Clay process planning at

IMERY’S

Group members:
Anam yamin
Anum mazhar
Hiba khalid
Imran allawala
 AT IMERY’S

 IMERY’S in Sandsvilles, Georgia supplies more than half kaolin used

by paper makers worldwide, mines crude kaolin, clay and processes it
into a vide variety of products that add gloss to paper, cardboards ,
also ceramics like tableware and sculptures.

 In 1880, the first clay was mined and processed, and since then the
industry has expanded dramatically.

 Georgia’s total kaolin production capacity was about 8.3 million tons,
of which 6.8 million were processed in 2001, this represents the bulk
of kaolin being processed in the US.
Mathematical models
 The complexity of relationships in many organizational systems are
hard to be represented through replicas and an abstract idea.

 Such analyses are to be performed numerically, by mathematical

models.

 The team at IMERY’S had witnessed of how mathematical models had

catered other organizations to succeed hence knew that it was
certainly worth exploring.

 Adoption of a quantitative model would foster better and faster

decision making.
Earlier models
 Earlier large, complex, linear and mixed integer programming models
for capacity planning, had been applied to clay mining and production.

 These models were difficult to apply to the variables and thousands of

relationships that there were between them.
Simon’s 4 phase decision
making
 Firstly, the team recognized the existence of a problem, the need to explore the
potential impacts and hence availing an opportunity, taking ownership of the
problem (intelligence)

 Once the problem at hand was crystal clear, analyzing a number of alternatives,
the decision to pursue the development of the system was based on models and
past experiences (design

 Once it was realized that the development of the system was favorable and the
initiative had merit, the team made a (choice) and decided to proceed with the
development.

 The team moved forward with the development of the DSS. The proposed
solution was now put into effect, the change was introduced. (implementation)
Assistance by DSS’S
 During the downturn in 1999, such a project could’ve been utilized
to determine

1. The problem.
2. Discover alternatives.
3. Choose the optimal solution
4. Implement it.

 Such a system later assists the decision makers in making the best,
optimal decision, for the problem in focus.
 These decisions when assisted by systems are not cumbersome and
less time consuming.
 Cost effective.