Demand Setting & Calculations

The Pitch Demand is the number of parts needed to build to meet customer demand, or more generally  the number of parts that must be built during the pitch.

Pitch demand is an essential part of the Production Module due to its use in several metrics. Most importantly, it shows Operators how many parts must be completed during a pitch to properly execute the production schedule.

There are multiple ways to set demand dependent on your style of Production and how you are applying the Module. As a note, if one method is applied and then a second applied, existing Pitch Demand values will be overwritten by the most-recently used method.

When executing Production on solely a pitch basis, capturing the Actual Product, Pitch Actual, and Defects on a per-pitch basis, Demand is set by one of the following means:

1. Manually from the Pitch Schedule screen. From the Pitch Schedule screen, simply click on a Pitch row to edit the Pitch details. 
2. By Total Demand on the Pitch Schedule screen. From the Pitch Schedule screen, click on the "Set Demand" link, and fill out the details under the "By Total Demand" section, then click "Set Demand." This will space the total Demand Quantity entered across the available active pitches for the Line(s) to set Pitch Demand.
   • Pitch Demand = [Planned Production Time (min) *60 (s/min)] / Cycle Time (s)
     • Cycle Time = [Total Planned Production Minutes *60 (s/min)] / Quantity
3. By Cycle Time on the Pitch Schedule. From the Pitch Schedule screen, click on the "Set Demand" link, and fill out the details under the "By Cycle Time" section, then click "Set Demand." This will set  Pitch Demand according to the available production minutes in each pitch for the active pitches for the Line(s) per the entered Cycle Time.
   • Pitch Demand = [Planned Production Time (min) *60 (s/min)] / Cycle Time (s)
4. By using the Line Setting 'Enable Auto Setting of Production Demand'. The pitch must be saved for the demand to set. Upon saving the pitch, the system will first look at: 
   1. the actual product cycle time; if no actual product, then
   2. the planned product line cycle time; if no planned product, then
   3. the all products line cycle time. (If all products cycle time is set up for that line, the demand will fill in all pitches automatically).

When using the eKanban (Product Order) approach, Demand is set via:

1. By Product Order on the Order Planner screen. From the Product Orders screen, click the "Set Pitch Demand" button, fill out the details and click "Set Demand." This will set the Pitch Demand according the Build Sequence Cycle Times of each scheduled Build Sequence without changing the Scheduled State Dates on the Build Sequences.
   • Prior to using "Set Pitch Demand", Build Sequences can be manually dragged to start times and across lines to establish a schedule
   • Alternately, "Redistribute" can be used to have L2L establish a consolidated schedule based on Build Sequences assigned to the Line(s) and the available pitches within the timeframe of interest
   • Pitch Demand will be populated across consecutive active pitches from the Scheduled Start Date and Time of the Build Sequence until the cumulative Pitch Demand meets the Build Sequence Build Quantity
2. Scheduling on the eKanban Planner. From the eKanban Planner screen, filter the Product Orders list, then fill out the criteria below the product orders. Then select "Schedule Orders" and choose desired method (Redistribute, Minimal Changeovers, etc.); the system will automatically schedule the Build Sequences and set the Pitch on any pitch that will be used to build the product orders.
   • See this article for differences in build sequence scheduling methods
   • Pitch Demand will be populated across consecutive active pitches from the Scheduled Start Date and Time of the Build Sequence until the cumulative Pitch Demand meets the Build Sequence Build Quantity
   • If the Schedule by value is selected as Quantity, L2L will pull in the next Build Sequences by earliest Scheduled Start Date & Time that have a cumulative Build Quantity that meets entered quantity or greater as defined in the Qty field and will only schedule those Build Sequences using their specified Cycle Times
3. Using the "Enable the Setting of Production Demand on Changeover" Line Setting. No pre-established production scheduled is required. At the point a Build Sequence is started from the Operator Portal, Pitch Demand will be populated across consecutive active pitches from the current time until the cumulative Pitch Demand meets the Build Sequence Build Quantity or a timeframe of 14 days
   • For Lines using this setting, demand should not additionally be set through any other method

Pitch Demand Calculation for all Product Order approaches:

• • Pitch Demand = [Planned Production Time (min) *60 (s/min)] / [Cycle Time]
    • Cycle Time referenced from from Build Sequence
      • Uniquely input on the Build Sequence
      • OR looked up in the Line Cycle Table according to:
        • Line
        • Product
        • Planned Operator Count: from Planned Operator Count on Build Sequence
          • Cycle Time for the largest Operator Count that is less than the pitch Planned Operator Count if specific count not identified
          • OR only Cycle Time in the Cycle Times per Operator Count table will be used (when only a single Operator Count and Cycle Time is listed)
          • OR, if no other Operator Count available, 1
        • Planning Rate will be applied as well if defined for the Line and Product combination
          • Cycle Time = Cycle Time by Line, Product (s) / [Planning Rate % /100]
      • OR, if no other Cycle Time available, 60 s

When leveraging integration:

1. Using one of the methods on the /pitches/ API. There are a number of methods available in the API that can be used to set the Pitch Demand. These API methods use the same methodology that is available in the UI, but makes them available for you to schedule through an integration.