Configure Manual and Data Transfer Phases

Manual transfer phases are used to model manual material transfer activities in the process. Many processes are not completely automated and may require an operator to add materials to a batch by hand, or type in a lot code, or acknowledge the completion of the phase.

You can use data transfer phases to interface to external systems that cannot implement the formal phase logic that the automatic phase requires.

Manual and data phases do not have control system phase logic, and therefore, do not have tag assignments for phase control or status control bits or interlocks. Using control buttons is optional with manual phases. You can optionally assign formula parameters to either type of phase.

Manual and data phases are run by the AVEVA Batch Management System. An operator must acknowledge all manual transfer phases before they are considered done by the batch system. Acknowledgement can be accomplished only after all the phase edit and comment requirements have been satisfied. Data transfer phases do not require operator acknowledgement.

You can configure the batch control system to handle many different manual and data transfer phases. The following examples demonstrate several manual and data phase configurations. The phase names are only for examples.

• Phase Name: ScaleAdd (Manual)
  Material is weighed on a scale that is attached to the control system. The operator is required to enter the lot code for the material. When the weight, which is being updated on the Batch Display, is within the acceptable range, the operator presses the acknowledge button. The operator then manually transfers the material to the appropriate processing unit.

• Phase Name: ManAdd (Manual)
  Material is weighed on a scale that is not attached to the control system. The operator must enter the actual weight, press the acknowledge button when the weight is acceptable, and then manually transfer the material to the processing unit.

• Phase Name: AckAdd (Manual)
  Materials are pre-weighed prior to processing the final production batch. As materials are added, the operator acknowledges each addition. The Batch Manager records the material usage by using the target value as the actual value.

• Phase Name: PartsAdd (Manual)
  The material addition may have two parts. For example, 60 pounds of salt must be added, and salt comes in 50-pound bags. A scale is attached to the control system.

  One 50-pound bag is added to the batch. The operator enters 50 as the actual value, enters the material lot code, and then acknowledges that the phase is complete. The Batch Manager treats this action as a partial addition.

  The remaining material (10 pounds) is weighed on the scale. When the weight is within the tolerances, the operator enters the material lot code and acknowledges that the phase is complete.

• Phase Name: Fill (Manual)
  Material is transferred from a bulk source to a finished goods container where the operator manually controls the transfer.

• Phase Name: External (Data)
  This phase reads and writes information to an external system. Target values are writes; Actuals are reads.

The following table shows the valid phase parameter configurations for the manual and data transfer phase examples described in this section.