Multiple MES sessions open needlessly

Yahoo Archive
1
If you find Marks solution effective, please let us know. I would love
to add a feature like that
We tried the training route first, but with 5 to 10 new employees a week
(many only staying for the day and most gone before the weekend) we
found that insufficient alone.
We have gone to great lengths to error proof the system including the
following solutions that have worked in addition to the training:
1. Remove the shop floor icon from the desktop and start menu and use
gpedit.msc to tie down access to most everything.
2. Add MES to the registry to load on startup (without the icons, you
must reboot to get Vantage back up if closed).
3. Customized the MES screen to remove close button and remove the
ability to rip off tabs.
4. Created process driven automatic labeling that we require via ISO
based on reporting via MES (can't be prevented and must be entered to
get required labels).
5. Installed VNC for remote access to allow problem fixing without being
physically present at the machine (also allows remote control of several
machines from single desktop to make restarting database and upgrades
much easier.
If you would like more details on any of these, let me know.
Aaron Hoyt
Vantage Plastics

Mark Wonsil wrote:
>
> > I think Brad's question is that when shop floor users come up to
> > terminal, the MES window is minimized, and instead of checking to
> > it is already open, they just click on the icon, which opens a new
> > instance of the MES client.
> >
>
> There are program launchers that can restrict a program to a single
> instance. I'm sure you can find a free one but here's a shareware version
> that should fit the bill.
>
> http://www.p6c.com/Products/P6Just1.html
> <http://www.p6c.com/Products/P6Just1.html>
>
> Mark W.
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
2
Here is hopefully a simple question to this very helpful group.

We are deploying MES (Vantage 8.03.404b)to our plants. What we are
seeing quickly that people are starting new sessions of MES instead
of pulling up the current minimized session.

The effect is that multiple MES sessions are open needlessly, which
we think is using up multiple licenses also and can affect the
computer performance, etc.

Of course we are attempting to train our operators also, but were
looking to mistake-proof this.

Is there a way to set an MES client to only pull up one session or
to maximize the current open session first?

Thanks to all,

Brad Boes
Metalworks
3
You only need one MES session per winterminal or PC open. Log in using the generic shop userid.

This then allows your employees to clock in and out (by entering their employee number) as needed - all sharing the same MES instance.

--- On Wed, 8/6/08, brad_boes <bboes@...> wrote:

From: brad_boes <bboes@...>
Subject: [Vantage] Multiple MES sessions open needlessly
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 11:19 AM






Here is hopefully a simple question to this very helpful group.

We are deploying MES (Vantage 8.03.404b)to our plants. What we are
seeing quickly that people are starting new sessions of MES instead
of pulling up the current minimized session.

The effect is that multiple MES sessions are open needlessly, which
we think is using up multiple licenses also and can affect the
computer performance, etc.

Of course we are attempting to train our operators also, but were
looking to mistake-proof this.

Is there a way to set an MES client to only pull up one session or
to maximize the current open session first?

Thanks to all,

Brad Boes
Metalworks
4
I think Brad's question is that when shop floor users come up to the
terminal, the MES window is minimized, and instead of checking to see if
it is already open, they just click on the icon, which opens a new
instance of the MES client.



Presumably you are using a shared "shopfloor" Vantage account to
authenticate the MES session to Vantage. There is a flag in the user
account record (under User Security maintenance) on the Security tab
(strange place for it) labled "Allow multiple sessions". You could
disable this and at least Vantage would complain if they tried to
startup another session. However this would mean that your shared
shopfloor account could only logon once, which would require you to have
a separate logon per station.



There is a flag in the default.mfgsys file called EnterpriseProcessing
that is supposed to control this behavior:



EnterpriseProcessing Whether multiple concurrent sessions are allowed on
the

workstation. The choices are true or false (the default).



But as far as I can tell it doesn't have any effect.



-brian



--

Brian W. Spolarich ~ Manager, Information Services ~ Advanced Photonix /
Picometrix

bspolarich@... ~ 734-864-5618 ~
www.advancedphotonix.com



From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Robert Brown
Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 3:36 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Vantage] Multiple MES sessions open needlessly



You only need one MES session per winterminal or PC open. Log in using
the generic shop userid.

This then allows your employees to clock in and out (by entering their
employee number) as needed - all sharing the same MES instance.

--- On Wed, 8/6/08, brad_boes <bboes@...
<mailto:bboes%40metalworks1.com> > wrote:

From: brad_boes <bboes@... <mailto:bboes%40metalworks1.com>
>
Subject: [Vantage] Multiple MES sessions open needlessly
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 11:19 AM

Here is hopefully a simple question to this very helpful group.

