NBA!APPLICATIONS& RECENT RESEARCH

New Applications Editor:Prof. Demetrios MichalopoulosCalifornia State University, Fullerton

Toy company solves complex packaging puzzle

Computer analysis of packaging require-ments has recently smoothed the path ofCookie Monster, Snoopy, Woodstock, Snug-gle Bunny, and a host of other toys and dollsinto toy stores around the world.

Knickerbocker Toys, a 50-year-old Middle-sex, New Jersey firm, has long been theworld's largest producer of rag dolls and nowmarkets six complete toy lines for worldwidedistribution, shipping more than 22 millionindividual items per year.Each toy requires a different display carton

(polypack) and, until recently, each primarypackage virtually had its own customized cor-rugated shipping container. With a hundredor more new products introduced every year,

Canadian drugstore chaincomputerizes prescriptions

With the installation of two minicomputersmanufactured by Point 4 Data Corporation,Shoppers Drug Mart in Toronto has begunwhat eventually will be a nationwide systemof prescription processing computers through-out Canada's largest pharmacy chain.By the end of 1983, the company expects to

have installed a total of 50-75 systems. Shop-pers Drug Mart operates 461 pharmacies inCanada and the United States.When a customer brings a prescription to

the pharmacy to be filled, the informationwill be entered into the computer. The systemwill assign it a number, print a label, note thenumber of refills authorized and automatical-ly handle any reporting that is necessary forgovernment agencies. Patient history is thenautomatically updated and a label is printed.A typical system will consist of the Point 4

computer, a 40M-byte Winchester disk drive,a streaming tape drive, two printers, and twoterminals.

the need for shipping containers multiplieduntil a 5,000-square-foot warehouse area ofthe assembly plant became known as "cor-rugated city." In fact, two years ago Knicker-bocker toys used nearly 400 different cor-rugated containers of varying sizes andshapes.

Since each shipper was identified different-ly by purchasing, production, and shippingpersonnel, finding the right container was atime-consuming puzzle despite the firm'smassive corrugated inventory.

Thinking back on the situation in 1980,Purchasing Manager John Bolowski recalls,"We always were running out of someneeded container size and were involved con-stantly in costly emergency ordering."With the help of the Packaging Corpora-

tion of America, one of Knickerbocker'sprincipal container suppliers, a single identitycomputer system for all the shipping con-tainers was established. A size consolidationprogram then whittled down the number ofcontainers needed for Knickerbocker's cur-rent product lines from 400 to 180, finallyreducing the number to 75 master shippers.A Computer Packaging Handbook was de-

veloped that lists all domestic, import, andbulk containers by master case-identitynumber, length, width, and depth dimen-sions, and by style number. Each shipperstyle and size is further cross-referenced to"cube," or cubic content in inches and feet.Working with the computer handbook,

Knickerbocker packaging engineer MikeFerro can determine what masters areavailable in the US and overseas, and whichoffer the best options to pack and ship anysize product or display carton.Each multiple-use master now accommo-

dates up to seven different products. Cor-rugated warehousing space has been cut inhalf, allowing more room for expanding pro-duction and packaging operations. Containerset-up costs have been reduced 75 percent,and larger volume container orders involve

Knickerbocker Toys' mushrooming productline of plush and packaged toys created acomplex and costly packaging problem.Computer analysis by Packaging Corpora-tion of America, however, has reduced thenumber of master shipping containers from400 to 75 and streamlined container ordering,inventory, and packing.

substantial savings in box unit costs. In addi-tion, all container interior partitions havebeen eliminated because shippers now aresized precisely to primary packaging dimen-sions.

It is not uncommon to pack up to 25,000items overnight for a special order. With thenew system, emergency packing problemsnow are 85 percent solved, according toFerro.

102 COMPUTER

Dead Sea chemical project uses solar simulator program

To the engineers at Jacobs EngineeringGroup world headquarters in Pasadena andthe on-site engineers in Safi, Jordan-loca-tion of the $425 million Dead Sea potashrecovery project being carried out by thecompany-it's known as Solsim, or "Sol"for short. The full acronym stands for "SolarEvaporation Simulator," a computer pro-

gram developed by Jacobs for the Dead Seaproject. The program is designed to dynamic-ally analyze and solve complex "what if"engineering and construction problems insolar evaporation technology. Techniqueslearned and used in the development of thissimulation can be applied to virtually the en-

tire range of process technologies, fromchemicals and petrochemicals to pharmaceu-ticals and petroleum refining.

