A robust design for a Colombian dairy cooperative's milk storage and refrigeration logistics system using binary programming

Abstract

This article describes a robust design for a milk storage and refrigeration logistics system for a dairy cooperative located in the Ubaté region of Colombia using a binary programming model. Such design included cooling tank location, assigning producers to the tanks and calculating system capacity. This research was aimed at identifying the most robust and cost-efficient configuration (given the design's parameters).

Perturbation parameters, robustness requirements and performance features were thus qualitatively and quantitatively identified; the perturbation parameters’ impact on robustness requirements and performance features was also determined. A supply chain involves a variety of configurations, along with variations in milk supply (perturbation parameter). The most robust configuration and associated costs were thus identified through robustness-cost characterization and used for designing the dairy cooperative's logistical storage and refrigeration system. A tactical plan was also drawn up for optimizing cooling tank use.