Documentation for ProTrack Warehouse 2015.1.
Determinants in ProTrack Warehouse are triggerable contributers to an overall standard time.
To access the Maintain Determinant screen:
- Log in to ProTrack Warehouse.
Select Determinant under the Standards menu. The Determinant screen appears.
Fig.1 DeterminantDeterminant Tab Descriptions
Tab
Descriptions
Determinant Info
Displays the details of the determinant.
Condition
Dipslys the conditions associated with the selected determinant.
Table 1. Determinant Tab Descriptions
Determinant Field DescriptionsField
Descriptions
Determinant Name
Displays the name of the determinant.
Constant Standard Value
This field is currently not supported and reserved for future development.
Maximum Allowable Key-In Units
Maximum accepted value for determinants that require a manual KVI entry through the KVI entry screen or WMS update file.
Determinant Description
Displays details pertaining to the determinant.
Start Location
Used to hard code a starting location for a standard.
End Location
Used to hard code an ending location for a standard.
Drop Location
Used to hard code a drop location when re-trips are necessary in an activity.
Determinant Level
Signifies the level of the determinant, either Assignment or Task.
Apply Handling Time
Determines whether handling time will be applied with the determinant.
Handling Matrix
Specifies which handling matrix will be used when handling time is enabled.
Determinant Type
Signifies the determinant type, either Travel or Work.
Work Time Function
Value that will be applied when the determinant is triggered.
Table 2. Determinant Field Descriptions
Adding Determinants
You can add one or more new determinants into the system through the Determinants screen. The Determinant can be added based on the privileges of the user.
To add a new determinant:
- Type a unique Determinant Name.
- The Constant Standard Value is currently not supported. If this is required merely entire the value in the Work Time Function section.
- If the KVI Entry screen will be used to specify KVI values for a field used in this determinant’s Work Time Function, enter the Maximum Allowable Key-In Units which a user may enter via at the time of entering KVIs.
- Specify the Determinant Level as either Assignment Level or Task Level:
Assignment Level Determinants:
- Only apply once per assignment, unconditionally (cannot have conditions).
- May be configured as either a Travel or Work determinant.
- Work Time Function may NOT include a field (variable), as assignment level determinants are not associated with a particular task line. The Work Time Function field does support functions of constants only (for example, 1.45 * 2).
Task Level Determinants:
- Task Level will try to apply at each task line within an assignment based on the conditions.
- May only be configured as a Work determinant.
Require at least one condition (even if that condition will always be true).
Info
- Number of Task Level Determinants and Conditions has a direct impact on the overall performance (data throughput) of ProTrack Warehouse. Care needs to be taken to build only the determinants that are required to drive the granularity of Standard required for the activity.
- Assignment and Task Level Determinants are required for each Standard.
- Click to apply or not apply Additional Handling.
- From the drop-down list, select a Handling Matrix Name that was set-up in Handling Time.
Click one of the Determinant Type options to set the determinant type to either Travel or Work.
Info
- Travel Determinants cannot be set to apply based on a specific set of conditions. These are used to hard-code a specific assignment Start, End, and Drop locations.
- Travel Determinants must be configured as Assignment Level.
- If Determinant Type is set to Travel, specify the Start Location, End Location and Drop Location from their respective lists.
- To specify the standard time for this determinant, enter a function into the Work Time Function text box. The function entered may be a simple constant value, or an algebraic expression.
For expressions, you can use fields as variables. Click 'Insert a Field' link and a popup screen appears. Click a WMS Import field link, which is then populated in the Work Time Function field.
Fig.2 Determinant - Work Time FunctionInfo
- While saving, the system validates the work time function. When Work Time Function is defined it is necessary to list the fields within double quotations “ “, without which the formula will not be valid.
- The expression may be built using addition,subtraction, division, or multiplication operators: + - / * Also, parentheses may be used to specify order of operations: ( ).
- The total length of the work time function cannot exceed 80 characters.
