LOGISTICS OPTIMIZATION IN FORESTRY VALUE CHAINS: SYNCHRONIZATION OF RESOURCES FOR LOADING AND TRANSPORT OPERATIONS

Abstract

The efficient use of available resources is a critical issue in the planning of distribution activities. The utilization of these resources can have a significant impact on the total cost of operations and, therefore, should be considered in the operational planning, making the decision-making process difficult due to the inherent complexity of the problem related to the allocation, sequencing and scheduling of operations at each location of the distribution network.
The present work proposes an optimization methodology that combines exact methods with heuristic algorithms to optimize pickup and delivery activities in the first echelon of the forest industry, taking into account the synchronization of resources allocated to truck loading and unloading operations.
The most outstanding contribution of this work lies in the development of a computational tool that minimizes the total logistic cost while satisfying the requirements defined for each facility over a given planning horizon. The proposed approach's efficiency was verified and analyzed through a variety of practical examples that showcase its potential to aid the decision-making process in the forestry sector.