Optimal Planning of Agricultural Machinery Exploitation through a Computer Assisted System in Sugar Cane Manufacturing Enterprises

Abstract

A new method to better plan the use of agricultural machinery in sugar manufacturing
enterprises is presented. This method is based on multiobjective economicmathematical
models and computer techniques. To this end, a study comprising
three stages was performed: First, the defi nition of goals, i.e., searching optimal
values for working time, fuel consumption, and machinery operational costs; second,
the elaboration of goal programming models to plan agricultural machinery
exploitation, and third, the elaboration of a computer assisted system in order to
apply optimization models. The study was carried out at two sugar cane manufacturing
enterprises from Santiago de Cuba province. Results showed a 16 % saving
in fuel consumption, and a 12 % and 4 % decrease in machinery operational costs
and working time, respectively.