Create a Network model

You can create a Network model only if you have a valid Spiral Network license.

For more information about checking for installed licenses, see the Configure your Licenses topic. Contact AVEVA support (spiral.support@aveva.com) for information about obtaining new licenses.

Network models, like other supply chain models in AVEVA Unified Supply Chain, are managed from the Model Explorer.

Tip: This topic is about creating a network model from scratch.
For information on creating a multi-period model from a sequence of planning cases, see Create Classical Multi-Period Models.

1. Add a new model

   

   In the Supply Chain Model group of the Home ribbon tab, click the lower half of the Add Model button, and choose Add new Network Model from the menu. The Add Network Model window opens.

2. Name model

   

   Enter a name for the model in the Name field. Optionally, enter a description in the Description box.

3. Choose units of measure

   

   Click the UoM tab to choose units of measure for temperature, pressure and currency. Double click a symbol in the UoM column to show a drop-down menu from which you can choose another unit.

   You can switch between weight- and volume-based unit with the Wgt/Vol Basis drop-down menu.

4. Add plants

   

   Open the Plants tab and click the Add button () to add plants to the model. The Select Case window opens.

5. Select plants

   

   Click a model in the left-hand list to show the corresponding list of cases. Click one or more cases to select them. The plant defined in each case will be added to the network model.

   You can click while holding Shift to select ranges of cases, or while holding Ctrl to select several individual cases. Each case can be associated with one or more periods to allow different plant level settings at different points in time. Therefore if you want to have different unit capacities, different blend matrices etc. for different time periods, then each configuration must be modeled as an independent case, and the relevant case is associated with the relevant period.

   When you have selected all the cases you want to add, click OK. Click Cancel to close the window without adding any plants.

   Note: When you add a plant case to the list, a copy of the source plant case is associated with the network model. This copy is independent of the original source case. Therefore, if you change the original plant case, the network model will not be updated. Similarly, if you edit the plant case within the Network environment, it is the copy you are editing, not the original.

6. Create model

   

   Click OK to create the model. After a short delay, the new model appears in the list of models in the Supply Chain Models tab.

7. Configure model

   Once you have created your model, double click on the master case in the case list to open it.

   The configuration steps depend on whether you are building a full network model, with nodes of various types, or if you are building a multi-plant model, with plant nodes only:

   • If you are building a full network model, see Configure a Network Model.

   • If you are building a multi-plant model, see Configure a Multi-Plant Model.

Create subcases

A subcase is created as an exact copy of its parent case. You can then change the subcase independently of its parent. Subcases are useful to investigate the effect of variations in the parameters of a Network case, without changing the original case.

To create a subcase of a Network case, follow these steps:

8. Click on the parent Network case in the case list.

9. In the Cases group of the Home ribbon tab, click the Add Sub Case button. The subcase appears below the parent case.

You can easily compare several cases using Case Stacking.