Enabling Local Formula Editing on CPC

 

When CPC is used along with CPM, the local editing controls are disabled. This allows the formula database to be controller from CPM providing a better editing experience for the user.

When CPC is used stand alone, it is possible to accidentally disable local editing if the user has a master key.

To enable local editing again, go to Configuration:

Then System:

Then check the CP Manager setting:

When local editing is disabled, there is a tick, as above.

When local editing is enabled, there is a cross, as below:

If this setting is disabled and you have a CPM installation, all database synchronisation will stop. It is therefore not recommended to disable this setting unless you are instructed to do so by a member of Rexson support.

If you have a standalone console and you cannot see the editing controls on the formulations screen, as below:

Then the CP Manager setting will be incorrectly set, and needs to be disabled.

Setting up information on Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

 

Many states in the USA require that sites record and report on their output of Volatile Organic Compounds and this requires a little extra data to be added in ColorPoint Manager.  The functionality to achieve this is in a free extension to CPM that is not included by default as most users have no need for it.  If you need this functionality but don’t see the functionality described below then contact Rexson and we will be happy to include the functionality for you.

The first thing to do is to add the types of VOCs you wish to track to the system.  To do this go the Admin menu and then to VOC and then VOC Types.

 

The VOC types you need to enter will depend on what you wish to report and what state laws requires you be able to report on.  If possible the simplest course of actions is to as few VOC types as possible.  Some sites have only a single VOC type while others have several types such as Ink VOCs, Varnish VOCs etc. for each type of material they wish to report on.  In rare cases some sites will have a VOC type for every individual VOC they have to report on such as Ethyl Acetate but most state regulations do not require this level of detail. 

Once you have selected the VOC Types item in the menu then adding new VOC types is very similar to adding a new material.  The only things that you need to supply are a name and a code and a default specific gravity.

Once you’ve finished adding VOC types you need to go through each material and associate the VOC types you have created with the materials on the system.  To do this open a material and click the VOC button on the left hand side of the screen.  You will be presented with a screen that is much like the screen you see when creating a formula that will allow you to specify how much of the material is made up of various types of VOC.

The percentage field refers to the % of weight (either US pounds or kilograms depending on your system settings) that the VOC in question takes up in the material.  So if you you dispensed a material that was entirely made up of a VOC then the percentage would be 100%.  The specific gravity field is inherited from the value you put into the VOC type field but can be modified by double clicking on the value.  The specific gravity will be either US pounds per gallon or kilograms per litre depending on your system settings.

Once you have modified all your materials to accurately reflect their VOC composition you can then start receiving stock batches of those materials in the normal way.  If you have already received stock batches for those materials and need to apply the changes then contact Rexson and will apply the changes to your existing dispense history.

ADDING VOC AREAS

If you need to report on VOC usage for a specific machine or area then you will need to both create the areas and assign them to any jobs that you create.  Adding a VOC area is very simple just go to the Admin menu item and then to VOC and VOC Areas.  Once on this screen you can add a VOC area by pressing the add button and providing a code and name for the area.  How many areas you need to add will be dictated by your reporting requirements.  If you need to report individually on each printing press then simply add one area for each machine you need to report on.

If you are tracking VOC usage by machine then you will need to double click each machine in the machines list (which you can open by going to Machines in the operations menu) and selecting the area associated with that machine.

You can assign more than one machine to an area and if you are not interested in the other benefits of machine tracking then you can simply create a machine named after the VOC area you wish to track VOC usage for.

ASSOCIATING DISPENSES WITH VOC AREAS

Finally to associate dispenses with a VOC area you need to create a job to assign those dispenses to.  On the job you create you can select the machine that corresponds to the VOC area that you want dispenses assigned to that job to be recorded against.  If you are not planning to use jobs then you can create a job specifically to represent a VOC area and then just keep that job open though we generally recommend creating a new job per VOC area per month just to make record keeping easier.

