Gains:
- Can question in which unit and with what assumption the capacity is stated.
- Can explain the difference between nominal capacity and actual production
- Recognizes capacity traps in bid comparison
The sentence "300 ton mill" alone is incomplete. In a day or an hour? Assuming how many hours of work? Which type of flour? At what efficiency? Capacity comparisons made without asking these questions are misleading.
tons/day and working hours
In the industry, capacity is generally given as tons/24 hours. 300 tons/24 hours means 12.5 tons per hour. But no facility operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year: cleaning, maintenance, roller shaving and product changeover create downtime.
This difference should be clearly written in the feasibility report presented to the investor. If the availability rate (e.g. 90%) is not applied when calculating annual production, an income statement that is impossible to realize will emerge.
Flour type changes capacity
The same facility operates at lower tonnage when producing special low-ash flour; because further purification and more careful sifting are required. The "300 tons" figure should indicate which product it is given for.
Where is the bottleneck
The capacity of a facility is equal to its slowest link. Although the roller surface is suitable for 400 tons, if the plansifter surface is suitable for 300 tons, the facility is 300 tons. When examining the offer, the total roller length and the total sieve surface must be evaluated together.
When comparing bids, ask the AI to tabulate the roll length, sieve surface, number of purifiers and declared capacity of the two bids. Incompatibility often becomes visible in this chart.