Decision-Support tool for Designing Resilient and Sustainable Perishable Agri-Food Supply Chains

This case study presents a decision-support tool for designing resilient and sustainable agri-food supply chains for fresh perishable products. The case focuses on a multi-product, multi-period and multi-echelon supply chain involving farms, packing plants, warehouses, distribution centres and markets. The proposed heuristic–metaheuristic approach combines constructive heuristics with simulated annealing to generate feasible supply chain configurations in reduced computational time. The tool supports strategic, tactical and operational decisions, including facility opening, crop planning, labour allocation, production, inventory, transportation and demand fulfilment. By explicitly considering shelf-life constraints, food waste, service levels and resource use, the solution contributes to more sustainable, resilient and human-centred planning in agri-food systems.

Video: https://youtu.be/V5EZ9_vhk-Y