This article discusses the functionality of Production Paths, which allows users to create automated workflows that adapt to real-time changes in production environments. By defining primary and failover paths, workflows can reroute jobs based on machine status, ensuring continuous production without manual intervention.
Understanding Machine Details
The first step in defining production paths is to gather real-time data about your machines. Utilize the Get Machine Details activity card for this purpose.
Accessing Machine Park Data: This activity integrates directly with your Machine Park to retrieve a list of available machines.
Filtering for Specific Machines: You can filter the machine list by various criteria, including:
Machine Type (e.g., Digital Print Machines)
Machine Sub-type (e.g., Digital Presses - sheet fed)
Brand (e.g., HP)
Model (e.g., Indigo 5000)
Context: Once executed, the activity adds the details of all machines that match your criteria into the workflow's context. This information, including the machine's Status (Active or Inactive) and supported Sheet Sizes, becomes available for subsequent steps.
Defining Primary and Failover Paths
Utilize the enhanced Paths activity to establish your routing logic. This is where you set up conditional routing based on the machine data you just retrieved.
Insert the Paths Activity: Place the Paths activity after Get Machine Details.
Create Paths: Create a new path for each machine you want to route to. The paths are evaluated in the order they appear, from top to bottom, so the first path in the list has the highest priority.
Set Conditions: For each path, define a condition based on the machine's status from the context.
For example, for
Path A(your highest priority), set the condition:(Indigo 5000) is equal to (online).If that machine is
online, the workflow will follow this path and ignore subsequent ones. If it's notonline, the workflow will automatically trigger the next path.
Use Groups for Multiple Machines: If you want a single path to be active when one of several machines is available, add a group of rules. Use the
ORoperator to check if Machine 1is equal toonlineOR if Machine 2is equal toonline.
Customizing Each Production Path
After the Paths activity, the workflow canvas visually splits into distinct branches—one for each path you configured. This allows you to add path-specific activities with unique settings.
Tailored Configurations: This is crucial for ensuring the correct settings are applied for each machine. You can add a unique Imposition card, FTP Upload card, or any other activity to each branch.
Example: For your
Path 1branch (the HP Indigo 5000), you can add an imposition activity configured with a template for the 5000 model. For yourPath 2branch (the HP Indigo 7000), you would add a different imposition template for that machine.
By utilizing Production Paths, you create a dynamic and resilient workflow that automatically adapts to the status of your production machines, ensuring jobs are always routed efficiently.