Abstract
A description is provided of work performed as part of the fruit logistics infrastructure project commissioned by the South African Deciduous Fruit Producers’ Trust and coordinated by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, as described in [Van Dyk FE & Maspero E, 2004, An analysis of the South African fruit logistics infrastructure, ORiON, 20(1), pp. 55–72]. After a brief introduction to the problem, two models (a single-commodity graph theoretic model and a multi-commodity mathematical programming model) are derived for determining the maximal weekly flow or throughput of fresh fruit through the South African national export infrastructure. These models are solved for two extreme seasonal export scenarios and the solutions show that no export infrastructure expansion is required in the near future - observed bottlenecks are not fundamental to the infrastructure and its capacities, but are rather due to sub-optimal management and utilisation of the existing infrastructure.
Highlights
This paper contains a description of infrastructure capacity analyses conducted during the third phase of the national fruit logistics infrastructure study (Fruitlog), commissioned by the South African Deciduous Fruit Producers’ Trust, as described in [20]
The 850 pack houses and 286 cold stores countrywide where fresh fruit is packed and cooled were grouped into 31 pack house and cold store regions. These production regions are generally the same regions as those specified by producer associations such as Citrus South Africa (CSA), the Deciduous Fruit Producers’ Trust (DFPT), the South African Avocado Growers’ Association (SAAGA), the South African Mango Growers’ Association (SAMGA) and the South African Litchi Growers’ Association (SALGA)
The largest volume of fruit that may be exported during the winter peak week is 150 004 pallets of fruit, compared to the 82 722 pallets that were exported during that busiest week of 2003 — this amounts to an approximate infrastructure utilisation of at most 55% in winter
Summary
This paper contains a description of infrastructure capacity analyses conducted during the third phase of the national fruit logistics infrastructure study (Fruitlog), commissioned by the South African Deciduous Fruit Producers’ Trust, as described in [20]. The specific task of the authors within this larger project was to construct “a maximum flow optimisation model for the [South African] infrastructure network .
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
