Computerized raw materials management. Developments and progress

Over 10 years ago Holderbank became the first cement manufacturer to introduce computerised raw materials management in practice. Since then not only the planning methods, but also the number and scope of the projects has changed considerably. The milestones of technological development, in their chronological sequence, resulted in the employment of the following modules: 1979 - Block model; 1982 - Quarry scheduling optimisation (QSO) on large computers; 1985 - QSO on personal computer; 1987 - Colour display; 1988 - QSO for production scheduling; and 1989 - QSO EXPERT. In the first part of this article developments up to 1988 and their integration in a single set of materials management tools are described. A second main topic is the most recent development, the software QSO EXPERT. This represents a new approach to quarry scheduling, by combining optimisation methods with those of artificial intelligence.