Optimising transport efficiency and costs in Australian wood chipping operations

This paper examines the optimisation of the transport scheduling of woodchips for in-field chipping operations whose efficiency depends on a range of factors. It illustrates the advantages of optimising trucking efficiency and cost in the context of the Australian forest industry. The study was enabled using an adapted version of Simulated Annealing and a forestry domain model, and a simulator based on them, called Fast Truck, was implemented for experimental use. Insights arising from the simulator results are discussed in the context of the Australian industry. The factors worth noting are truck payload and chipper utilisation, which by optimisation, account for 52% and 29% of the total cost savings obtained, respectively. These savings arise when better transport control and management occur in chipping operations. Further work will consider ways to implement these optimisations, primarily, by adapting Fast Truck as an optimiser of daily dispatch schedules.

► Transportation constitutes a major part of overall costs for in-field chipping.
► Operational planning is a key aspect of in-field chipping operations.
► A truck scheduling system for in-field chipping operations was developed.
► Payload and chipper utilisation account for 52% and 29% of the total transport savings.