How WINDOWMATE Works

WINDOWMATE's Schedule Maintenance allows you to prepare or modify production schedules.  A schedule is simply a list of orders you need to produce, listed in the order they are to be processed through production.  It allows you to create schedules directly in WINDOWMATE™ or enter them from your business system and then bridge them into WINDOWMATE™.   Schedule Maintenance may then be used to edit schedules before they are processed.  You may add, delete, or change order information, or review orders for accuracy. 

Once schedules have been prepared, either in WINDOWMATE™ or transferred from your business system, and modified, if necessary, you are ready to optimize.  WINDOWMATE™ optimizes the schedules automatically, with no operator intervention.  The system displays the progress by indicating the layout it is currently processing, listing the inventory used and yield.  

WINDOWMATE's Optimization Reports

WINDOWMATE™ offers the following reports as part of the optimization process.

The Parameter Report lists those parameters that were considered when generating the optimized layouts.  As in all MATE products, for easy identification, an asterisk (*) at the end of a parameter description line indicates that the value being used is the default established when WINDOWMATE™ was installed.  Items without an asterisk indicate changes made for this particular thickness and color of glass.

If the optimized results include scrap pieces that meet or exceed the minimum size requirements specified by Output Parameters 1 and 2, then an Offal Report is produced, listing the size and quantity of offal produced and the layout in which they can be found. 

The Order/Layout Cross-Reference Report displays order numbers, quantity required, dimensions, shape, routing code, slot location, and customer name.  The +/- column reports any surplus or shortage in production.  The Layouts column shows the layouts in which a particular order-item is produced.

The report then lists summary information of total square footage and number of pieces produced.

The Inventory Usage and Yield Summary contains inventory information for the schedule and includes the number of sheets of inventory used to produce an optimization solution, square footage of stock used, square footage of the order-items cut, square footage of offal pieces produced, and square footage of glass loss, per inventory element; those pieces that could not be re-used, such as trims to square the glass or sizes too small to be classified as offal. 

Cutting Layouts show the locations of all scoring on the selected inventory sheet.  Areas marked with slashes (//) are to be discarded.  Offal is marked with asterisks (**) for easy identification.

The Glass Rack Report documents the slot contents of each harp rack and provides complete information for downstream production, such as spacer cutting and IG unit assembly.  It lists the composition of the unit, including glass and spacer, dimensions, shape, order-item number, and notes

The Hand Cutting Report documents all the information necessary for hand-cutting lites that are not processed at the automatic cutting table.  The report can be sent to the Hand-Cutting department with those racks filled at automatic cutting.  As the lites are cut, they are placed in the correct slot locations, listed on the report, and the completed rack is sent to the Insulating department for processing.

WINDOWMATE™ produces Glass Labels for each lite of glass cut, in harp rack sequence.  As the operator breaks out the lites, no sorting of glass is required to match labels with lites.

WINDOWMATE™ Utilities

WINDOWMATE™ is parameter driven.  Layout and Output Parameters allow you to significantly customize the system to meet your plant's operational needs.

Maintenance utilities within WINDOWMATE™ allow you to maintain data regarding your glass inventory and glass, innerlayer, and spacer abbreviations.

The following business benefits are realized as a direct outcome from implementing PMC's products and services.

Optimal Yields

By taking advantage of computerized optimization, you experience the best utilization of your glass inventory with significant glass usage reductions.  This method generates much less offal than manual layout methods. 

Total scheduling flexibility

You have the flexibility of creating production schedules in the volume and sequence that best suits your operations, allowing you to consider customer needs, shipping requirements and so forth when scheduling production.  Configurable rules allow further customization for your plant's unique operations. 

Maximum efficiency

The system generates Numerical Control (NC) instructions for both rectangular and shape cutting, interfacing with a wide range of automated cutting machines.  A variety of formats allow you to transfer cutting requirements from your existing order entry system.  This "Bridge" eliminates the re-keying of cutting requirements and the possibility of typing errors.

A wide range of real time reports increase control by providing invaluable information about such things as current inventory levels, optimization results, cutting instruc­tions, and harp rack assignment numbers. Reports and layouts are available both in printed and on-screen formats.

Reduced labor and material costs

An automated system frees employees of routine, time-consuming tasks.  The lites of an IG unit are separated by glass color and thickness for optimization.  At breakout, cut lites are racked in original schedule sequence for further processing, eliminating downstream sorting.

In addition to reducing glass waste, the system also reduces your glass inventory to just a few required sizes, thereby reducing inventory storage space on the production floor.