STEPs are performed in sequence, one after the other. If your operations can be done simultaneously (resources permitting) then define each as an assembly and combine them at the end, e.g.
METHOD (sequential) |
ASSEMBLY 1 |
It is important to appreciate how Match-IT treats STEPs when planning jobs. Consider a method that looks like this:
METHOD
STEP 1
...
STEP 2
PART A
PART B
...
From a planning point of view, the above is equivalent to this:
ASSEMBLY 1
STEP 1
...
METHOD
STEP 1
ASSEMBLY 1
PART A
PART B
The significance of this is ASSEMBLY 1, PART A and PART B can all be done in parallel. The fact that PART A and PART B are defined in STEP 2 does not mean they are not considered until STEP 1 is complete.
If this is undesirable, you can use a DO record in place of the PART record. For example:
ASSEMBLY 1 |
In this example, the assemblies will not start until STEP 1 is complete, then they will all be planned in parallel. STEP 3 will only start when all the assemblies are complete. So this is also an example of a process that starts off as common, splits 3 ways, then comes back to being common again.