Managing Recipes

The Settings and Changeover Module provides a framework that allows you to easily build and manage a hierarchy of recipes that can propagate machine settings down to equipment from default values or master recipes that pass their values down to descendant (child) recipes. When you change a setting in the master recipe, it will replicate down to all of its child recipes while still maintaining the specific values of each child recipe. With unlimited levels available for master recipes, you can organize recipes in a hierarchical manner, greatly reducing the effort to maintain recipes. 

The visual Recipe Editor component allows you to:

• Create new recipes
• Read current machine settings into a recipe
• Import and Export recipes
• Manage security

Click on the links for more information about Default Recipe Values and Sub Recipes and Master Recipes and Descendants.

Variance Tracking

In manufacturing, it is important to know if the actual production values match the recipe values when the recipe is downloaded and throughout the run in the event they are changed from an outside source. Recipe values are written once when the recipe is first selected and it is important to confirm that the values were successfully set. In the case of the Settings and Changeover Module, when a recipe is selected, the values are written to the Ignition tags. This should happen successfully, but there can be expressions, scripts, etc. that prevent the value from being written correctly. This is more of an issue when the Ignition tag is configured as an OPC item connecting it to the PLC or other device. If a communication error occurs when the new recipe value was being written to the PLC or device, then it is very useful to know this before machinery is started.

It is very common to have operator interface terminals (OIT) or a standalone human machine interface (HMI) local to a machine that settings can be changed locally. Settings can also be changed from other sources besides the local OIT, and it is important to detect and log when any setting varies from the recipe value.

There are cases where it is normal for a live production value to vary after the initial recipe value has been written to the Ignition tag. In other cases, it might be okay for the live production value to change within a range. Recipe values can be configured to not monitor variances or to have a variance window that the live production value must fall outside of before the variance is logged. By default, the variance monitoring is enabled for each recipe value but it can be disabled by recipe value in the Designer. This allows for a mix of recipe values that variances will be monitored and other that will not to prevent irrelevant variances from being logged.

Refer to Recipe Values Settings - Enable Variance Logging for more information on setting up variance tracking.

Recipe Variance Detection

After a recipe is selected and the initial recipe values are set, it is vital to monitor them for any variances to prevent quality issues, downtime or other production issues. During production, recipe values can be changed from systems outside of the recipe system, such as an operator interface terminal local to a machine.

By monitoring the recipe values, the variance log in the Settings and Changeover Module lets you detect variances in real time or review variances by production run or date range. These capabilities make it possible to identify the root causes of production issues early on.

The variance log also lets you define limits for which variances to record. The following types of thresholds can be defined by recipe value:

• Percentage +/- of recipe value
• Fixed +/- values from recipe value
• Fixed values
• Custom

Recipe Scaling

When using recipes for batch or other processes that can change based on the amount that is produced, recipe scaling will adjust recipe values based on a recipe scale value. In the recipe value configuration, there is an Enable Scaling setting that can be selected. If enabled, whenever a recipe is selected, the recipe value will be scaled by the RecipeScale value.

Refer to Recipe Values settings - Enable Scaling for more information on setting up scaling.

Recipe Security

Factory line designers can extend the strong protection provided by Ignition’s role-based security to their recipes. The Settings and Changeover Module allows you to:

• Assign user roles
• Set permission for which roles can change which recipe values and by how much

For example, designers can give the Administrator role permission to change a setting from 0–100, while limiting the Operator role’s permission to change the setting from 60–80.

Refer to Recipe Security for more information.

Recipe Change Management

Keeping an audit record of when recipes are changed, by who and why can be important especially in industries where regulatory compliance are in force. The Settings and Changeover Module records all changes to recipes whether the changes were made from the recipe editor, imported or through scripting. The only changes not automatically detected are changes made directly to the database and proper database security should be implemented if this is a risk.

Whenever a change is made to a recipe setting, the details are recorded in the Settings and Changeover Module’s change log:

• Who made the change
• When the change was made
• What the previous setting was
• Why the change was made (you have the option to require an explanatory note)

The change log is valuable in normal production environments and is especially critical in industries with significant compliance requirements.

The Recipe Change Log Viewer component easily shows recipe change log history. It has properties to narrow in on what production item and recipes to show the change log for. Which columns are shown, are configurable through the table customizer. See Analysis and Reports - Recipe Change Log for more information.

Recipe Change Log Viewer

Recipe Change Log Analysis