Designed to recover 1.2 million metric tonsper year of potash-one of the three key in-gredients of chemical fertilizer-from theDead Sea, the project has involved engineer-ing, design, and construction by Jacobs ofsome 25,000 acres of interconnected, dikedsolar evaporation ponds; a permanent town-ship to house some 800 operating and main-tenance personnel; a power plant and asso-

ciated utilities; and a sophisticated potashprocessing facility. In operation, brine fromthe Dead Sea is pumped into the pond sys-

tem, where advanced solar evaporation tech-niques are applied to the brine to precipitateout coarse, crystalline potash salts. The salts,in turn, are "harvested" with laser-controlledequipment and fed through a floating pipe-line to the nearby processing plant where theyare purified and dried before being trans-ported some 150 miles south to Aqaba, on theRed Sea, for ultimate shipment.The solar evaporation simulator began as

what Jacobs Engineering Project ManagerRobert E. Morton, the primary architect ofthe computer program, describes as a "sim-

ple tool to monitor our work on the Dead Seaproject that has developed-in terms of bothits direct contribution to the potash projectand its potential applications to other pro-

jects and process technologies-a highly pro-

ductive and versatile life of its own."What finally emerged was Sol-a solar

evaporation pan computer model consistingof separate program modules that incor-porate site-specific data and are able to

generate overall component and individualcomponent mass balances. Using Sol, steady-state mass balances for virtually any solarpond configuration can be developed byproper manipulation of the executive pro-

gram.Standard input data for the program in-

cludes site-specific topographical informa-tion, projected number and area of solarpans, solubility specifics, evaporation rate,dike permeability, and physical properties ofthe material to be evaporated.

Typical mass-balance output data from Solincludes solar pond inflows from individualstreams, outflows, inventory changes, seep-

age, liquid levels, crystallized salt levels, andflow rates.

"Sol wasn't designed to be a smart pro-

gram," Morton explains. "Our intent was

only to develop a tool that, with proper inputof minimal data or educated guesses, couldconfirm whether a proposed configuration or

revised variable would be technically feasible.But as we acquired more knowledge of Sol'scapabilities and had more experience in defin-ing input needs and output characteristics, wefound ourselves marveling at the broad ap-

plications possible for the basic program."According to Jacobs, Sol has evolved into theonly computer program in existence capableof developing dynamic mass balances for vir-tually any planned application of solarevaporation technology.

US Army Intelligence tries new system-purchase approach

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In the past, US military leaders have de-fined major requirements, then built andfielded complete systems to meet these objec-tives. However, this method has not fit a cur-

rent US Army Forces Command (Forscom)goal: the rapid computerization of some of itstactical intelligence operations."Computer technologies are evolving so

rapidly that hardware is outdated long beforesystems can be implemented," says Ed Shan-ahan of the Georgia Institute of Technology'sEngineering Experiment Station. "Also, it'shard for military personnel to assess theircomputer needs before working with the tech-

nology for a while."Georgia Tech's solution to this problem

has been to apply an "evolutionary" ap-proach for the Army to define its computerneeds and identify appropriate hardware.

Engineers in Georgia Tech's command andcontrol branch are helping Forscom intel-

ligence units to "use, learn, and develop"computer technologies for their jobs.The institute will help the Army to experi-

ment with a series of demonstration models.

This project will progressively refine the're-quirements for computerizing Army intelli-gence operations until a high-grade system isin place.

"The advantage of this method is that thesystem developers and the Army intelligenceoperators will be speaking the same

language," Shanahan says. "Everyone willbe using compatible demonstration modelsand making improvements based on theirtotal experience."

This acquisition procedure is not practicalwith large weapons systems, because puttingsufficient demonstration models into thehands of users would be prohibitively expen-sive. However, computer equipment priceshave dropped so much in recent years that theArmy can afford to experiment with smallhardware before investing in a final system.

Shanahan expects this evaluation processto take three to four years. To begin the pro-gram, Forscom has purchased 33 Apple mic-rocomputers and placed them in intelligenceunits throughout the command.

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