System and method for determining components of a blended plastic material

A method for determining at least one plastic component of a blended plastic material, the method comprising:

• accessing supply data describing characteristics of each of a plurality of plastic components;
• receiving specification data identifying at least one desired characteristic of the blended plastic material;
• receiving presumed plastic component data identifying at least one plastic component presumed to be included in the blended plastic material;
• processing the supply data, the presumed plastic component data and the specification data to determine a plurality of different combinations of one or more plastic components and the at least one plastic components identified by the presumed plastic component data to produce the blended plastic material having the at least one desired characteristic;
• determining, for each combination, a preferred percentage of each of the plastic components of the combination and a cost associated with the combination;
• and
• reporting at least one selected combinations and the corresponding preferred percentages.

An apparatus for determining at least one plastic component of a blended plastic material, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory operatively connected to the processor, said memory storing:
• supply data describing characteristics of each of a plurality of plastic components;
• specification data identifying at least one desired characteristic of the blended plastic material;
• presumed plastic component data identifying at least one plastic component presumed to be included in the blended plastic material;
• and
• control logic for directing the processor to:
• process the supply data, the presumed plastic component data and the specification data to determine a plurality of combinations of one or more plastic components and the at least one plastic component identified by the presumed plastic component data to produce the blended plastic material having the at least one desired characteristic;
• determine, for at least one combination, a preferred percentage of each of the plastic components of the combination and a cost associated with the combination;
• and
• report at least one selected combination and the corresponding preferred percentages.

A computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for determining at least one plastic component of a blended plastic material, the processing instructions for directing a computer to perform the steps of:

• accessing supply data describing characteristics of each of a plurality of plastic components;
• receiving specification data identifying at least one desired characteristic of the blended plastic material;
• receiving presumed plastic component data identifying at least one plastic component presumed to be included in the blended plastic material;
• processing the supply data, the presumed plastic component data and the specification data to determine a plurality of different combinations of one or more plastic components and the at least one plastic component identified by the presumed plastic component data to produce the blended plastic material having the at least one desired characteristic;
• and;
• determining, for at least one combination, a preferred percentage of each of the plastic components of the combination and a cost associated with the at least one combination;
• and
• reporting at least one selected combination and the corresponding preferred percentages.

A method for determining plastic components of a blended plastic material, the method comprising:

• accessing supply data describing characteristics of each of a plurality of plastic components;
• receiving specification data identifying at least one desired characteristic of the blended plastic material;
• processing the supply data and the specification data to determine a plurality of different combinations of plastic components that may produce the blended plastic material having the at least one desired characteristic;
• determining, for at least one combination, a preferred percentage of each of the plastic components of the combination;
• reporting at least one selected combination and the corresponding preferred percentages;
• and
• determining, for at least one combination, a second percentage of each of the plastic components of the combination, the second percentage being different from the preferred percentage for the corresponding combination.

A method for determining plastic components of a blended plastic material, the method comprising:

• accessing supply data describing characteristics of each of a plurality of plastic components including physical properties and available volume for each plastic component;
• receiving specification data identifying at least one desired physical property of the blended plastic material;
• processing the supply data and the specification data to determine a plurality of different combinations of plastic components that may produce the blended plastic material having the desired physical property;
• determining, for each combination, a preferred percentage of each of the plastic components of the combination based on a total cost of the blended plastic material produced by the combination, the total cost being the sum of the percentage cost of each plastic component of the combination, the percentage cost of each plastic component of the combination being the cost of the plastic component multiplied by the preferred percentage of the plastic component;
• determining, for at least one combination, a second percentage of each of the plastic components of the combination, the second percentage being different from the preferred percentage for the corresponding combination;
• determining for each combination, a maximum volume of the blended plastic that can be produced based on the available volume and percentage of each plastic component in the at least one combination of plastic components;
• sorting the combinations according to a cost associated with each combination;
• reporting the sorted combinations and the corresponding preferred percentages and maximum volume of blended plastic that can be produced according to each combination;
• receiving a selection of a desired combination of plastic components to be used to produce the blended plastic material;
• and
• transmitting the selection to an inventory management application that updates the available volume of components in the selected combination.

Computer-readable storage media encoded with processing instructions for determining plastic components of a blended plastic material, the processing instructions for directing a computer to perform the steps of:

• accessing supply data describing characteristics of each of a plurality of plastic components;
• receiving specification data identifying at least one desired characteristic of the blended plastic material;
• processing the supply data and the specification data to determine a plurality of different combinations of plastic components that may produce the blended plastic material having the at least one desired characteristic;
• determining, for at least one combination, a preferred percentage of each of the plastic components of the combination;
• reporting at least one selected combination and the corresponding preferred percentages;
• and
• determining, for at least one combination, a second percentage of each of the plastic components of the combination, the second percentage being different from the preferred percentage for the corresponding combination.

An apparatus for determining plastic components of a blended plastic material, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory operatively connected to the processor, said memory storing:
• supply data describing characteristics of each of a plurality of plastic components;
• specification data identifying at least one desired characteristic of the blended plastic material;
• and
• control logic for directing the processor to:
• process the supply data and the specification data to determine a plurality of different combinations of plastic components that may produce the blended plastic material having the at least one desired characteristic;
• determine, for at least one combination, a preferred percentage of each of the plastic components of the combination;
• determine, for at least one combination, a second percentage of each of the plastic components of the combination, the second percentage being different from the preferred percentage for the corresponding combination;
• and
• report at least one selected combination and the corresponding preferred percentages.