Units and Conversions

Initial Buffer Units

First, we will set up the units and conversions. Starting with the initial buffer, make sure the ingredient mix is using pounds for its units.

We can now set up the rest of the conversions. For simplicity, we are assuming that the ingredient mix contains everything that goes into the dough, which allows us to ignore any initial conversion of ingredients to dough. This means the first conversion will be from pounds of ingredient mix to cookies. The video does not provide this information; however, based on the following analysis, we find that a standard Oreo cookie weighs just 4 grams.

Unit Conversions

Ignoring any weight change from baking, this means that 1 pound (approximately 454 grams) of ingredient mix will yield 113.5 individual Oreo cookies. This simply translates into a conversion factor of 113.5. Make sure to apply this conversion factor to the conversion nodes on both baking lines.

The next conversion will be converting individual cookies into full, assembled Oreo cookies. Each Oreo takes 2 individual cookies, so the conversion factor will be 1/2 = .5. Units cannot have spaces, so make sure you choose a name accordingly. Apply this conversion factor to the appropriate nodes on both baking lines.

The final conversion will be packaging the assembled cookies into trays. For this example, we will use a standard package of Oreos, which contains 36 cookies. This means our conversion factor will be 1/36 = 0.0278.

Conversions can all be edited simultaneously using the Conversions dropdown.

Splits and Merges

Lastly, we will set the proportions for our splits and merges.

Our only split occurs between the ingredient mixture buffer and Mixers 1 and 2. We will split the cookie mixture 50-50 between our two lines using our "Proportion" Split Rule.

Our only merge occurs between cookie assembly and packaging. We want to merge all cookies made from both lines. In order to accomplish this we will use a "Proportional" Merge Rule and set both proportions to 100% (or 1.0).

Next, we will move on to setting up the rates and buffers.