Title : Applied OR in the salmon industry
Abstract:
Salmon farming is one of the main pillars of Chile’s economy and the main source of income of the southern regions of the country. The industry is a complex and long process chain, going from the hatcheries where the eggs are produced, the sweet water stage where the smolts are grown, salt water stage where the salmons are fattened in the ocean in special purpose cages, the processing plants where different cuts and products are produced and the export of the final product. Industrial facilities include hatcheries, sweet water farms, ocean farms, and processing plants. All water facilities are located in rivers and fjords of the Chilean Patagonia and a big portion of the time the logistics consider a combination of vessels and trucks. Transportation must include salmons at the different stages in the chain as well as final products. One of the main challenges for the salmon companies is the planning of the different problems the industry faces. These problems include the logistics of delivering the feed, the collection of the garbage, the harvest of the fish allocated in the farms all around the Patagonian Sea, the planning of the smolt production in the sweet water stage and the harvest plan, the planning of the processing plants where a model could help choose the best cuts and markets to sell, etc. Each and every one of these processes is a complex problem that involve millions of dollars, generally performed by a planner with suboptimal results. The industry provides a vast number of problem and companies where OR is starting play major role in decision, leading to substantial efficiencies that will help save millions of dollars and be environmentally friendlier.