We are deploying MES (Vantage 8.03.404b)to our plants. What we are
seeing quickly that people are starting new sessions of MES instead
of pulling up the current minimized session.

The effect is that multiple MES sessions are open needlessly, which
we think is using up multiple licenses also and can affect the
computer performance, etc.

Of course we are attempting to train our operators also, but were
looking to mistake-proof this.

Is there a way to set an MES client to only pull up one session or
to maximize the current open session first?

Thanks to all,

Brad Boes
Metalworks





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
5
OK, so my response is not going to be nearly as helpful as Brian's,
but we have two PCs in our shop that are always logged on to MES
using the same log-in ID. The only thing I could suggest (and yes it
is a very stupid suggestion, so please forgive me) is to tell the
employees to not minimize MEs. That way, when they come up to use
the PC, it is already up on the screen.

Sorry that I couldn't be of more help.


--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "Brian W. Spolarich "
<bspolarich@...> wrote:
>
> I think Brad's question is that when shop floor users come up to
the
> terminal, the MES window is minimized, and instead of checking to
see if
> it is already open, they just click on the icon, which opens a new
> instance of the MES client.
>
>
>
> Presumably you are using a shared "shopfloor" Vantage account to
> authenticate the MES session to Vantage. There is a flag in the
user
> account record (under User Security maintenance) on the Security tab
> (strange place for it) labled "Allow multiple sessions". You could
> disable this and at least Vantage would complain if they tried to
> startup another session. However this would mean that your shared
> shopfloor account could only logon once, which would require you to
have
> a separate logon per station.
>
>
>
> There is a flag in the default.mfgsys file called
EnterpriseProcessing
> that is supposed to control this behavior:
>
>
>
> EnterpriseProcessing Whether multiple concurrent sessions are
allowed on
> the
>
> workstation. The choices are true or false (the default).
>
>
>
> But as far as I can tell it doesn't have any effect.
>
>
>
> -brian
>
>
>
> --
>
> Brian W. Spolarich ~ Manager, Information Services ~ Advanced
Photonix /
> Picometrix
>
> bspolarich@... ~ 734-864-5618 ~
> www.advancedphotonix.com
>
>
>
> From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf
> Of Robert Brown
> Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 3:36 PM
> To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Vantage] Multiple MES sessions open needlessly
>
>
>
> You only need one MES session per winterminal or PC open. Log in
using
> the generic shop userid.
>
> This then allows your employees to clock in and out (by entering
their
> employee number) as needed - all sharing the same MES instance.
>
> --- On Wed, 8/6/08, brad_boes <bboes@...
> <mailto:bboes%40metalworks1.com> > wrote:
>
> From: brad_boes <bboes@... <mailto:bboes%40metalworks1.com>
> >
> Subject: [Vantage] Multiple MES sessions open needlessly
> To: vantage@yahoogroups.com <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 11:19 AM
>
> Here is hopefully a simple question to this very helpful group.
>
> We are deploying MES (Vantage 8.03.404b)to our plants. What we are
> seeing quickly that people are starting new sessions of MES instead
> of pulling up the current minimized session.
>
> The effect is that multiple MES sessions are open needlessly, which
> we think is using up multiple licenses also and can affect the
> computer performance, etc.
>
> Of course we are attempting to train our operators also, but were
> looking to mistake-proof this.
>
> Is there a way to set an MES client to only pull up one session or
> to maximize the current open session first?
>
> Thanks to all,
>
> Brad Boes
> Metalworks
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
6
You could create your own application to start MES. Then have your application check to see if it is running or not. If not running already, start it. And if its not running, popup a message that MES is already running on the computer, or make MES the active application and set focus to it.

-----Original Message-----
From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of Sean Toler
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 6:19 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Re: Multiple MES sessions open needlessly



OK, so my response is not going to be nearly as helpful as Brian's,
but we have two PCs in our shop that are always logged on to MES
using the same log-in ID. The only thing I could suggest (and yes it
is a very stupid suggestion, so please forgive me) is to tell the
employees to not minimize MEs. That way, when they come up to use
the PC, it is already up on the screen.

Sorry that I couldn't be of more help.