- The formula can be an expression much like that used in Excel. Example: (“Quantity” * “Unit Weight”) * .0006
- The formulas can generate a negative number if time needs to be reduced due to a specific task not being preformed on this specific assignment. Example: “Quantity” * -1.234
- Total standard time for one assignment is 35,791 minutes (assume employee works eight-hour day this would allow 74 employees to work the same assignment). ProTrack Warehouse stores STD time in milliseconds and the max integer field in SQL Server 2005 is 2,147,483,647.
To add a condition to a determinant, click the 'Condition' tab. the screen appears with the Select Condition link and a blank ‘condition’ list.
Fig.3 Determinant - ConditionsYou can add the determinant conditions by clicking 'Select Condition' link.
Fig.4 Determinant - Selecting ConditionsSelect the check box of the individual Field Name.
Fig.5 Determinant - Selecting FieldsClick and the selected fields will be listed in the ‘Conditions’ list section of the Determinants screen.
Fig.6 Determinant - Conditions- You can change the Condition Type for each Determinant Condition by selecting from the list.
A specific Field Value is required for comparison when the Condition Type is:
Condition Type
Description
Equal To
Every time the field name’s value matches the field value, this condition is true.
Greater Than or Equal To
Every time the field name’s value is greater than or equal to the field value, this condition is true.
Greater Than
Every time the field name’s value is greater than the field value, this condition is true.
Less Than or Equal To
Every time the field name’s value is less than or equal to the field value, this condition is true.
Less Than
Every time the field name’s value is less than the field value, this condition is true.
Not Equal To
Every time the field name’s value is not equal to the field value, this condition is true.
On Change Compares the current task line value of the field selected to the previous task line value and when the values are not the same, this condition is true. Table 3. Condition Type Descriptions
Info
- The comparison is looking for an exact “case sensitive” match when alpha characters are used.
- Greater Than, Greater Than or Equal, Less Than, or Less Than or Equal conditions must be used on numeric fields. Example: Cannot compare Greater Than “C”.
- On Change conditions only applies within the same assignment, and thus cannot be used to trigger a determinant between assignments.
- When more than one condition is included in the same determinant, then all conditions must return true or the determinant will not apply. The “and” is implied between conditions.
The following table lists all possible outcomes of the various Determinant Condition Types based on the type of data in the two fields being compared:Determinant Condition Type
Value Sent in WMS File Task Field
Value Configured in Determinant
Functional Outcome
Equal To
numeric
numeric
both values are treated as numeric and evaluated accordingly
numeric
varchar
WMSFileFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
numeric
DetFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
varchar
Expression is evaluated
numeric
no value
both values are converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated as FALSE
varchar
no value
DetFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated as FALSE
no value
numeric
both values are converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated as FALSE
no value
varchar
WMSFileFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated as FALSE
no value
no value
both values are converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated as TRUE
Not Equal To
numeric
numeric
both values are treated as numeric and evaluated accordingly
numeric
varchar
WMSFileFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
numeric
DetFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
varchar
Expression is evaluated
numeric
no value
both values are converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated as TRUE
varchar
no value
DetFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated as TRUE
no value
numeric
both values are converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated as TRUE
no value
varchar
WMSFileFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated as TRUE
no value
no value
both values are converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated as FALSE
Less Than
numeric
numeric
both values are treated as numeric and evaluated accordingly
numeric
varchar
WMSFileFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
numeric
DetFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
varchar
Expression is evaluated
numeric
no value
always evaluated as FALSE
varchar
no value
always evaluated as FALSE
no value
numeric
always evaluated as FALSE, forced (would be TRUE)
no value
varchar
always evaluated as FALSE, forced (would be TRUE)
no value
no value
always evaluated as FALSE
Less Than or Equal To
numeric
numeric
both values are treated as numeric and evaluated accordingly
numeric
varchar
WMSFileFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
