Development of a Raw Material Requirement Balancing Model for a Production Process

Attainment of accuracy in raw materials mix for production processes has been the major problem in many production organizations in developing countries. Effects of unequal proportions of material required for a production process are not fully considered in the past studies. This study modeled the raw material requirements in a production process using proportionality based mixed linear programming approach. The objective was to find optimal mix of raw materials for the production of a unit tonnage of a product. The performance of the model was tested by comparing it with alternatively formulated model based on conventional material mix. This model was tested using a cement production system from which blasted limestone, crushed limestone; raw meal, gypsum, red alluvium, clinker and coal were used as raw materials. The conventional method of mixing materials led to 50 % surplus and shortage of materials in the process as compared with the new scheme. The model would be a good tool for accurate prediction of quantity of the raw material required in the production process.