Determination of the locations and capacities of sugar cane loading stations in Thailand
In this paper, we address the problem of the location of sugar cane loading stations in Thailand. A loading station is a facility for collecting cane from small farmers; the cane is then transported to a sugar mill by a large truck. An improperly located loading station can result in high investment and transportation costs in the sugar industry. A mathematical model and a heuristic algorithm were developed to determine the suitable capacity of existing loading stations, the locations and capacities of new loading stations and the allocations of cane field harvests to each loading station. The model accounted for variations in the cane yield of each field during the harvesting periods and between crop years. The objective function was the minimization of the associated costs, including the investment costs, the transportation costs and the cost of the cane yield loss if the cane is not harvested at an optimal time. The performance of the developed heuristics was assessed under various scenarios. The results were shown to deviate slightly from the solution to the mathematical model. The sensitivities of the solutions under variations of the transportation cost, yield loss cost and investment costs were studied. The model was also applied to an industrial case study. A relevant and accurate solution was obtained. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
sugar cane mathematical model heuristic algorithm facility location problem