Optimization approaches to support decision making in the production planning of a citrus company: A Brazilian case study

• An optimization approach is presented to support orange juice production planning.
• The approach takes into account uncertainty in some problem parameters.
• An optimization software of mathematical programming is used to solve the problem.
• The results indicate that the optimization approach is useful in real situations.

In this study a frozen concentrated orange juice aggregate production planning is modeled using linear programming to support decision making in the production process of a citrus company with multiple products, stages and periods. Then the model is extended to take into account uncertainty in some model parameters using a robust optimization approach. Besides tactical decisions in the production, blending and storage of juices, the nominal and robust models include the orange harvesting plan, which considers orange maturation curves. The models also include the blending process of different types of juices to match product specifications, for example, using orange acidity to calculate the ratio specification. These planning models take into account a large portion of typical supply chains of frozen concentrated orange juice and a case study was developed in a citrus company, which has different facilities and a worldwide distribution system, similar to other companies in this sector. To solve the models, an algebraic modeling language and a state-of-art optimization software of mathematical programming problems were used. The computational results obtained indicate that these optimization approaches can be useful in real situations.