DeciSci

We present here two animations illustrating the use of DeciFirm in a simple dairy processing situation. The first video represents somewhat of a BAU(Business-as-Usual) scenario, while the second illustrates how we can change parameter values during a simulation and observe the consequences.

The system is designed to help a dairy manufacturer improve their performance of operation. The system is able to simulate/forecast the different proposed scenarios based on the future plans. The user can make corresponding decisions from the outputs of the simulation.

One of the most common business issues is whether the extra demand for products from customers can be accommodated into the coldrooms. From the outputs, one will be able to see that working capacity is being exceeded and that, as a result, work needs to be put into ways of alleviating this bottleneck. Possible alleviation measures may include:

• To increase the number of deliveries for the existing distribution runs
• To re-design the distribution runs
• To supply the goods from other coldrooms or warehouses
• To use larger size trucks to deliver

These can be further explored by changing the configuration of the model.

The first video is an animation of a simplified scenario. The animation includes: inbound logistic (milk collection)/production/storage/outbound logistic (distribution). There are 2 milk zones, 2 plants, 2 coldrooms, 10 depots and 5 products designed in the model.

• Raw milk is transported by milk tankers and then stored in tanks at the plants. A plant is supplied by different milk zones with a designated priority.
• Pasteurizing and filling processes are included in production model. The milk goes to different pasteurizers to manufacture different intermediate products. The intermediate products are stored in tanks before they are packed in fillers. Two fillers work for packaging and the finish products (packed products) are then moved to the coldroom by a conveyor.
• Each coldroom has a maximum working capacity in which one can see if the storage exceeds the limit of the capacity, although there are no constraints for the stock level in the model.
• The products are distributed to the customer depots or other coldrooms along the designated distribution runs. The amount of products to be delivered is determined by the demand of customers. However, if there is no sufficient inventory in the coldrooms, the lacked amount will be delivered in the next delivery.
• Two fleets are designed in the model. A truck consists of a prime mover and a trailer. A prime mover can attach different sized trailers, for example Single or BDouble. The dispatch time of a truck to a depot is determined by the opening hours of the depot.

In the real world, it is very likely that some facilities in the factories have planned or unplanned shutdowns for various reasons. For example, there may be machine maintenance or a holiday break. From the outputs, one will be able to observe that stopping of some facilities results in a low inventory level of coldrooms and perhaps insufficient supply to depots.

The second animation is an enhancement of the first one. The same scenario is used. However, in the second animation the user of model is capable of changing the status of some components during the simulation:

• The fillers in plant 1 and plant 2 are able to be shut down during the simulation. There is a check box in front of the name of each filler in the parameter box. The default setting is that all the fillers are selected, which means they are all working when the simulation starts.
• One can stop any of the fillers by ticking the corresponding check box at any time during the run. Also, the stopped fillers are able to be restarted by clicking the check box again.
• One can also change the number of prime movers for the two fleets. A user can drag the slide to the target number as well as change it back to the original or different setting.