Products to be produced on plastics machines can be created in two ways:
- Via an automatic import process from the ERP (see ERP connection).
- By entering manually like explained in this article.
The Products module is available under Definitions in the SCHEDULING section. This module shows a table with the products that have been created manually and those that come from the ERP. To see the latest ERP import, refresh the page (F5).
Products that are used in a production order that is not completed get a lock icon 
next to their name, indicating that their settings cannot be changed, except Matching criteria.
To see for which tool and/or order the product is used, click the lock icon.
Creating a product
To create a product manually:
- Click New product.
- Before creating your first product, you can define a pattern for the Name of the product. See Name generation pattern.
- Enter or select values. Fields marked with * are required.
For a description of the fields, see below. - Click Save.
You can also click Save and close to return to the list or Save and create new to create more.
Fields
The products definition has three tabs. Matching criteria is the only tab can be changed for products that are locked.
General
| Name * | Any unique name can be entered or if a name generation pattern is defined, click Apply to generate a name. |
| Unit of measurement | Specifies how the production output for the product is measured.
This setting is used for reporting and tracking output but does not affect the calculation of production time. It ensures that production quantities are expressed in a way that aligns with the nature of the product. |
| Weight | Specifies the weight of a single unit of the product.
|
| Material | Type of material that is used to produced the product. From this dialog, you can add new materials with the button New material. |
| Color | Color of the product. Colors are defined in the Colors module. See Colors. |
| Customer | The customer for whom the product is produced. Customers are defined in the Customers module. |
| Standard efficiency | The expected production efficiency. This value is used to estimate the production time of a Production order. When left blank, the Standard efficiency of the Machine will be used. |
| Speed | The expected production speed. This value is used to estimate the production time of a Production order. When left blank, the Speed value of the Tool will be used. |
| Speed unit | The unit of measure for the Speed value.
|
| Description | Free text field for notes, remarks, or additional instructions relevant to production, quality checks, or packaging. |
Matching criteria
This tab can be used to link a product to the appropriate production resources (machines) based on technical compatibility and performance targets. Both Machines and Machine types can be added. Machines are assigned to a machine type via the machine details (Plant view module).
The Speed and Standard efficiency fields show the values from the selected machine if a machine was selected, but these values can be adjusted.
Selecting machines and machine types results in following situations:
| What is defined? | On which machine can the product be produced? |
| Nothing | On any machine |
| Machines | Only on those machines |
| Machine types | Only on machines of those machine types |
Machines and machine types can be added with the buttons at the top right side.
Setup
This tab focuses on time allocations related to machine preparation and material handling. These times are crucial for accurate production scheduling.
| Mount time | The time required to mount (install) the tool on the machine. |
| Dismount time | The time needed to remove the tool after production is completed. |
| Load time | The time it takes to load raw materials (e.g. ABS pellets) into the machine or hopper. |
| Unload time | The time needed to remove finished parts or excess material after production. |