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6.4 Planning, Management Tools and Modelling<br />
The sugar industry has paid significant attention to planning and management tools for supply chain<br />
management. This has been both at a strategic whole <strong>of</strong> supply area level and an operational<br />
individual delivery chain level:<br />
Strategic level:<br />
• Overall weekly cane supply through the season across the supply area; production areas and<br />
volumes, quality, impact <strong>of</strong> weather on supply, optimum location <strong>of</strong> production areas, length<br />
<strong>of</strong> crushing season, investment in capacity, rationalization <strong>of</strong> mill capacity and transport<br />
systems.<br />
Operational Level:<br />
• Logistic modeling and impact <strong>of</strong> changes <strong>of</strong> daily harvest and transport capacities on delivery<br />
and costs.<br />
Both strategic and operational modelling will be appropriate for the Mallee Woody Crop Industry in<br />
the short term. Broad economic modelling <strong>of</strong>ten looks at strategic interactions but misses the<br />
technical aspects (inventory costs, delay costs, production capacity). Supply chain modelling<br />
(technical optimization) <strong>of</strong>ten ignores the interaction between stakeholders and organizational aspects.<br />
Both are relevant and require all parties to look at ways to increase total value <strong>of</strong> the chain through<br />
system modelling and develop an agreed collective plan.<br />
6.4.1 Strategic planning and modelling<br />
Strategic planning and modelling needs to consider the following elements:<br />
• Biomass tonnage to be delivered by each production area and farm unit.<br />
• The length <strong>of</strong> the processing season (starting and closing dates)<br />
• Weekly delivery allocations to ensure equitable deliveries over the season.<br />
• Unplanned events such as processor breakdowns or delivery shortfalls, and joint rules <strong>of</strong><br />
adjustment.<br />
In the Mallee Woody crop industry strategic modelling has focussed on economic assessment <strong>of</strong> the<br />
commercial feasibility <strong>of</strong> woody biomass integrated with wheat production. This has provided a<br />
strategic assessment on potential for integrated Mallee/Wheat farming systems. Further detail has<br />
been given in Section 1.1 <strong>of</strong> this report.<br />
However records on mallee plantings and biomass tonnage for delivery are basic. There are records <strong>of</strong><br />
who planted how many mallees and in what year, but beyond that there is little detail. Locations are<br />
generally known, but survival and growth have not been assessed. Rectifying this situation and getting<br />
all the information into a GIS environment is a work in progress.<br />
It is thus difficult to describe the mallees within 100 kms <strong>of</strong> any chosen point with confidence because<br />
the population characteristics like tonnage per site vary widely. For example about 45% <strong>of</strong> sites within<br />
100km <strong>of</strong> Narrogin (a focus town for relatively concentrated mallee planting) are too small to sustain<br />
a single day’s harvest. A large proportion <strong>of</strong> the total harvestable biomass may be present on a<br />
relatively small proportion <strong>of</strong> the sites. Sites may also fail to be economically harvestable even though<br />
they may contain significant tonnages <strong>of</strong> biomass owing to age, row layout and field condition.<br />
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