Changing the name of an entity at an arrival, activity, or move time (routing). The name is important because statistics are reported by entity name when entities exit the system.
Suggested Technique
1. Route the entity whose name will change using a Percentage, Conditional, or Renege routing.
2. In the properties dialog of the routing, enter the new name in the New name field.
Example: Callers on hold at the order desk will hang up if they have to wait too long. Some may wait as many as 8 minutes, other as few as 2 minutes, but most will wait around 3½ minutes. We want to rename the calls that hang up (renege) so that we can keep separate statistics on those calls.
TO DO: Create the renege routing and enter the triangular distribution, T(2,3.5,8), and the new name (LostCall) in the appropriate field as shown above.
Alternative Technique
1. Select the Action tab in the properties dialog of the activity or routing.
2. Enter the following logic: NewName(new_entity_name)
where new_entity_name is the name you want to change it to. Note that the new name must be a name that has already been defined for an entity on the layout. This will change the entity’s name and graphic.
Example: Depending on an attribute named Color , a Part is renamed. If the Color is red, the Part is renamed Reject . If the Color is blue, the Part is renamed GearA . And if the Color is green, the Part is renamed GearB to indicate a quality difference and therefore a different use in the plant.
Action Logic:
IF Color = red THEN NewName(Reject)
IF Color = blue THEN NewName(GearA)
IF Color = green THEN NewName(GearB)TO DO: In the routing’s Action logic, enter the IF…THEN statements shown above to change the entity’s name according to the value of the Color attribute. Place entities on the layout named Reject, GearA and GearB.
To learn more about the NewName function, see NEWNAME.
An entity can be renamed using either the New Name drop down list in a routing Properties Dialog Box, or the NEWNAME statement in action logic. When renaming, all attributes from the original entity are inherited except the system created attributes ID and Name. The system created attributes which are inherited are Cost, CycleStart, and VATime.