Modelling of the Transport–Technological Process of Delivery of Wood Raw Materials under the Conditions of Uncertainty

Abstract

This article considers the most well-known existing methods of modeling of the transportation process under the conditions of uncertainty, describes the analysis of specified methods of optimization of the transport–technological process. The modern stage of development of the market economy requires new approaches to the transportation of wood raw materials for the purpose of increasing the effectiveness of the transport-technological process. In this regard, the problems related to transport logistics appear to be particularly topical. The subject of transport logistics is a set of planning and management problems associated with the transportation of wood freights by different kinds and types of transport, namely: ensuring technical and technological connectivity between participants involved in the transport process, coordinating their economic interests; ensuring technological uniformity of transport and warehousing facilities; collaborative planning of manufacturing, transport and warehousing processes; selecting kinds of vehicles (Vs); selecting types of Vs; determining rational routes; selecting carriers and forwarding agents. This set of specified problems lies within the general scheme of transport logistics problems. A traditional transport problem may be stated in all cases when it is necessary to determine a scheme of transportation of some wood freight (freights) from one destination to another, to find the most reasonable way (route) of transportation, to select a type of vehicles and determine the time of performance of this operation, but each of the mentioned cases is associated with a certain statement of a transport problem. At the same time, we use the assumption that the cost of transportation of a wood product along any route is proportional to its volume. In practice, however, this assumption does not frequently come to fruition. A problem becomes more complicated if, when it is stated, it is necessary to consider that the cost of transportation depends not only on the pair "supplier–consumer", but also on the characteristics of a freight to be transported, a type of vehicles to be used, etc. It also should be noted that the practice of supply chains: rarely uses only one type of vehicles; as a rule, the transportation process involves two or more types of transport; in addition to dynamic factors, the transport-technological process is also affected by uncertainty factors. Thus, the search for new solutions by developing mathematical models suitable to realities on the basis of a logistic approach, with the uncertainty of input parameters taken into account, appears to be a topical scientific problem.