ABS Technical Bulletin #12

“Standard Charge” Feature

A new feature referred to as the “Standard Charge Feature” has been developed to assist clients that meet one or both of the following conditions:

• Client uses the Alloy Additions (TAP) program to calculate furnace or ladle corrections, but do not use the Least Cost Charge (MIX) program to calculate the initial charge. Client wants to record total consumption (usage) for the heat, including charge materials. Client desires the ability to recall a standard list of materials, by grade code, rather than key in the material name, lot number, and weight for each charge material used.

• Client uses the Least Cost Charge (MIX) or Manual Charge (MANMIX) program to design and reserve charges. Client does not assign a heat number until the heat is actually poured. Client desires the ability to recall the reserved charge materials, and have them recorded against the actual heat number assigned.

When the Inventory Usage function is activated, it recalls and displays the ordered or reserved material for the heat being processed. If the heat hasn’t been reserved (i.e., only an alloy additions calculation is performed) or if the heat number is different from the reserved heat number, the Inventory Usage function does not have an easy, straightforward procedure for recording the charge materials. The Standard Charge feature was developed to provide a simple and easy method of informing the Inventory Usage function what the charge materials were for the heat.

Definition of a Standard Charge

A standard charge is any charge reserved with either the Least Cost Charge (MIX) or Manual Charge (MANMIX) program and has a heat number that begins with “STD” (in either upper or lower-case letters). For example, “STD316”. When calculating a standard charge, multiple charges can, and would normally be, requested. In our example, we will calculate a least cost charge for 10 identical 316 charges:

When the heat is reserved, only one heat number “STD316” will be reserved, but material for 10 heats will be reserved.

Recording Usage for a Standard Charge

When recording usage, the inventory usage screen will appear and the program begins asking for heat number, usage function, grade code, etc. Enter the actual heat number, not the standard charge number “STD316”. The standard charge number would only be entered at this time if you wish to cancel the standard charge. If the heat was reserved within the Alloy Additions (TAP) program, you can recall it by entering the heat number or by pressing <F2> to see a list of reserved heats.

NOTE: Pressing <F2> will also display the “standard charges” reserved, but they can easily be identified by “STDxxxxxx” as the charge number.

If the heat was not reserved, the usage function will display the following warning message, and ask if you wish to process a manually prepared or standard heat:

Click on “Yes” if you wish to continue processing. Enter the grade/alloy code, furnace id, melt date, and position the highlighter to the “Weight Entered” column and press <ENTER>. The screen to record “actual material usage” will appear:

You are now ready to begin recording usage for the heat. To recall the standard charge for the grade/alloy code entered, press <F9> (or click on “F9-Standard” on the menu bar at the top of the screen). If more than one standard charge exists for the grade/alloy code, a pop-up list will be displayed so you can select the correct standard charge.

After the standard charge has been recalled, the highlighter will be positioned to the “Actual Weight” column. Enter the actual weight used if different from the standard (previous) weight shown. When finished, click on “Finished” to return to the main usage dialog to process the next charge.

Click on “Finished” again when you are done recording usage. If you reply that you want your material files updated, the usage program will begin processing. The following action will be taken:

• The actual weight entered will be deducted from the current available and book quantity;
• The number of reserved heats for the standard charge will be reduced by one. If the number of reserved heats (unprocessed) is zero, the usage program will automatically remove the standard charge from the heats reserved database;
• The detailed usage file and, optionally, the Month-To-Date (MTD) and MARS history files will be updated.

Canceling a Standard Charge

Canceling a standard charge is identical to canceling a regular charge (via the Inventory Control’s “Usage” function).

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