Sometimes when inserting production and selecting the operation an error appears informing that no machines are available, just like the image below.
This can happen due to some reasons:
the machine is in use by another worker,
the machine was reported in a downtime,
filtering in the Production Order/Job,
the section between the operation > machine > worker don't match.
But how can you know for sure what is happening?
The status of the machine assigned to the operation you're trying to perform can be checked on the machine status. This is how it looks like in the mobile app:
After clicking the button, the list of machines available on the worker's section will be displayed.
If machines are currently available, they will be displayed in blue;
If machines are stopped, they will be shown in red. The downtime reason code is be available below the machine's name;
If machines are working, the green color will be displayed. Below the machine's name, you can also find the corresponding production order, the operation's name and how many units are still left to be made.
To know more about machine status check this article.
In this case, we knew the machine assigned to the operation. But how should you proceed in case you don't know in which machines can the operation be performed?
How to know which machines are associated to an operation?
In this case you'll need to check that information in the back office. In our example the product being produced is '2A.RXT-10' and the operation is 'NEST'.
Here are the steps:
Go to products (1), search for the product you're producing (2) and open it (3)
In the tabs select the first one 'Operations and product flow' and edit it by clicking on top of it
In the edit production you can see which machines are assigned to it. Now, see again the machine status (in the back office it's under machines, or on the tablet button).
If your machine is to be used in by several workers simultaneously you must activate the machine setting "parallel production". Please check this machines article that will guide you on how to better configure your machine.
My issue is non of the above, what else can it be?
In this case you have 2 additional causes to explore:
1. You probably added the machines to be worked on in the Production Order, under the Advanced Fields:
This option will not associate the machines to be worked the operation but instead it will make sure that only these machines can be used to complete the Production Order.
Let's say you have two operations:
Operation A
can be done in machines A1 and A2
Operation B
can be done in machines B1 and B2
In case you filter the Production Order by machine A2, you'll get the error on operation B (because neither machine B1 or B2 are associated to the order). The machines filter on the production order is ignored in case it's empty.
2. The section on your operation > machine > worker don't match.
Sections represent a physical section in your factory. Sections are composed of workers and/or machines. Each section may have different operations that are only performed there. Below you can find a quick example of a common inconsistency.
Example:
2 Sections - A and B
If a worker that's part of section A performs the operation from section A with the machine in section B the error 'No machines available' will be presented.
To confirm if the sections are consistent between this entities, check the following pages:
Operations (1) > Filter (2) > Section (3)
Worker (1) > Filter (2) > Section (3)
Machines (1) > Filter (2) > Section (3)
With this you are well armed to troubleshoot the reasons why you're getting the error 'no machines available'. But if you couldn't find the reason here, feel free to use our support channels.
Need help? Request a Fusion Operations expert to contact you here.