Benchmarking collaborative timber supply chains

Implementing efficient timber transport strategies and methods requires that decision makers are able to analyse What if scenarios and to carry out benchmarking exercises with limited effort. To this end, we present a generic multi-actors optimisation model for timber transport planning under limited transport capacity which has been so designed as to facilitate the evaluation of alternative organisations by using a same panel of performance indicators. Each organisational scenario is modelled through a specific setting of the generic model and results in an optimal activity plan for each transport actor. As an application, we analyse a use case showing traditional non-collaborative practices, then we evaluate the performance gains which might be expected from a range of collaborative organisations in which clients, wood resources and transport resources meet varying degrees of mutualisation.

Automated summary

The study introduces a generic multi-actors optimisation model for timber transport planning under limited transport capacity, providing optimal activity plans for each transport actor and guiding decision making through evaluating the performance of different organizations. Implementation of traditional non-collaborative practices versus various collaborative organizations can result in performance gains of varying degrees in timber transport.