Supply planning for processors of agricultural raw materials

Material use of agricultural raw materials as renewable resources is gaining increasing importance in industrial production. Seasonal availability as well as variations in raw material quantity and quality and of market prices need to be considered in supply planning. This research depicts the planning problem of a processor of agricultural raw materials and illustrates it with data on the industrial use of linseed oil, which is a promising raw material for the production of new polymers. A two-stage stochastic program provides decision support and is applied to the example. The approach can be used for a variety of planning problems concerning the supply of agricultural raw materials. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.