| CPC G06Q 10/0631 (2013.01) [G06Q 10/067 (2013.01)] | 22 Claims |
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1. A computer-implemented method of dimensioning a plant for production of packaged dairy products, said method comprising:
obtaining a target production data for a plurality of dairy products to be produced and packaged in the plant to form the packaged dairy products, the dairy products comprising at least a yoghurt;
obtaining a plurality of recipes for production of the plurality of dairy products, wherein each recipe defines a set of ingredients and a sequence of recipe activities for producing a respective dairy product from the set of ingredients, wherein the set of ingredients for the yoghurt comprises milk and starter culture and the sequence of recipe activities for the yoghurt comprises heat treatment of the milk, inoculation of the starter culture into the milk, incubation of the ingredients to produce the yoghurt, and packaging of the yoghurt;
obtaining production unit data for selectable production units comprising at least a tank and one or more cleaning units (CIP), the production unit data associating each selectable production unit with one or more production unit activities associated with the sequence of recipe activities and a production capacity, the production unit data associating each selectable production units with one or more rules comprising at least one cleaning rule associated with a cleaning process of the selectable production units by the cleaning unit, wherein the cleaning process comprises a short cleaning process and an extended cleaning process, and wherein at least one of the cleaning rules is associated with a duration of the cleaning process;
simulating the production of the packaged dairy products in the plant to determine at least one combination of the selectable production units that achieves the target production data, said simulating comprising:
generating, as a function of the plurality of recipes and the production unit data, combinations of the selectable production units that are connected for fluid communication and operable to perform the sequence of recipe activities of each of the respective recipe, a non-recipe activity that is not included in the sequence of recipe activities of the plurality of recipes, and the one or more rules to achieve the target production data, the non-recipe activity comprising intermediate storage in the tank of an intermediate product of the set of ingredients after undergoing at least one of the recipe activities;
evaluating the combinations of the selectable production units for selection of said at least one combination and at least one time schedule performed by the selected at least one combination to achieve the target production data; and
outputting the selected at least one combination and the selected at least one time schedule performed by the selected at least one combination, wherein the combinations of the selectable production units are generated and evaluated iteratively as part of an optimization process that comprises:
repeatedly selecting and evaluating a candidate combination among the combinations of the selectable production units, the selection of the candidate combination being based on an outcome of evaluating one or more previous candidate combinations,
repeatedly generating, for the candidate combination and as a function of the recipes, the non-recipe activity, and the one or more rules for production of the plurality of dairy products and the production unit data, time schedules performed by the candidate combination to achieve the target production data, and
evaluating the time schedules for fulfillment of at least one evaluation constraint, the at least one evaluation constraint at least partially defined by minimizing an amount of time spent cleaning by the one or more cleaning units; and
allocating the at least one combination of the selectable production units determined from the simulation as dimensions for building the plant and operating the plant built with the dimensions to produce the packaged dairy products comprising a packaged yogurt by operating each of the selectable production units within the at least one combination of the selectable production units within a respective start time and a respective end time in accordance with the at least one time schedule to achieve the target production data.
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