ZLC Seminar Series: Agata Banaszewska, PhD candidate, Dept. of Logistics, Decision and Information Sciences, University of Wageningen, Netherlands

Abstract

Every day dairy processors face numerous challenges resulting both from unsteady dairy markets and from specific characteristics of dairy supply chains. The volatility of demand and prices of dairy products, the higher competitiveness, and the increasing regulations that limit access to external markets significantly affect the performance of dairy processors. Furthermore, the complexity emerging from the uniqueness of the main input material (raw milk) requires high-class methods for effective dairy supply chain management. The uniqueness of the dairy supply chain lies in the fact that there is only one main raw material, which is collected from multiple dairy farms scattered all over the supply area, and is used for the production of all dairy products. The seasonality of raw milk composition and supply volume highly increases the complexity of production planning process. The limited shelf-life of dairy products requires specific inventory management policies. These unique settings demand custom made planning tools that incorporate various logistic domains, e.g. transport, allocation, production.

The aim of the PhD project is to support dairy processors in the mid-term valorization of milk. Four studies has been identified, of which outcomes would considerably improve current practices of milk valorization. The aim of the first study is to develop a comprehensive Dairy Valorization Model (DVM) that allocates the milk to the most profitable products, while taking all important elements into account. The aim of the second study is to investigate whether the integration of the valorization of two large groups of dairy products, i.e. milk-based and whey-based products, is a necessary step for the overall better valorization of milk. The aim of the third study is to evaluate the robustness of the solutions of the DVM, and to identify the parameters that have the highest impact on the stability of the valorization plans. Finally, the aim of the fourth project is to, with the use of stochastic programming techniques, mitigate the uncertainty related to the parameters indicated in the third study. *

Topics covered in the presentation:

• PhD project – set up and aim
• Identified studies*
• Dairy Valorization Model
• Whey Valorization
• Assessment of the robustness of Valorization Plans
• Dealing with uncertainty related to main inputs used for milk valorization

* In this part of the presentation the focus will be on the first two studies, and only the general information on the last two will be provided.