Heuristic guided simulator for the operational planning of the transport of sugar cane
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Heuristic guided simulator for the operational planning of the transport of sugar cane MH Hahn and RV Ribeiro State University of Campinas, Brazil This paper presents a computational tool for the operational planning of the transportation of sugar cane to mills. A simulation model was developed to serve as a basis for a heuristic which automatically allocates the equipment available at a mill to the different collection points so that the sugar cane available can be loaded for delivery with the minimal amount of equipment. The program is user-friendly, and compatible with Windows. The approach used emphasises the ¯exibility of the model and the interactiveness possible during the planning process. Successful trial tests with real data are reported. Keywords: heuristics; planning; simulation; sugar cane; transportation
Introduction The cost of transportation of sugar cane to sugar and alcohol mills contributes substantially to the ®nal cost of the products. The system involves various characteristics which differ from traditional transportation problems due to its complexity, which is derived from the large number of interdependent variables. The objective of the present paper is to provide a computational tool to help solve the problems involved in the daily planning of the transportation of sugar cane to the mills; the decisions consist basically of the determination of the minimal number of trucks, loaders, harvesters and tractors which should be allocated to each harvest location to guarantee a ready supply of sugar cane at the mill. In the sugar industry, the number of points for collection of harvested sugar cane varies daily, as well as the length of the trip and the time needed for loading and unloading at each point and for each type of equipment. Other factors such as the maintenance of the equipment and the formation of waiting lines in¯uence the process and make planning quite complex, with the usual result being an oversized ¯eet. Therefore it is of fundamental importance that any support tools used lead to the taking of reliable, ¯exible and interactive decisions so that the planner can participate in the decision-making process on various levels. The ef®cient performance and low cost of modern personal computers, as well as the continuous development of various improved techniques for operational research, have led to the development of ¯exible and reliable Correspondence: Dr MH Hahn, Departamento de Engenharia de Sistemas (DENSIS) Faculdade de Engenharia EleÁtrica e ComputacËaÄo (FEEC) Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), C.P. 6101 - 13.083970, Campinas; SP Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]
computational software programs which can provide more ef®cient support for the administrators who must make decisions. A software package with a user-friendly interface, System Simulator for the Transportation of Sugar Cane (SISTEC), was developed for use with windows on IBM-PC.
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