A just-in-time approach to refining

The Tongaat-Hulett Sugar Refinery (Hulref) receives very high pol (VHP) sugar from the Hulett mills situated along the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal during the crushing season, and from the South African Sugar Terminal (SAST) during the off-crop. The sugar is stored in one of three warehouses with a total capacity of 80 000 tons. On 9 May 2008, a fire totally destroyed two of the stores and partially ruined the third one. All the essential sugar handling equipment such as conveyors, walkways, blending and storage facilities and auxiliary equipment were destroyed. The operational recovery period, which spanned three weeks, involved making the area safe for work and reinstating essential equipment required for receiving sugar directly into the melting process. The refinery resumed production on 28 May 2008 with the VHP intake as a fresh 'Just-In-Time' (JIT) raw sugar feeding system, entailing the conveying of VHP sugar directly into production. This paper covers the fundamental principles of the JIT system, innovative techniques employed across a variety of challenges, the internal refinery control philosophy, its advantages and disadvantages, the empowerment of staff and key production techniques employed to sustain refinery operations at a steady rate.