Re: Tricky chemicals optimization problem

This seems to me to be an application of the knapsack or bin-packing problem. Take your needed capacity for each flavor (divided into pieces of max size Z), and distribute among your machines.

This assumes that there is no cost for having multiple nozzles on a single machine (the machine needs to be scrubbed down to avoid cross contamination between the Peanut Butter Chunk and the Allergen-Free Vanilla flavors, for example ;-b ).

This may also not be an optimal solution, but, except in obnoxious cases, should get a pretty decent result.

--MidLifeXis

Comment on Re: Tricky chemicals optimization problem

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Re^2: Tricky chemicals optimization problem by Anonymous Monk on Jan 10, 2017 at 00:25 UTC
This is incredibly helpful thanks so much for answering. I read up on these problems you listed and they are exactly the right area I need to look at. For my issue, the goal actually is to reduce to the fewest nozzles possible. This is because when you have mutiple nozzles on a machine everytime one nozzle runs the others have to run which wastes a lot of money... thats just how the system works ( if we leave the ice cream anaology behind). Given that each flavor ( or chemical) must have its own nozzle, how would I incorporate this extra dimension? As a follow on...are there any modules or existing perl help to get me get this coded?	[reply]
Re^3: Tricky chemicals optimization problem by AnomalousMonk (Archbishop) on Jan 10, 2017 at 00:34 UTC
... are there any modules ... to ... get this coded? Once you (and through you, we) can clearly understand and define what "this" is, I imagine there are many modules that might be helpful. But a clear definition of the problem is the essential first step. Give a man a fish: `<%-{-{-{-<`	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: Tricky chemicals optimization problem by LanX (Saint) on Jan 10, 2017 at 03:35 UTC
> But a clear definition of the problem is the essential first step Well said! Cheers Rolf _{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language and ☆☆☆☆ :) Je suis Charlie!}	[reply]