Bulk Material Portion Tracking for Precise Process Costing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional industrial processing of bulk materials lacks precision in estimating environmental and other costs, making it difficult to understand and reduce their environmental footprint effectively.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for industrial processing that involves defining and tracking material portions through multiple process steps, generating unique identifiers, and determining costs for each step to create a comprehensive and transparent view of resource consumption and environmental impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional industrial processing methods are used, then processing operations can be performed, but precise determination of environmental costs and resource consumption is not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The bulk material is divided into discrete material portions, each assigned a unique identifier. This segmentation enables individual tracking of costs and resource consumption for each portion through multiple process steps, transforming the undifferentiated bulk material into trackable units that can be precisely measured and accounted for.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously collects data on material portion locations, process step completions, and associated costs, storing this information in a data system. This feedback mechanism enables real-time or near-real-time determination of aggregated costs and environmental footprints, providing precise measurement rather than rough estimates.
2Loss of information
If material-centric tracking is implemented, then comprehensive view of resource consumption is achieved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The data system serves multiple functions: storing material portion identifiers, tracking process step completions, recording cost data, and enabling aggregated cost determination. This multi-functional approach consolidates what could be separate complex systems into a unified data management platform, achieving comprehensive cost transparency without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates and maintains digital representations (identifiers and data records) of physical material portions and their processing histories. These digital copies enable comprehensive tracking and cost determination without requiring physical tagging or marking of the bulk material itself, reducing the complexity of physical modification while achieving complete information tracking.
3Measurement precision
If detailed cost tracking for each process step is performed, then environmental footprint precision is improved, but processing time and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Material portion identifiers are assigned and initial data records are created before the material enters the processing sequence. This preliminary action establishes the tracking framework in advance, allowing cost data to be collected and aggregated as processing occurs rather than requiring post-processing analysis, thus improving precision without significant time penalty.
Solution Approach 2:
The cost tracking and data collection operations continue throughout the processing steps rather than being performed as separate batch operations. By continuously accumulating cost data associated with each material portion as it moves through process steps, the system achieves precise environmental footprint determination integrated into the normal processing flow, minimizing additional time requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of industrial processing of a bulk material, the industrial processing including a plurality of process steps, the method including defining a material portion of the bulk material; generating a material portion identifier associated with the material portion processing the material portion in at least two process steps of the plurality of process steps the method including for each process step of the at least two process steps: determining a cost of processing the material portion in the process step; and generating a history data set, wherein the history data set is indicative of the cost, the process step and the material portion identifier and wherein the method further includes determining an aggregated cost based on the history data sets.