Bale Management

Bale Management:
It is the process of judicious selection of bales in order to achieve consistent level of quality with
minimum level of price.

It is done to attain the following objectives:

1. To achieve a minimum level of cost by combining raw cotton lots of different prices.
2. To achieve a consistent level of quality by selecting bales for each laydown in such a way
that the average fiber properties always stay within an acceptable range.

In factories, bale management is carried out in two ways.

1. Using Specialized software e.g. Bale Manager, BIAS (Bale Information Analysis System) etc.
2. Using general application software e.g. Excel, Access etc.
Bale Management using Specialized software
Steps:
1. Sampling: Upon receiving bales in the factory, samples are collected from each bale and each
bale is marked according to the sample serial number. The bales are then kept in warehouse
floor until they are category marked.
2. Testing: After all the samples are collected, they are taken to the lab and tested in HVI.
3. Analyzing: The obtained test results are analyzed to see whether the properties of the fiber lot
is satisfactory enough to meet the quality requirements.
4. Property and Category selection: An HVI machine shows a wide range of test results and if all
are selected for bale management, then the calculation involved will be extremely complicated.
Therefore, among the properties 3-5 are selected (e.g. SCI, Length, Fineness, +b, Rd). After
selection, value range of each properties have to be divided into some categories to facilitate
code generation.
 Code Mic Range Code Str Range Code +b
A 4.0 – 4.3 α 28.1 – 29.0 I 9.6 – 10.0
B 4.4 – 4.7 Β 29.1 – 30.0 II 10.1 – 10.5
C 4.8 – 5.1 ρ 30.1 – 31.0 III 10.6 – 11.0
IV 11.1 – 11.5
V 11.6 – 12.0
Steps:
5. Category code generation: Depending on the properties and the number categories among
them, a code for each bale is generated. For example, if properties and category selections are
as above and the properties of bale number 1123 are Mic: 4.5, +b: 11.4, Str: 28.8 gpt, then the
category code for bale number 1123 is BαIV.
6. Marking and Sorting of bales: The category code of each bale is written on the bales using
marker and then the bales are sorted and stacked according to the codes.
7. Mixing plan: At first the number of bales per mix is determined. Then according to that number
the software is commanded to produce the first mix. Upon production of that mix, a list is
produced which is handed over to the store department to collect and deliver the desired
category bales to blowroom. Upon completion, the selected number of bales are deleted from
the database and then the second mix is generated. The whole process is repeated until the last
mix. The software does all the calculations necessary and produces the mix in such a way that
the average fiber properties of all the mixes remains within an acceptable range.
Steps:
8. Laydown plan: This is the plan according to which all bales of a certain mix are laid down under
the bale plucker. This is generated by the software automatically. This is to ensure maximum
homogeneous distribution among the bales of different category as the plucker moves over the
bales.

4.8 4.6 4.8

4.4
4.6
4.3
4.7
4.6
4.5
4.8
4.7
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.4
4.7
4.5
4.6
4.5
4.7
4.6
4.9
4.6
4.5
4.7
4.6
4.8
4.6
4.5
4.4
4.7
4.5
4.6
4.5
4.7
4.3
4.6
4.8
4.7
4.4
4.6
4.7 4.9
4.4
4.5
4.7
4.6
4.9
4.5
4.7
4.6
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.4
4.6
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.6
4.5
4.8
4.3
4.7
4.6
4.2
4.5
4.7
4.5
4.7
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.7
4.6
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.6
4.4
4.6
4.4
4.6 4.6

9. Laydown preparation: The delivered bales are at first made ready for processing by opening the
binding wires/tape and covering materials. Then the outer surface of the bales are inspected
and any dirty, rotten, damaged fiber are removed. The cleaned bales are then arranged
according to the laydown plan and this process is strictly monitored.
10. After a laydown is fully prepared, the bale plucker starts its operation and the next laydown is
made by repeating the afore mentioned processes.
Bale Management using Excel
Steps:
1. Sampling: Upon receiving bales in the factory, samples are collected from each bale and each
bale is marked according to the sample serial number. But here, two samples are collected. One
in small quantity from all the bales and another in larger quantity from bales according to the
gin lot number. The bales are then kept in warehouse floor until they are marked.
2. Testing: Samples for Mic test and All property test are separately taken to the lab and tested in
HVI.
3. Analyzing: The obtained test results from all property tests are analyzed to see whether the
properties of the fiber lot is satisfactory enough to meet the quality requirements.
4. Marking and Sorting of bales: The Mic value of each bale is written on the bales using marker
and then the bales are sorted and stacked accordingly.
Bale Management using Excel
Steps:
5. Mixing Plan: In order to make a mixing plan, at first the number of bales per mix needs to be
determined. This is determined based on the dimension of the bale and the area over which
the bale plucker moves. Then, the total number of bales is divided by the number of bales per
mix and the result gives the number of mixes that can be produced from the particular
consignment. Then the bales are distributed among the mixes keeping the following points in
mind:
• The average mic is determined by weighing average system.
• The average mic of each mix should be kept as close as possible to that of the whole consignment. The maximum
difference between the max and min average mic should not exceed over 0.2.
• The number of bales per mix should be equal. Also, the value of remaining bales should not be negative.
• For a particular mic, the number of bales between consecutive mixes should not vary more than ±3.
Bale Management using Excel
Steps:
6. Laydown plan: This is the plan according to which all bales of a certain mix are laid down under
the bale plucker. It is necessary to ensure maximum homogeneous distribution among the
bales of different mic value as the plucker moves over the bales. The bales from a particular
mixis distributed inside the laydown area keeping the following points in mind:
• The laydown should be divided into 3 or more segments and the average mic of each segment is separately
calculated to ensure even distribution of bales. The average mic values of each segment should be as close as
possible to each other and also to the average mic of the mix.
• The mic CV% should also be as minimum as possible.
• Bales of same mic should not be placed adjacent to each other .
8. Laydown preparation: The delivered bales are at first made ready for processing by opening the
binding wires/tape and covering materials. Then the outer surface of the bales are inspected
and any dirty, rotten, damaged fiber are removed. The cleaned bales are then arranged
according to the laydown plan and this process is strictly monitored.
9. After a laydown is fully prepared, the bale plucker starts its operation and the next laydown is
made by repeating the afore mentioned processes.