Heuristic guided simulator for the operational planning of the transport of sugar cane

This paper presents a computational tool for the operational planning of the transportation of sugar cane to mills. A simulation model was developed to serve as a basis for a heuristic which automatically allocates the equipment available at a mill to the different collection points so that the sugar cane available can be loaded for delivery with the minimal amount of equipment. The program is user-friendly, and compatible with Windows. The approach used emphasises the flexibility of the model and the interactiveness possible during the planning process. Successful trial tests with real data are reported.