A robust optimization approach to wine grape harvesting scheduling

• Published in: European journal of operational research Vol. 200; no. 1; pp. 245 - 252
• Main Authors: Bohle, Carlos, Maturana, Sergio, Vera, Jorge
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 2010; Elsevier; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Series: European Journal of Operational Research
• Subjects: Agriculture; Applied sciences; Exact sciences and technology; Harvest; Inventory control, production control. Distribution; Logistics; Operational research and scientific management; Operational research. Management science; Optimization; Optimization techniques; Robust optimization; Robust optimization Wine supply chain Scheduling; Scheduling; Scheduling, sequencing; Studies; Uncertainty; Wine supply chain; Wineries & vineyards; Scheduling; Robust optimization; Wine supply chain; Productivity; Probabilistic approach; Harvesting; Modeling; Optimization; Wine industry; Uncertain system; Problem solving; Agriculture; Planning; Logistics
• ISSN: 0377-2217; 1872-6860
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2008.12.003

Optimization models are increasingly being used in agricultural planning. However, the inherent uncertainties present in agriculture make it difficult. In recent years, robust optimization has emerged as a methodology that allows dealing with uncertainty in optimization models, even when probabilistic knowledge of the phenomenon is incomplete. In this paper, we consider a wine grape harvesting scheduling optimization problem subject to several uncertainties, such as the actual productivity that can be achieved when harvesting. We study how effective robust optimization is solving this problem in practice. We develop alternative robust models and show results for some test problems obtained from actual wine industry problems.