numeric
DetFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
varchar
Expression is evaluated
numeric
no value
always evaluated as FALSE
varchar
no value
always evaluated as FALSE
no value
numeric
always evaluated as FALSE, forced (would be TRUE)
no value
varchar
always evaluated as FALSE, forced (would be TRUE)
no value
no value
always evaluated as FALSE
Greater Than
numeric
numeric
both values are treated as numeric and evaluated accordingly
numeric
varchar
WMSFileFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
numeric
DetFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
varchar
Expression is evaluated
numeric
no value
always evaluated as TRUE
varchar
no value
always evaluated as TRUE
no value
numeric
always evaluated as FALSE
no value
varchar
always evaluated as FALSE
no value
no value
always evaluated as FALSE
Greater Than or Equal To
numeric
numeric
both values are treated as numeric and evaluated accordingly
numeric
varchar
WMSFileFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
numeric
DetFieldValue is converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated
varchar
varchar
Expression is evaluated
numeric
no value
always evaluated as TRUE
varchar
no value
always evaluated as TRUE
no value
numeric
always evaluated as FALSE
no value
varchar
always evaluated as FALSE
no value
no value
both values are converted to varchar and then expression is evaluated as TRUE
ON CHANGE
Current Task Value
no value
compares current task line value to previous task line value within the same assignment
if they do not match then the logic is evaluated as TRUE
if they do match then the logic is evaluated as FALSE
*first task line will be evaluated as FALSE (nothing to compare), therefore determinant will not fire
Table 4. Condition Scenarios
Click to save create the new determinant.
Info
- To delete the Determinant Condition in the Condition Tab, select the corresponding Delete Checkboxes and click .
Searching Determinants
To search for particular determinants:
Click in the Determinants screen, the Search Determinant screen appears.
Fig.7 Determinants - SearchType either Determinant Name or select the Determinant Type and Determinant Level from their respective lists.
Tips
- To list Determinants with names starting with a particular character, enter the character into the field. For example, to search determinants starting with the character 'C', enter 'C' in the Determinant Name to list determinants with names starting with C.
- If no search criteria are specified all the determinants will be listed in the 'Determinant Search Results' section.
Click and the records for the selected criteria are listed in the ‘Determinants Search Results’ section of the Determinants screen.
Fig.7 Determinants - Search Results
Viewing & Editing Determinant
The determinants can be viewed and edited from the ‘Determinants Search Results’ section in the Determinants screen. The determinants can be viewed or edited based on the privileges of the user.
To view and edit the determinant:
- Search and list the determinants you want to view or edit in the ‘Determinants Search Results’ section.
- Click the selected Determinant Name link from the ‘Determinant Search Results’ section. The details of the determinant appear in the corresponding fields in the Determinants screen.
Fig.8 Determinant - Viewing Determinant - Change the required fields.
Click to save the changes.
Tips
- If you have made the changes in the fields and do not want to save the details, click before you save the changes.
- To delete the Determinant Condition in the Condition Tab, select the corresponding Delete Check boxes and click .
- If you want to add determinants at this point, click to clear the fields and bring the screen to add mode.
- These changes will only be applied to assignments worked after the changes have been made, unless on the Daily Inquiry screen is invoked.
Deleting A Determinant
Info
- Determinants must be removed from standard(s) and KVI descriptions before they can be deleted.
To delete a determinant:
- Go to the Standard screen and search for the standard that the determinant is assigned to.
- Select the Standard ID from the 'Standard Search Results' section to populate the details in the fields above.
Fig.9 Determinant - Removing Determinant From Standard
- Click 'Assign Determinant' and all assigned determinants to the standard will be listed.
- Select the check box to the left the determinant that will be deleted.
Fig.10 Determinant - Selecting Determinant
- Click to remove the determinant from the standard.
- Go to the KVI Description screen.
- Search and select the check box to the left of the determinant that will be deleted.
Fig.11 Determinant - Deleting KVI Description
- Click to delete the KVI Description that is associated to the determinant that will be deleted.
- Go back to the Determinant screen and search for the determinant that will be deleted.
- Select the check box to the left of the Determinant Name in the 'Determinant Search Results' section.
Fig.12 Determinant - Deleting Determinant
- Click to delete the selected determinant(s).