Integration of Production Planning and Inventory Control of Refinery Process

Abstract

The integration between production planning and inventory control in the refinery process is the focus of this thesis. The subject of this study, Doha Refinery, produces Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), 92 RON gasoline, 97 RON gasoline, Jet A1, and Diesel (LGO). The refinery receives 83,660 barrels per day delivered from Dukhan Industrial City in Qatar. Gasoline production is more than the local demand. The increase in the production of gasoline is done for the purpose of building a safe inventory. On the same note, refinery has a production capacity limitation with Jet A1 and Diesel products. Therefore, the production of these products is less than the local demand. Thus, the refinery imports the extra needed quantity to supply the local customers. The production planning team must plan the import dates after monitoring the inventory levels. Therefore, integrating production and inventory is necessary in order to have an overview of the inventory status as well as a strategy for production and the imports' dates and quantities. MS Excel will be the tool that will integrate the production, planning and inventory control. The MS Excel sheets will provide an overview of the daily production, demand, inventory status and export/import days. Moreover, gasoline blending formulation will be included in the sheet. That will allow the planner to issue the blending recipe catered to the operation. In the case of the refinery experiencing a shutdown, the Excel sheet will provide information regarding the inventory quantity, the amount of days it can supply the local customer and the dates for importing the needed quantities.