Generation of alternative methods for managing raw materials to support decision-making in the dairy industry

• Published in: Food and bioproducts processing Vol. 133; pp. 140 - 152
• Main Authors: Jachimczyk, Ewelina, Myhan, Ryszard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rugby Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2022; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: biobased products; butter; Buttermilk; Concurrent processing; Configurations; Dairy farms; Dairy industry; Dairy processing; Dairy products; Decision making; Decision processes; Food production; Graph theory; Layouts; mathematical theory; Methods; milk production; Modelling; Object-oriented modeling; Production; Production lines; Production management; Raw materials; Graph theory; Dairy processing; Decision processes; Production; Object-oriented modeling
• ISSN: 0960-3085; 1744-3571
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fbp.2022.04.001

The dairy industry is a unique branch of the food production sector, where various decisions have to be made concerning the type and quantity of the manufactured products and the layout of processing lines. The literature on the subject is relatively limited. Therefore, an attempt was made in this study to support decision making in the dairy industry. The article proposes a general methodology for modeling dairy production systems which are characterized by numerous interdependent and concurrent processing operations. The proposed method relies on the object-oriented modeling technique and graph theory, and it can be used to model the equipment and layout of production lines. The method enables multivariate simulations of the production process involving a specific batch of raw materials. The simulated variants differ in the configuration of the production line and/or the allocation of raw materials (semi-finished products) to different segments of the production line. The tested model was verified and validated, and the average relative error of estimation was 3.27% for butter production and 2.46% for buttermilk production. The proposed method could support decision-making in the process of selecting the production strategy, including the assortment and quantity of the manufactured products, and the configuration of production lines. •The new method for modeling a complex dairy production systems was developed.•Proposed method relies on the object-oriented modeling technique and graph theory.•The method enables multivariate simulations of the production process.•The method can be used to support the decision-making process in a dairy plant.