Excel help limerick

Hedgecutter

Trying to set up a spread sheet in excel and I need help. I'm not sure how advanced what I'm trying to do is, but someone I know who is used to using excel couldn't help me.

anyone know some excel genius.

Willing to pay

TheDriver

This is probably better suited to the computer forum. Mods, feel free to move to a more suitable thread if you deem so.

mordeith

Hedgecutter wrote: »

Trying to set up a spread sheet in excel and I need help. I'm not sure how advanced what I'm trying to do is, but someone I know who is used to using excel couldn't help me.

anyone know some excel genius.

Willing to pay

What exactly do you need to do?

Hedgecutter

This is for a project at collage, I'm a mature student working part time.

My knowledge is limited with excel but I don't want this to stop me and I'm welling to put the work in but need to know if what I want to create is possible and to be pointed in the right direction.

Brief over view- CNC machines have a number of tools that can be removed/changed for other tools, The tool being used is defined by what ever component is being manufactured at that time.
Problem- When changing from one job (component) to another, the removal of a large amount of tools take a long time resulting in a machine being down( big no no in manufacturing)

I'm want to develop a system within excel that can measure the time it will take to complete a setup of a new job on a CNC machine. I want to be able to type in the product number of a component and excel automatically compare it to the current job on the machine and give me a measurement of how long this setup will take.
I can then choose to go with a different job depending on the setup time.

My idea is to measure the next job against the current job running on the machine and there will be a matrix that will tell me how long the setup should take. Each tool will be given a time and the setup will be measured on the amount of tools removed.

I want to be able to organise my jobs according to the least amount of time it takes to set up the machine

Thoie

Hedgecutter wrote: »

This is for a project at collage, I'm a mature student working part time.

My knowledge is limited with excel but I don't want this to stop me and I'm welling to put the work in but need to know if what I want to create is possible and to be pointed in the right direction.

Brief over view- CNC machines have a number of tools that can be removed/changed for other tools, The tool being used is defined by what ever component is being manufactured at that time.
Problem- When changing from one job (component) to another, the removal of a large amount of tools take a long time resulting in a machine being down( big no no in manufacturing)

I'm want to develop a system within excel that can measure the time it will take to complete a setup of a new job on a CNC machine. I want to be able to type in the product number of a component and excel automatically compare it to the current job on the machine and give me a measurement of how long this setup will take.
I can then choose to go with a different job depending on the setup time.

My idea is to measure the next job against the current job running on the machine and there will be a matrix that will tell me how long the setup should take. Each tool will be given a time and the setup will be measured on the amount of tools removed.

I want to be able to organise my jobs according to the least amount of time it takes to set up the machine

What you're trying to do is possible in Excel, but Excel wouldn't necessarily be the best way of doing it - it'll be quite convoluted. Does the project have to be specifically Excel based? What's being tested - Excel use or "solve this problem using any means at your disposal"?

To point you in the right direction, investigate vlookup formulas - this will help with the part about using a product number to find out what components are needed, and can be used to find the change time for each component.

Areas to think about. Does the current tool affect how long it takes to put in a new tool? E.g. If the widget is currently installed, then it will take me 10 minutes to put on the doodad. But if the thingummy is currently on the machine, then it will take me 20 minutes to put on the doodad.

Break things down into smaller and smaller steps - don't leap in and try to calculate everything all at once. You can combine the results later once you're sure each piece is working along the way.

Hedgecutter

Thoie wrote: »

What you're trying to do is possible in Excel, but Excel wouldn't necessarily be the best way of doing it - it'll be quite convoluted. Does the project have to be specifically Excel based? What's being tested - Excel use or "solve this problem using any means at your disposal"?

To point you in the right direction, investigate vlookup formulas - this will help with the part about using a product number to find out what components are needed, and can be used to find the change time for each component.

Areas to think about. Does the current tool affect how long it takes to put in a new tool? E.g. If the widget is currently installed, then it will take me 10 minutes to put on the doodad. But if the thingummy is currently on the machine, then it will take me 20 minutes to put on the doodad.

Break things down into smaller and smaller steps - don't leap in and try to calculate everything all at once. You can combine the results later once you're sure each piece is working along the way.

No project no specific to excel. I was told about soft wear called access (I think) I have to work with what's available in my place of work. Engineer managing me not around this week.

Thoie

Hedgecutter wrote: »

No project no specific to excel. I was told about soft wear called access (I think) I have to work with what's available in my place of work. Engineer managing me not around this week.

Access is another Microsoft product for databases rather than spreadsheets. The likelihood is that if your company has a license for Excel, it probably has a license for Access as well. A database with a bespoke front end would probably be a better way to go, but personally I've always had trouble with Access (I find the interface weird when I'm used to things like SQL server), but because I've always had alternatives I've never dedicated any time to messing around with it. And writing custom front ends is probably way beyond your abilities at the moment.

Given this is a college project, I'm not going to do it for you But I'm around today and tomorrow, and next week if you want to sanity check things with me. Before you touch Excel, I suggest you put together a list of which tables you'll need. One you've already mentioned is a table of tools with the amount of time it takes to install them. Another one might be the same list of tools with the amount of time it takes to uninstall them, if that's a separate issue.

Think about what product numbers you'll want people to enter. They'll need to enter the current product being made (presumably), and the new product that you want to set up.

Another thing to think about is what if people make a typo in the product number (e.g. they type in product xyz123, but there is nothing of that name, but there is a product zyz123 which is what they meant). Research the term data validation. Users could either select the product name from a drop down list (preventing typos), or you could generate an error message if they type something in wrong.

Hedgecutter

Thoie wrote: »

Access is another Microsoft product for databases rather than spreadsheets. The likelihood is that if your company has a license for Excel, it probably has a license for Access as well. A database with a bespoke front end would probably be a better way to go, but personally I've always had trouble with Access (I find the interface weird when I'm used to things like SQL server), but because I've always had alternatives I've never dedicated any time to messing around with it. And writing custom front ends is probably way beyond your abilities at the moment.

Given this is a college project, I'm not going to do it for you But I'm around today and tomorrow, and next week if you want to sanity check things with me. Before you touch Excel, I suggest you put together a list of which tables you'll need. One you've already mentioned is a table of tools with the amount of time it takes to install them. Another one might be the same list of tools with the amount of time it takes to uninstall them, if that's a separate issue.

Think about what product numbers you'll want people to enter. They'll need to enter the current product being made (presumably), and the new product that you want to set up.

Another thing to think about is what if people make a typo in the product number (e.g. they type in product xyz123, but there is nothing of that name, but there is a product zyz123 which is what they meant). Research the term data validation. Users could either select the product name from a drop down list (preventing typos), or you could generate an error message if they type something in wrong.

Cheers, should have never mentioned it was a collage project