%0 Articles
%T Developing forest chips supply chains by redesigning supply operations and logistics
%A Väätäinen, Kari
%D 2018
%J Dissertationes Forestales
%V 2018
%N 250
%R doi:10.14214/df.250
%U http://dissertationesforestales.fi/article/9957
%X <p>The overall aim of the thesis was to design efficient supply chain setups in the selected supply environments.&nbsp; Discrete event simulation was selected as a study method. To enhance the performance of the forest chip supply chain from roadside storage locations to end-use facilities, the following results and conclusions were obtained: 1) Rearrangements in the set-up of fuel reception stations and the logistics of fuel truck reception at the power plant as well as adaptive shift scheduling of trucks resulted in a notable decrease in the waiting times of fuel trucks at the power plant’s fuel reception. 2) Forest chip supply from roadside storage locations highly encourages the use of storage area location and quality information for smart material allocation to achieve a higher energy output with lower supply costs. 3) By introducing a feed-in terminal for forest chip supply, cost compensation for additional terminal-driven costs can be gained through a higher annual capacity utilisation of a fuel supply fleet and more secured fuel supply to power plants by decreasing the need for supplemental fuel, which can be more expensive at times when fuel demand is at its highest. 4) Inland waterway areas with existing waterway infrastructure and close connections to biomass resources and end-use facilities can offer a cost-competitive and supplemental method for the long distance transport of forest chips.</p>