Modelling the South African fruit export infrastructure : a case study
Date
2006
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Operations Research Society of South Africa
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.
Description
CITATION: Ortmann, F. G., Van Vuuren, J. H. & Van Dyk, F. E. 2006. Modelling the South African fruit export infrastructure : a case study. ORiON, 22(1):35-57, doi10.5784/22-1-32.
The original publication is available at http://orion.journals.ac.za
The original publication is available at http://orion.journals.ac.za
Keywords
Exports -- South Africa -- Mathematical models, Fruit trade -- Mathematical models, Fruit trade -- South Africa, Commodity exchanges -- South Africa -- Mathematical models
Citation
Ortmann, F. G., Van Vuuren, J. H. & Van Dyk, F. E. 2006. Modelling the South African fruit export infrastructure : a case study. ORiON, 22(1):35-57