Optimization of resource flows across the whole supply chain. Application to a case study in the dairy industry

CÓCCOLA, MARIANA E.; BASÁN, NATALIA P.; MENDEZ, CARLOS A.; DONDO, RODOLFO G.

COMPUTERS AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2022 vol. 107

0098-1354

This paper deals with the problem of optimally planning the flows of raw materials and products across a linear multiproduct supply chain. Given a known series of products demands along a planning pe- riod, the problem consists of optimizing procurement, inventory, production, and distribution decisions for each time-period of the planning horizon. A decomposition procedure is developed to solve the op- timization problem in reasonable computational times. The proposal first generates both a set of pickup routes for raw material collection and a set of delivery routes for product distribution through the Col- umn Generation method. Then, these routes are feed into a Mixed-Integer Linear Program modelling the integrated problem. The scope of the optimization approach covers the entire supply chain from sources of raw materials to the end-customers, providing a useful computational tool for assessment of linear supply chains. The aim is to maximize the profit of the company that fabricates and distributes the prod- ucts. The usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed solution strategy is demonstrated by solving an extensive set of realistic instances for a dairy industry.