Pallet Feeder's parts are not processed by the nodes

[kida]

Hey,
I have encountered a strange behavior (probably a bug but I hope I am wrong) : I would like to model a palettizing with process modeling. If I use the “Feeder” component and set it to euro pallet, everything works. I wanted to pimp my scene up, so instead of “Feeder” I would like to use the “Pallet Feeder” machine which after modification produces the same pallet and sends it on the conveyors. The issue is that the process nodes do not see these pallets, so pallets wont stop at the process…
Is there a way to overcome this issue? Could someone guide me a bit?

EDIT: I am using latest 4.8 version (Essential)

Thanks in advance!
BR
David

[juhahai]

You are using the old school pallet feeder? Easiest hack is to :

Convert components to products

Hi all, Since Process modeling was introduced in 4.2, there has been obscurity to some users on how they can use the new functionalities and get the benefits. Since process modeling requires pre-defined products that we did not have before the 4.2 release, it was not possible to use dynamic components that were created with feeder/component creator with processes. To fix this pesky issue, I modeled a To Product Converter that you can plug to the end of your conveyor or works process to convert…

[kida]

Thanks for the reply, I feel we are close to the solution but I think the issue is slightly different (at least according to the symptoms). (I edited my first post, perhaps it matters, I am using version 4.8).
I have watched the video in your post. What I have noticed that the pallet created by the pallet feeder was still initially processed by the “From Conveyor” process, because the pallet stops there instead of vanishing away at the end of the conveyor. In my case, the pallets are completely ignored by the process node (see the attached video), so actually I dont think that they would be handled by the “To Product” process since.
But I gave a try, and I experienced the following:
If I connect at the end of the conveyor1 and connect a conveyor2 to it, the pallets are disappearing between like when the connection between two conveyor is not perfect.
If i connect the two conveyors together to ensure the flow, I cannot snap/attach the “To Product” process in between like in the video.

What could I possibly do wrong?

I have recorded and attached a video to illustrate my problem:

The following error message is displayed in the output window:

To Product Converter::ProcessExecutor__HIDE__::ConversionProcess::Transport Out error: Process variable with name "ProductOut" and value type "Ref<Product>" or "List<Ref<Product>>" not found.
To Product Converter::ProcessExecutor__HIDE__::ConversionProcess::Transport Out error: failed to get the input variable.

[Nito_scanfil]

Hello,

can u Upload your Layout ?

I think the Problem is that that u don´t define the Process in The Flow Editor and use a other Input Variable (i think ProductIn) for the Product Out Statement.

[kida]

Hello,

Unfortunately it has nothing to do with the flow.
I have put together quickly a layout where I illustrate the behavior:
in the attached layout you can find 3 processes:

• The upper one is with the “Pallet Feeder”, with properly set flow in the editor, with a defined product: the generated part is completely ignored by the “FromConveyor” process. I still think it is a bug.
• The middle process is the copy of the first one except that instead of the “Pallet Feeder” machine, a Feeder is used and configured to feed a euro pallet, flow is defined in the editor. Process works properly as it is expected.
• The third process is the copy of the second one to prove that the behavior of the “Pallet Feeder” machine does not depend on the flow: pallet is detected and stopped by the process node for 2 second as it is configured without a flow in the editor.

Could you please check and confirm the same behavior of the “Pallet Feeder”?

PalletFeeder.vcmx (206.0 KB)

[TSy]

Works like this using the converter component that was linked before. You still need to change the component references to match.
This is quite hacky solution, as the pallet feeder just doesn’t support creating products so those components are deleted and a product created in their place.

Also note that processes attached into the middle of conveyors / paths have some limitations, resulting in unexpected behavior especially with relatively large parts moving on the path. It is always better to plug them into the ends of conveyors instead if acceptable.

Pallet feeder to product.vcmx (1.2 MB)

[Tilma]

You can find a newer version of the Pallet Feeder which works with Process Modelling in the PM Warehousing file of the eCatalog :

[Nito_scanfil]

Uploading: PalletFeeder.mp4…

I don’t know what the problem is, but when you connect and move the conveyors it works.

[kida]

Hello TSy,

thank you very much, you are completely right. I think I made a big mistake when I tried to replicate the “To Product Converter” by myself by using a “Process”. I have saved your attached model with the Pallet Feeder as a ready to use component so in the feature I am going to just import it as it is and use it.

Thank you guys all who answered to this thread and helped solving my issue!