AAOM Handbook

There are five of these potential changes, and they can be adjusted separately or concurrently. They are: • Design change - incremental change to the design of the production process work steps and/or their sequencing, or to change the process technology. In work step or flow changes unproductive work steps may be removed, serial work steps may be performed in parallel. A technology change in a mining process may be to change to lighter truck tray bodies in order to increase payload on each cycle. In a mineral processing plant this may be to change instrumentation or control loop design to reduce variation or shift operating levels. In a supply chain process it may be to introduce bar coding and scanners to reduce the processing time for materials movements. • Operating time (utilisation) change - modify the operating times or patterns for the process. In a mining process this could be a change to 'hot seat' changeover on equipment in order to increase productive equipment time. In a mineral processing plant this could be extend the intervals between planned maintenance stoppages in order to increase operating time and stability. In an accounting function it could be to introduce variable working hours to deal with variable workloads through the monthly accounting cycle. • Operating Rate change - modify the speed/flow, temperature, recipe, chemistry, cycle times or volumes for the process. In a mining process this could be to vary the payload, on haulage trucks in order to change the ore volume moved each cycle. In a mineral processing plant this could be to vary the speed of a conveyor in order to change material movement each hour. In a supply chain process this could be to change storage locations to change the picking times for items. • Feed (input) quality change - modify the specification limits for the goods or services used/consumed by the process. In a mining process this could be to alter the cut-off grade to optimise value recovery from the ore-body. In a mineral processing plant this could be to change to an alternate feed or reagent specification in order to improve output volumes or cost. In a supply chain process it could be changing to electronic rather than paper documentation. • Product (output) quality change - modify the specification limits for the goods or services produced by the process. In a mining process this could be to modify the size distribution achieved by blasting in order to service an alternate customer. In a mineral processing plant this could be to modify the chemistry or grade of a product in order to service an alternate customer. In a supply chain process this could be to change the purchase specifications for a material to increase available sources or improve pricing. Production and Service Strategy choices will frequently be highly interactive, and this is deliberately reflected in the way these two elements are represented in the Operating Mode – i.e. they are abutted to each other. Changes in Production Strategy may place different stresses on the process and therefore affect either the Service requirements, process sustainability, or both. Changes in Service Strategy may alter the available operating time or rate for the process, or both. Therefore, changes to Operating Parameters should not be

© McAlear Management Consultants 2006

Operational Planning: Set Production Strategy

Updated: August 2018

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