Doctoral Project

Designing a logistics network for wood flow considering cascade utilization and uncertainties
(Topic B.1)

One approach towards increasing the utilization of the biomass resources is to expand the wood sources from forests and sawmill to collection center as source of wastewood. Such that the collaboration of business entities will result in better biomass utilization through sequential use of remaining resource quality from previously used commodities and substances. It can also extend the utilization time of biomass such as wood and improve its economy.
Several studies illustrate the collaboration potential of Operation Research along the supply chain of wood flow for several wood-based product industries in the material, chemical, and energy sectors. However, many questions remain unsolved in terms of designing a logistics network for wood flow considering cascade utilization. Additionally, the potential integration of an optimization tool such as mixed integer linenear programming (MILP) into life cycle assessment (LCA) as a tool for environmental impact assessment should be investigated.
Therefore, the research question answered in this dissertation is to model a logistics network for wood flow considering cascade utilization by formulating a transportation problem using MILP model to minimize the logistics cost. The result could satisfy the wood product plant for the selection of the potential supplier and wood quantity with minimum logistics cost. It should be note that in this study all product plants are considered as a unit due to the fact that disposed wastewood of a company could be used as raw material of another company through cascade utilization approach. Thus the logistic cost of the production plant is minimized simultaneously. In this study, the model is designed for the products which are produced from small wood (industrial wood) and wood-byproduct (from sawmill). It is due to huge uncertainties in furniture production and construction sector (as demand company for big wood, round wood). However it is possible to extend the model if necessary information is provided. The model is formulated using MILP model and minimized using Cplex solver. The calculated distance from minimum solution is then used in a LCA software such as Umberto to investigate the total environmental impact (in terms of global warming, GWP) of the logistics network for wood flow.