Abstract
This research develops an initial proposal of a Decision Support System –DSS– to plan the production and distribution of new fresh agricultural products. This system is based on a hierarchical approach, which can be applied to enterprises as a planning module or as a stand-alone system for crop production. In this paper is stressed the importance of the DSS for small and medium-sized companies, or for small group of growers that need to improve coordination between their growing and market decisions. The DSS covers the strategic, tactical and operational decisions for every season, focusing on new product introduction. The aim of DSS is increasing the competitiveness of growers in a highly variable and complex marketplace. The agri-food sector still needs evolving to meet increasing demands, understand particular tastes of new consumers and evaluating the requirements of new players.
Highlights
Is research develops an initial proposal of a Decision Support System –DSS– to plan the production and distribution of new fresh agricultural products. is system is based on a hierarchical approach, which can be applied to enterprises as a planning module or as a stand-alone system for crop production
En este artículo se resalta la importancia del DSS para las pequeñas y medianas empresas, o para grupos de pequeños cultivadores que necesitan mejorar la coordinación entre sus cultivos y sus decisiones de mercado
E present research aims to provide fresh produce growers, with adequate planning tools to tackle new product introduction and the decisions regarding production and distribution of these products, with the objective of maximizing their pro tability. e tools we propose on this research are essential for the long-term success of growers in this sector, which are usually operating on an environment that is very complex and competitive, dominated by large processors and retailers
Summary
E present research aims to provide fresh produce growers (usually small and medium or cooperatives), with adequate planning tools to tackle new product introduction and the decisions regarding production and distribution of these products, with the objective of maximizing their pro tability. e tools we propose on this research are essential for the long-term success of growers in this sector, which are usually operating on an environment that is very complex and competitive, dominated by large processors and retailers. Chains of agricultural products are characterized by long supply lead times, combined with signi cant supply and demand uncertainties (Lowe & Preckel, 2004) These issues are even more complex for the speci c case of new product introduction of fresh agri-foods, where producers face additional marketing uncertainties and a shorter life of the product. E proposed work takes the perspective of a farmer who wants to maximize his revenues and avoid the risks of the market To accomplish this objective, this research proposes the development of a hierarchical framework for supply chain planning of agricultural commodities as part of New Product Development –NPD– effort. At the core of the grower system is an analytical supply chain model that takes the relevant information to render a plan for growing, harvesting and distributing the products in an agricultural cycle
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