Articles
THE IMAG PRODUCTION PLANNING SYSTEM (IPP) FOR GLASSHOUSE FLORICULTURE IN ITS INTRODUCTION PHASE
The system consists of a set of personal computer programmes, which enable the grower to construct a production plan for his nursery, on a tactical level (duration from one to several years). At first the IPP system was developed for potplant nurseries, but at the moment investigations are being made towards usability in other areas, such as cutting-flowers.
It is possible to construct a production plan in two alternative ways : simulation (the calculation of the consequences of a given production plan) and optimization (the calculation of an optimal production plan using the Linear Programming technique). The IPP-system is available for MS/DOS Personal Computers (PC).
During the last year, four application experiments have been performed.
At first the product- and nursery-data were supplied by the grower and the actual production plan was still calculated at the IMAG. But at the moment two growers make their production plan on their own PC. The experiments indicate that the IPP-system is ready for introduction in practice.
They also demonstrate that, considering the complexity of the production planning process and the inexperience of the growers with the Linear Programming technique, working with the IPP-system calls for a high degree of support in the starting phase.