An example of a manufacturer that has important recipe optimisation issues is a food manufacturer that needs to produce a consistent product even though their raw materials vary from lot to lot, season to season. Variability in colour, texture, sugar content, and taste are examples of common occurrences with natural resources such as fruit and vegetables. Using our potato manufacturer as an example, the potato crop varies throughout the year with varying levels of starch and colour from season to season. In order to maintain the consistency of the final products, the formulas need to be adjusted with the in-coming raw materials. The flexibility of formula management is an important piece of functionality for many process manufacturing companies looking for software applications to optimise those what to make with what I ve bought given the quality of raw materials I ve received decisions.
Many process manufacturers produce a variety of different products from the same raw materials.
In this type of environment, some of the most important and complex supply chain decisions lie at the heart of what it is you are going to manufacture. For example, a dairy manufacturer that receives fresh milk from its suppliers has to decide immediately what to do with the milk. These manufacturers are faced with important decisions with regard to how their inventory will be deployed or used throughout the supply chain. The profit margin, demand, raw material supply, and on-hand inventory need to be weighed in order to best decide how the incoming raw material will be processed. It is clear that the overall profitability of a business is contingent on making the right decisions with regard to all of these questions.