Changes to the formula screen to incorporate fixed % additives

Recently we have added an additional column to the formula items screen to make adding materials at a fixed % easier.



When you tick the ‘Is Fixed’ column for a given material it means that the parts of that item will not be changed when the formula items are re-apportioned.  This is useful for scenarios where you know that a certain material must always make up a certain percentage of a formula.  So if you increased the parts of the red in the screenshot above to 60 and then had the software reapportion the formula  (which it would do automatically when you pressed the save button), the result would be as follows.



As you can see the green has become roughly 1/3 smaller than the amount of red but the amount of medium in the formula has been unaffected.  This feature was in previous versions of ColorPoint Manager but was specified as a property of the material and once a material was marked as being a fixed % additive it was considered fixed in every formula.  The new system is more flexible in that it allows materials to be made fixed on a case by case basis.  It is important to note that ticking the ‘Is Fixed’ check box does not mean that you will not be able to change the parts of the material manually, only that they will not be changed when the formula is re-apportioned.

Finishing Stock Batches

When a tank of raw material is used up and the weight falls to zero (or below), ColorPoint Manager highlights the batch in red. This is a hint to the user to check the status of the stock and if appropriate, to finish the batch to prevent it from being used again.

Finishing the batch also keeps the Stock Overview tidy, showing only batches that are actually useful. To finish a batch, or a selection of batches, select the items from the list and right-click. Choose Finish from the contextual menu that opens.

If the Finish menu item is greyed out, this means there is a batch in your selection that is still allocated to a dispense valve. In this case, the normal refill procedure should be carried out first before finishing the batch.

Why Have Our Batch Numbers Changed?

Some customers have noticed on newly updated software that the format of the Dispense/Return Batch Number has changed.

The old format was Dyydddxxx:

• D – batch number type: dispense
• yy – year
• ddd – day of year (1 – 365)
• xxx – dispense number for the day

The new format is DyyddNxxx

• D – batch number type: dispense
• yy – year
• dd – day of year using 0-9 and A-I
• N – dispenser number.
• xxx – dispense number for the day

This new format allows us to support multiple dispensers on a single installation of ColorPoint Manager by identifying the originating dispenser in the batch number. It also does not increase the length of the batch number. This is important where we print the batch number on labels as a barcode.

Adding a New Formula on ColorPoint Console

 

This procedure only applies if you don’t have a management PC. To add new formulas on systems with ColorPoint Manager see Create a new Formula on ColorPoint Manager

Go to the formulas page.

Press the Add button (with a + icon)

Choose a colour from the selection. Give the formula a unique code and a descriptive name.

Use the arrow keys to select a material and press the add button to add it to the formula.

Then enter the parts per 100 for this material, followed by the ‘Next’ button.

Repeat his for each material until the formulation is complete. If a mistake is made, the ‘Edit’ and ‘Del’ buttons can be used to change or remove materials. The arrow buttons on the lower edge of the screen can be used to navigate the list of materials already added to the formula.

When you are finished creating the formula press the ‘Save’ button.

Replacing the material on a dispense valve on CPC

 

If a material is retired and replaced with another material, it will be necessary to remove the original material from the dispense valve and assign a new material.

This guide assumes that the new material has been created on either CPM or CPC and has a code of NewMaterial. The material to be replaced has a code of OldMaterial.

Insert a Master Key (Level 3)

From the Main Menu press the Configuration button.

On the configuration page press the Operations button.

On the operations page use the arrows to scroll to the valve the old material is assigned to.

Press the de-assign valve button. You will prompted with a warning. Press yes. The assign material button will now appear. Press it to choose a new material.

When presented with the list of available manual materials, use the arrows to select the new material, the press the select button.

Your new material is now assigned to the valve.

Check your pressure and tolerance settings if the properties of the new material differ from the old material.

You may need to perform a material replacement in your formulas if the new material is to replace all uses of the old material. For instructions see this article.