Waste

1. During Production
   1. ‘Waste’ Function
   2. Aborting Batches
2. After Production
3. WMS
   1. Non-Palletized Commodities
      1. Adjust
      2. Withdraw
   2. Palletized Commodities
4. Material Issue
5. Cycle Counting
6. Waste in Reports

One of the main areas where commodities can be written off as waste is in Terminal itself. This can be done in a couple of different ways depending on the circumstances, so we can now take a look at these below.

One of the ways we can waste stock is in Terminal while a batch is underway. Let’s imagine that our Terminal operator is making a batch of ‘Basic Bread Dough’ with the following formula:

The operator would weigh out the required amounts of commodities for each step, but when coming to step 4, the operator spills some dried yeast on the floor. Were this to happen, we can use Terminal itself to write this spilt amount off as waste.

We can weigh this waste and use the ‘Actions’ button (1) to open the actions menu and select ‘Waste’ (2).

The operator will then be asked to confirm that they want to ‘Write off waste’ (in case this button is hit by mistake), after which they can key in the amount to write off. Let’s say in this instance that 7.15lbs was dropped.

After confirming this, the operator will be asked to provide a reason for this waste. These can be set up in ‘Reasons’ as ‘Batch Stock Writeoff’ reason types. Answers can be set to allow freetext input when chosen if desired.

The reason chosen, as well as any freetext comments, will be included in waste reports. Once this is done the operator will be returned to the batching screen, where they will be able to see the new adjusted ‘in stock’ figure for the lot.

The operator can then proceed to complete the batch as normal.

Ingredients can also be written off as waste In Terminal if a batch is aborted mid production. If we run a quick batch of the same dough formula as used above, we can see how this works.

Scheduling 1 batch of this formula, we can run it in Terminal. Prior to running the formula, we have 240lbs of flour (our first formula step) left in stock:

Heading over to Terminal, we will start batch production and add our flour. Once we confirm the quantity of flour on the scale (or the system does it for us if using automatic mode) and proceed to the next step, the quantity of flour previously weighed is now locked into this batch production run.

What this means is that if our operator then discovers a problem with the batch, such as the mixing bowl falling off the scales between adding ingredients, they could then abort the batch, using the red ‘x’ in the bottom left and hitting ‘Abort’:

Returning to our inventory in Control Center we can now see that the stock level for flour has now been reduced by the amount that we added in the first step, then aborted.

As mentioned above, the quantity of flour is only locked into this batch production if the step has been completed and Terminal has moved on to the next step. If the quantity of flour had not been confirmed prior to the batch, then this would not be written off as waste.

Terminal can also be used to scrap batches that have already been completed. This could be useful if a batch is dropped after production, or we discover that the ingredients used were somehow contaminated.

We can do this by using the ‘All Formulas’ tab and selecting the formula for the batch we want to scrap. We can then hit the orange pencil icon (1) to enter ‘Edit Batch’ mode. The user must have the correct privileges set to be able to do this. From here we can browse a list of previously produced batches, choose the one we want to scrap, and hit the green check (2) to proceed.

From here we will see our formula steps, along with the target/achieved weight during the batching process. We can hit the red ‘x’ here to give the option to Complete (if we are happy with the batch/amounts of commodities added etc.) or Abort.

If we hit abort from here, we will get the option to scrap the batch, which will waste all the ingredients (to show on an ‘Aborted Ingredients’ report (see below), or return ingredients to stock, which will not waste the ingredients but put them back into stock.

WMS can be used to perform stock adjustments and withdrawals for both palletized and non-palletized commodities, and can be done at any time rather than just when batching, allowing for incidents such as the dropping of a bag/pallet while being moved to be accounted for. Let’s take a look at how we can do this.

Non-palletized commodities can be managed using the ‘Commodities’ tile in WMS.

On the next screen we can then choose a commodity to manage.

Choosing ‘Sugar’ in this instance (which we know to be non-palletized in this system), we will then be shown a list of lots that we can manage here. If we try and select a lot of a palletized item, then the following message will be displayed across the messaging banner at the top of the window:

Selecting a lot for sugar however will take us to the main commodity management screen.

We can use 2 functions here, ‘Adjust’ and ‘Withdraw’ to make any necessary stock level changes, depending on how we want to make the adjustment.

