Production planning by pinch analysis for biomass use in dynamic and seasonal markets

The planning of production capacity has been extensively discussed in the literature. Seasonal demand of products or seasonal availability of input materials can make the problem even more challenging, due to a constant need for capacity adjustments. For example, the energetic or industrial use of biomass has several distinct characteristics in contrast to conventional chemical processes, such as a time dependent availability of raw materials. Therefore, suitable planning tools are required that take into account the dynamics of the production system (for example, by following the seasons and the yearly changes). Thus a recently proposed heuristic approach for aggregate production planning when facing a seasonal demand is analysed. This method is inspired by the graphical pinch analysis from chemical engineering; it is first illustrated with data from a bicycle company facing seasonal demand showing its plainness and some limitations. Then the transfer to situations with seasonal supplies of input materials is presented, as for biomass use in dynamic and seasonal markets. Using these applications, the simple heuristic, its limits and its benefits are put up for discussion.