the operations table will display a Step # column to show the order of operations on your MO and Shop floor app.
Reordering sequence operations
Drag and drop operations inside the Operation steps table to rearrange.
Dropping an operation between two numbered operation rows will place it between those 2 operations.
When dropping the operation on top of another operation, the two operations will form a group and are set as parallel operations to each other
Manufacturing time
If Operations are in sequence is enabled, the Operation steps table will display two different times for producing the product (note: this will not show if the product has more than 1 variant).
Production time is the time it takes for the product operations to be completed. If there are parallel operations, the time here is the longest operation of the group
Total time for cost calculation is the total time for resources used. This time is used for cost calculation.
Example
Below, you'll see a simple table produced using a combination of parallel and consecutive operations. An inspection step in the middle of the process forces the shop floor team to ensure the quality of the semi-finished product.
Diagram of operations:
The workflow starts with parallel steps of cutting the table legs and table top simultaneously while using different workstations
Before the final assembly can start, an inspection step is added to verify quality
Once all of the pieces are verified, the table can be fully assembled
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