The adjust function will allow the WMS operator to correct the stock level for a given lot or pallet. So let’s say that, when the lot of sugar was being moved, a 50lb bag was dropped and has to be written off. Hitting the ‘Adjust’ button here will allow us to key in/weigh/or bulk enter a new weight for the lot. Since we know that we dropped a 50lb bag, we can enter a new weight for the lot at 450lbs.

After confirming this, we will be asked for a reason (if present in the system) for this adjustment. Again these can be set up in ‘Reasons’ in Control Center, and must be ‘Stock Adjust’ reasons to appear for this event.

After choosing a reason the operator will be returned to the main menu screen, with a banner message confirming that the adjustment has been made to the lot.

The withdraw function allows for a specified amount of a commodity to be removed from the lot of a non-palletized commodity. This function can be accessed from the main commodity management screen above and when hit after selecting a lot, will bring up a similar screen to that which we saw in ‘Adjust’ above.

In the ‘adjust’ example above we dropped a 50lb bag, so keying in 50 here would also be a suitable way to adjust the lot in that case. However, in this case, just a small quantity from a bag has been spilled on the floor. In this case we might sweep this up and then weigh it out, showing that 5.75lbs has been dropped. Weighing this then hitting ‘Enter’ will then prompt for a reason as above (again these are ‘Stock Adjust’ reasons).  After this the operator will be returned to the main screen as before, with a banner message confirming the stock withdrawal.

Palletized items can also be managed in WMS, but we need to use the ‘Pallets’ menu for this. Hitting this tile on the main WMS window will allow us to either look up or scan a pallet to manage.

Once we have looked up (or scanned) our pallet, we will be taken to the main pallet manager window. In this case I used the ‘GEN’ location to find a pallet of flour.

We could have more than 1 lot of a commodity on a pallet, so the operator would have to select the pallet in the top panel, then the desired commodity in the bottom, and finally hit ‘Adjust Item’ to manage the quantity of that commodity on that pallet.

Unlike managing the stock levels for non-palletized items, here we can only key enter in a new value for the lot on the pallet. For simplicity’s sake here we will imagine that when being moved, a 50lb bag of flour fell off the pallet and needs to be written off. This would take the new lot weight to 240lbs.

Confirming this new weight with the ‘Enter’ button will, once again, ask for a reason for this adjustment. This time the reasons must be set as ‘Pallet Adjust’ reason types for them to be displayed here.

We will then be taken back to the main pallet manager screen and another banner message will confirm the adjustment.

Another area of the V5 system where waste comes into play is when we are using material issue and initialize inventory module. Once we have moved inventory to a production location and completed the required jobs, we then initialize the inventory to move the remaining stock back to storage.

We can see an example of this with the ingredients for Saffron Kulfi below that are awaiting initialization to complete the job.

We can proceed through this list to return commodities to stock by weighing out what we want to return. However, if the amount to return is negligible or unsuitable to be returned for whatever reason, we can weigh out all we can, and then select ‘Zero’ to zero all remaining stock.

This zeroed stock will be then be considered waste by the system.

Cycle Counting in V5 is used to perform inventory stock checks. These checks, or counts, can be scheduled via Control Center or we can have WMS automatically select a commodity for us.

While performing these counts, the WMS operator might find that some stock of a particular commodity has been contaminated and so cannot be used. In this case the operator would adjust the stock level of this commodity, with this loss being counted as waste by the system. Reasons can also be set up to allow operators to specify this as waste so that it is clearer on generated reports.

More information on both Cycle Counting and Reason setup and usage can be found in the ‘Cycle Counting‘ and ‘Reasons‘ module guides.

V5 can report on waste in 4 main ways:

‘Aborted Ingredients’ – As the name suggests, this report would list quantities of commodities that have been aborted, as in section 1.2. above. Learn more here.

‘Aborted or Suspended Batches’ – This report will list and aborted or suspended batches. Learn more here.

Stock Waste’ – Probably the most comprehensive report here, this can show us stock adjustments and withdrawals (as in section 2) , as well as any aborted ingredients, production adjustments, or auto-zeroes/cleardowns. Learn more here.

‘Waste by Supplier’ – This report will list any commodities designated as ‘waste’ in Terminal production, as in section 1.1. above. Learn more here.