How to Set Pieces Required on a Routing Step in EDGEBIC

To set pieces required on a routing step in EDGEBIC by User Solutions, set the step's Unit Type to pieces (or both) and enter the piece requirement, with the step running on a pieces-based work center. The Unit Type column on the step decides whether the requirement is measured in hours, pieces, or both. When it is pieces, the scheduler reads the step's piece count and converts it to time using the work center's pieces-per-hour rate, so the machine must be configured as pieces-based first. This suits output-driven operations such as molding, stamping, or filling, where the floor thinks in parts per hour rather than hours per part.

This recipe covers one specific task. For entering time directly, see how to change the hours on a routing step. For how the machine rate turns into capacity, read how EDGEBIC calculates work center capacity and EDGEBIC work centers explained.

Before You Start

• A pieces-based work center exists for this operation, with a non-zero pieces-per-hour rate. Without the rate, a pieces-based step cannot be converted to time.
• The routing open, with the step you want to schedule by piece count identified.
• The piece requirement for the step, expressed the way the machine measures output.

Step by Step

1. Confirm the work center's capacity type is pieces (or both). It appears as a read-only column on the work center grid and is loaded through the work center import rather than typed on the edit dialog.
2. Open the BOR tab and select the routing.
3. Select the step that should schedule by pieces.
4. Set the step's Unit Type to pieces (or both if either pieces or an hours ceiling could be the binding constraint).
5. Enter the piece requirement for the step.
6. Click Update Standard BOR to save.
7. Run Generate Schedule so the step is scheduled by piece count.

What Changes When You Save

On the next scheduling run, the step no longer consumes hours directly. Instead the scheduler reads its piece requirement and converts it to time using the step's own rate, the per-piece time you entered on it. A rate of 60 parts per hour, which is 0.0167 hours per piece, turns a 300-piece requirement into 5 hours of work, placed across the machine's shifts like any other operation. With Unit Type set to both, the scheduler honors whichever of the piece count or the hours ceiling is limiting. The rest of the routing composes normally: setup, queue, and downstream links behave the same as for an hours-based step.

How to Check It Worked

Open the Job View after scheduling and confirm the step's duration matches the piece count divided by the effective rate. For 300 pieces at 60 parts per hour, expect about 5 hours before setup. If the step schedules with an impossibly long or unbounded duration, the work center's pieces-per-hour rate is likely zero: set a non-zero rate and reschedule. If the duration is off by a consistent proportion, check the machine's efficiency factor.

Common Mistakes

• A zero piece rate on the machine. A pieces-based work center with no pieces-per-hour rate cannot convert pieces to time and produces an unbounded schedule. Always set a non-zero rate.
• Setting Unit Type to pieces on an hours-based machine. The conversion depends on the work center being pieces-based. Configure the machine first.
• Forgetting the efficiency factor. Effective throughput is the rate times the efficiency factor, so an unexpected factor changes the duration. Confirm it is sensible.
• Reaching for both when pieces is enough. Use both only when a real second constraint exists. For a purely output-driven step, pieces is simpler and clearer.

Related Reading

• How to add setup time to a routing step since setup composes with a pieces-based run the same way.
• How to build a routing step by step for the wider routing workflow.
• EDGEBIC and the EDGEBIC how-to hub for the full recipe index.

Scheduling a step by pieces lets you plan in the units your machine actually reports, so an output-rated press or molder consumes capacity the way the floor measures it, with the piece rate doing the conversion to time behind the scenes.