Apply a partition to a zone

Apply partitions to a Zone to track items that belong to mutually exclusive groups.


00:03

FlexSim partitions specify how tokens in a zone are divided or categorized.

00:09

This enables you to identify, track, and analyze sets of tokens with distinct properties.

00:16

For example, you might partition the items within a zone by type.

00:22

In this example, a simple process flow and dashboard are already set up.

00:28

Tokens enter the flow, receive a Weight label, and then flow into the Zone based on specific subset criteria.

00:37

To apply a partition, start by adding another label.

00:41

In Assign Labels, click Add,

00:47

then enter a name of “Type” for the Label.

00:50

Expand Value and select Statistical Distribution > D Uniform.

00:58

Set the Minimum to “1” and the Maximum to “3”.

01:02

Each token will now have a random Type of 1, 2, or 3 assigned.

01:08

Reset, Run, and Step the model forward, then Stop the model, and select a token in the flow.

01:17

In Properties, you see both the Weight and Type Labels.

01:22

Reset the model.

01:24

Now create the partition.

01:27

Select the Zone, and in Properties, click More Properties.

01:33

In the Zone Properties dialog, select the Partitions tab.

01:40

While an item can be part of multiple subsets at the same time, partitions divide a zone into mutually exclusive sets.

01:48

An example is setting up a partition by type to view statistics for each.

01:54

You could also do this by creating type subsets, but this is impractical if you have numerous types.

02:02

Also, if you are testing multiple scenarios, the number of types could be a dynamic or variable number, so a partition is recommended.

02:12

Back on the Partitions tab, enter “token.Type” for the Partition By criteria; this allows you to track tokens by their type label.

02:22

Run the model, then select the Zone, and in Properties, click View Status.

02:30

In the Zone Status dialog, select the Partitions tab, where the table now tracks statistics for each Partition, listed in order of arrival.

02:40

Close the Zone Status dialog.

02:43

Another key difference between partitions and subsets is that partitions dynamically update.

02:50

To see this, in the process flow, for Assign Labels, change the Value of the Type label to a uniform distribution of between 1 and 6.

03:02

Run the model and reopen the Zone Status dialog to the Partition tab.

03:08

Then, Run and Step the model forward further, and you see that a Partition appears for each of the Types.

03:16

The Zone automatically looks at the Type labels that enter the Zone and creates a corresponding partition.

Video transcript

00:03

FlexSim partitions specify how tokens in a zone are divided or categorized.

00:09

This enables you to identify, track, and analyze sets of tokens with distinct properties.

00:16

For example, you might partition the items within a zone by type.

00:22

In this example, a simple process flow and dashboard are already set up.

00:28

Tokens enter the flow, receive a Weight label, and then flow into the Zone based on specific subset criteria.

00:37

To apply a partition, start by adding another label.

00:41

In Assign Labels, click Add,

00:47

then enter a name of “Type” for the Label.

00:50

Expand Value and select Statistical Distribution > D Uniform.

00:58

Set the Minimum to “1” and the Maximum to “3”.

01:02

Each token will now have a random Type of 1, 2, or 3 assigned.

01:08

Reset, Run, and Step the model forward, then Stop the model, and select a token in the flow.

01:17

In Properties, you see both the Weight and Type Labels.

01:22

Reset the model.

01:24

Now create the partition.

01:27

Select the Zone, and in Properties, click More Properties.

01:33

In the Zone Properties dialog, select the Partitions tab.

01:40

While an item can be part of multiple subsets at the same time, partitions divide a zone into mutually exclusive sets.

01:48

An example is setting up a partition by type to view statistics for each.

01:54

You could also do this by creating type subsets, but this is impractical if you have numerous types.

02:02

Also, if you are testing multiple scenarios, the number of types could be a dynamic or variable number, so a partition is recommended.

02:12

Back on the Partitions tab, enter “token.Type” for the Partition By criteria; this allows you to track tokens by their type label.

02:22

Run the model, then select the Zone, and in Properties, click View Status.

02:30

In the Zone Status dialog, select the Partitions tab, where the table now tracks statistics for each Partition, listed in order of arrival.

02:40

Close the Zone Status dialog.

02:43

Another key difference between partitions and subsets is that partitions dynamically update.

02:50

To see this, in the process flow, for Assign Labels, change the Value of the Type label to a uniform distribution of between 1 and 6.

03:02

Run the model and reopen the Zone Status dialog to the Partition tab.

03:08

Then, Run and Step the model forward further, and you see that a Partition appears for each of the Types.

03:16

The Zone automatically looks at the Type labels that enter the Zone and creates a corresponding partition.

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