Optimisation and the Concept of Value

Another example, this time from the mining industry, is the service of presenting the mined ore, called Run of Mine ore, to the concentrator plant. Analysing the service requirements (spatial separation between extraction point and concentrator location, and the concentrator s requirements on ore size), one immediately finds that there are two functions involved, transportation and size reduction. But even at this high level of analysis there are two basic options, either do the size reduction first and then the transport, or vice versa, and if we go to a further (lower, more detailed) level of analysis, we can distinguish the functions of vertical and horizontal transportation, and primary size reduction and secondary size reduction, and these functions can again be combined in various ways to form a number of different functional systems. 

there will be more than one possible functional system, and we must make a choice. As we saw in Sec. B5.2, the process of identifying options and then making a choice is the essence of design, and the combination of identifying possible functional systems and then choosing the best one constitutes what we 

and related to this, is the opinion that certain things, in particular human life are simply beyond any measure they are just infinitely valuable. This only has the effect of making any rational allocation of resources impossible, as was the case in a meeting with the engineering group of a major mining company, when it was stated that it was company policy that the probability of a failure that could lead to a fatality had to be zero. 

a monetary measure is too precise, and may often give a false impression of the actual state of knowledge about the value of a function. This objection is easily overcome by using ranges of monetary values, expressed either as actual ranges, such as 20 - 50, or as a value with a tolerance, such as 35 40 %, or even as an order of magnitude. 

and perhaps the most common objection to putting a monetary value on a function is the reluctance to be pinned down and to put any value on it in this way one cannot be held to account later on. This attitude is particularly prevalent where the decision-making is open to public scrutiny, such as in politics. Decisions are made in these areas also, it is just that the reasons for the decisions are sometimes quite confused and irrational, and the decisions are therefore wrong, as far as achieving the stated goal goes. 

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