Pit & Quarry, January 2016
AUTOMATION able modes by month and enters the previous months closing inventory The user also can also enter the previous 12 months forecast and production to use for comparison At that point when all data and constraints have been entered the software automatically solves for the optimal schedule with a goal of attaining the highest revenue while meeting required sales commitments and inventory constraints It calculates the shortfalls by month for each sales product selects the best combination of operating modes in the available scheduled time and shows the production by mode and stage The software also shows inventory Definitions Stage A section of a plant that can run independently of the rest of the plant Stages are linked with surges Operating mode Changes to a plant stages settings as applied to make different products Availability The percentage of time the plant actually operates compared to the time the plant is scheduled to operate Utilization The feed rate at which the plant actually operates compared to its theoretical calculated rate Efficiency The resulting rate at which the plant produces on average compared to its best calculated rate trends over the sales forecast and provides results both by stage and for the entire plant For reporting purposes the user can export results to Microsoft Excel for each stage Planning for profits Of course generating the most revenue does not always result in the highest profit Revenue does not take into account operating costs it is only the value from sales of products at the sales price Profit is sales revenue less the operating costs Typically inventory is built to address future high sales demands and offset production shortages Producers must keep in mind that inventory is actually tied up capital there is an operating cost to make the products that become inventory and that cost is not recovered until the inventory is sold So the goal is to make right amount of inventory to reduce capital but not lose future sales Producers can also use this solution to take a plant to the next level by including operating costs and determine the best combination of sales that can be achieved to generate the highest profit P Q Bryan Lewis is the president and founder of BedRock Software the creator of the AggFlow process flow simulation software www aggflow com GET THE KISS Keep It Simple Solutions ROCK COMMANDER Phone 502 387 7644 www JUNJIN US 34 PIT QUARRY January 2016 www pitandquarry com
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