SUPPLY CHAIN ROUTING SCHEDULING SUB-MODEL DESIGN: CASE OF EXPORT BULK PORTS

The integration of planning and scheduling decisions of loading, stacking/scraping, routing and production making up an integrated optimization plan without contradictory goals is vital for an efficient use of the four aforementioned bulk port operations. Usually, the optimization of these decisions is approached in an integrated fashion in one mathematical model. In this paper, we discuss another integration approach using a real case as an illustration. The proposed approach can improve the design phase in optimization problems and avoid the cons of the classical methodology. It can also come up with a number of pros which can be summed up mainly in the ability to design the optimization problems, in such a way to reflect the real aspects of the industrial settings.