Production Planning by Pinch Analysis for Biomass Use in Dynamic and Seasonal Markets

The planning of production capacity for a company has been extensively discussed in literature. Seasonal demand of products or seasonal availability of input materials can make the problem even more challenging, as due to a constant need for capacity adjustments. For example, in contrast to conventional chemical processes, the use of biomass has several distinct characteristics like 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 the use of the pinch analysis approach for production planning when facing a seasonal demand is analyzed first as a new heuristic approach. This method is illustrated with data from a bicycle company facing seasonal demand. Then the transfer to situations with seasonal supplies of input materials is presented, as for biomass use in dynamic and seasonal markets.