--- In vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com, "Brian W. Spolarich "
<bspolarich@...> wrote:
>
> I think Brad's question is that when shop floor users come up to
the
> terminal, the MES window is minimized, and instead of checking to
see if
> it is already open, they just click on the icon, which opens a new
> instance of the MES client.
>
>
>
> Presumably you are using a shared "shopfloor" Vantage account to
> authenticate the MES session to Vantage. There is a flag in the
user
> account record (under User Security maintenance) on the Security tab
> (strange place for it) labled "Allow multiple sessions". You could
> disable this and at least Vantage would complain if they tried to
> startup another session. However this would mean that your shared
> shopfloor account could only logon once, which would require you to
have
> a separate logon per station.
>
>
>
> There is a flag in the default.mfgsys file called
EnterpriseProcessing
> that is supposed to control this behavior:
>
>
>
> EnterpriseProcessing Whether multiple concurrent sessions are
allowed on
> the
>
> workstation. The choices are true or false (the default).
>
>
>
> But as far as I can tell it doesn't have any effect.
>
>
>
> -brian
>
>
>
> --
>
> Brian W. Spolarich ~ Manager, Information Services ~ Advanced
Photonix /
> Picometrix
>
> bspolarich@... ~ 734-864-5618 ~
> www.advancedphotonix.com
>
>
>
> From: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com [mailto: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com] On
Behalf
> Of Robert Brown
> Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 3:36 PM
> To: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com
> Subject: Re: [Vantage] Multiple MES sessions open needlessly
>
>
>
> You only need one MES session per winterminal or PC open. Log in
using
> the generic shop userid.
>
> This then allows your employees to clock in and out (by entering
their
> employee number) as needed - all sharing the same MES instance.
>
> --- On Wed, 8/6/08, brad_boes <bboes@...
> <mailto:bboes%40metalworks1.com> > wrote:
>
> From: brad_boes <bboes@... <mailto:bboes%40metalworks1.com>
> >
> Subject: [Vantage] Multiple MES sessions open needlessly
> To: vantage@yahoogroups <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> .com <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 11:19 AM
>
> Here is hopefully a simple question to this very helpful group.
>
> We are deploying MES (Vantage 8.03.404b)to our plants. What we are
> seeing quickly that people are starting new sessions of MES instead
> of pulling up the current minimized session.
>
> The effect is that multiple MES sessions are open needlessly, which
> we think is using up multiple licenses also and can affect the
> computer performance, etc.
>
> Of course we are attempting to train our operators also, but were
> looking to mistake-proof this.
>
> Is there a way to set an MES client to only pull up one session or
> to maximize the current open session first?
>
> Thanks to all,
>
> Brad Boes
> Metalworks
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
7
Thank you to all,



With the options returned in this post we should be able to get this setup
better for the shop floor.



We do have separate and automatic logons for each MES shop terminal. So the
"allow multiple sessions" checkbox is our starting point, but we will want
to evaluate the other options for the office group also.



Thanks again!!



Brad Boes

Corporate Technology Manager

Metalworks, Inc.

email: bboes@...

voice: 231-845-3130

cell: 231-690-5091

fax: 231-845-1043





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
8
Not a 'Stupid suggestion' Sean... A very good one.

Just have the manager spend some time with the people and who them how much EASIER it is for the users to bring an existing minimized MES app to fullscreen versus going through the entire load/login/load process.

People appreciate it when you treat them like they are too dumb to learn.

If the users are making innocent errors like this, they are going to make errors using the applications in MES to an even higher degree.

Invest the time know to establish trust that they will get help and training (on the spot) when needed. You will soon find they much more often seek it out when they are unsure (and save lots of non-value added time by entering transaction correctly the first time).

Give your shop people some credit for being able to learn.

Rob

--- On Thu, 8/7/08, Sean Toler <seantoler@...> wrote:
From: Sean Toler <seantoler@...>
Subject: [Vantage] Re: Multiple MES sessions open needlessly
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 7:18 AM











OK, so my response is not going to be nearly as helpful as Brian's,

but we have two PCs in our shop that are always logged on to MES

using the same log-in ID. The only thing I could suggest (and yes it

is a very stupid suggestion, so please forgive me) is to tell the

employees to not minimize MEs. That way, when they come up to use

the PC, it is already up on the screen.



Sorry that I couldn't be of more help.



--- In vantage@yahoogroups .com, "Brian W. Spolarich "

<bspolarich@ ...> wrote:

>

> I think Brad's question is that when shop floor users come up to

the

> terminal, the MES window is minimized, and instead of checking to

see if

> it is already open, they just click on the icon, which opens a new

> instance of the MES client.

>

>

>

> Presumably you are using a shared "shopfloor" Vantage account to

> authenticate the MES session to Vantage. There is a flag in the

user

> account record (under User Security maintenance) on the Security tab

> (strange place for it) labled "Allow multiple sessions". You could

> disable this and at least Vantage would complain if they tried to

> startup another session. However this would mean that your shared

> shopfloor account could only logon once, which would require you to

have

> a separate logon per station.

>

>

>

> There is a flag in the default.mfgsys file called

EnterpriseProcessin g

> that is supposed to control this behavior:

>

>

>

> EnterpriseProcessin g Whether multiple concurrent sessions are

allowed on

> the

>

> workstation. The choices are true or false (the default).

>

>

>

> But as far as I can tell it doesn't have any effect.

>

>

>

> -brian

>

>

>

> --

>

> Brian W. Spolarich ~ Manager, Information Services ~ Advanced

Photonix /

> Picometrix

>

> bspolarich@. .. ~ ~

> www.advancedphotoni x.com

>

>

>

> From: vantage@yahoogroups .com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups .com] On

Behalf

> Of Robert Brown

> Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 3:36 PM

> To: vantage@yahoogroups .com

> Subject: Re: [Vantage] Multiple MES sessions open needlessly

>

>

>

> You only need one MES session per winterminal or PC open. Log in

using

> the generic shop userid.

>

> This then allows your employees to clock in and out (by entering

their

> employee number) as needed - all sharing the same MES instance.

>

> --- On Wed, 8/6/08, brad_boes <bboes@...

> <mailto:bboes% 40metalworks1. com> > wrote:

>

> From: brad_boes <bboes@... <mailto:bboes% 40metalworks1. com>

> >

> Subject: [Vantage] Multiple MES sessions open needlessly

> To: vantage@yahoogroups .com <mailto:vantage% 40yahoogroups. com>

> Date: Wednesday, August 6, 2008, 11:19 AM

>

> Here is hopefully a simple question to this very helpful group.

>

> We are deploying MES (Vantage 8.03.404b)to our plants. What we are

> seeing quickly that people are starting new sessions of MES instead

> of pulling up the current minimized session.

>

> The effect is that multiple MES sessions are open needlessly, which

> we think is using up multiple licenses also and can affect the

> computer performance, etc.

>

> Of course we are attempting to train our operators also, but were

> looking to mistake-proof this.

>

> Is there a way to set an MES client to only pull up one session or

> to maximize the current open session first?

>

> Thanks to all,

>

> Brad Boes

> Metalworks

>

>

>

>

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

>
9
> I think Brad's question is that when shop floor users come up to
> terminal, the MES window is minimized, and instead of checking to
> it is already open, they just click on the icon, which opens a new
> instance of the MES client.
>

There are program launchers that can restrict a program to a single
instance. I'm sure you can find a free one but here's a shareware version
that should fit the bill.

http://www.p6c.com/Products/P6Just1.html

Mark W.
10
I solved that by using Windows group policy.
No task bar means they can't open another instance, but they can always reboot the terminal because we have MES run as a service.



----- Original Message ----
From: Mark Wonsil <mark_wonsil@...>
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, August 8, 2008 8:46:27 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Re: Multiple MES sessions open needlessly


> I think Brad's question is that when shop floor users come up to
> terminal, the MES window is minimized, and instead of checking to
> it is already open, they just click on the icon, which opens a new
> instance of the MES client.
>

There are program launchers that can restrict a program to a single
instance. I'm sure you can find a free one but here's a shareware version
that should fit the bill.

http://www.p6c com/Products/ P6Just1.html

Mark W.






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
11
Tony,

How did you add MES as a service?



Thanks,

Jacob Dybala
Director of Information Technology
IMS Companies, LLC

Office: (847) 391-8123
Fax: (847) 391-8358
Cell: (847) 812-3037
E-mail: jdybala@...


----- Original Message ----
From: Tony Hughes <thughes281@...>
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, August 8, 2008 9:11:10 AM
Subject: Re: [Vantage] Re: Multiple MES sessions open needlessly


I solved that by using Windows group policy.
No task bar means they can't open another instance, but they can always reboot the terminal because we have MES run as a service.

----- Original Message ----
From: Mark Wonsil <mark_wonsil@ yahoo.com>
To: vantage@yahoogroups .com
Sent: Friday, August 8, 2008 8:46:27 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Re: Multiple MES sessions open needlessly

> I think Brad's question is that when shop floor users come up to
> terminal, the MES window is minimized, and instead of checking to
> it is already open, they just click on the icon, which opens a new
> instance of the MES client.
>

There are program launchers that can restrict a program to a single
instance. I'm sure you can find a free one but here's a shareware version
that should fit the bill.

http://www.p6c com/Products/ P6Just1.html

Mark W.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]