Containerized Grain Logistics Processes for Implementing Sustainable Identity Preservation

Abstract

Grains are often exposed to unprotected environment during post-harvest logistics processes. Since grains are usually accommodated in silos on farms, when importing grains, they are transported to silos or yards at ports by heavy vehicles, and imported to another country (or region) by bulk carriers. Thereafter the grains are stored at silos and transported in bulk or tone-sacks by heavy vehicles. The grain quality often deteriorates due to unprotected storage and transportation environment through the logistics processes, whereby they become affected by insects, pests, rancidity, discoloration, and so on. This study examines a containerized grain logistics contributing to well-known identity preservation, analyzes the applicability in terms of logistics cost, and discusses potential effects on sustainability improvement by tracing and preserving the grains for a longer duration in well-protected spaces during the logistics processes. This study introduces the necessity of preservation containers to implement the containerized grain logistics to prevent quality deterioration. A comparative cost analysis is conducted to investigate the effect of the containerized grain logistics. According to the comparative analysis, conventional bulk logistics has benefits in shipping (76.2%) and storage costs (89%), whereas the containerized logistics has economic viability in tariff (23.2%) and infrastructure costs (51.2%).

Digital Technologies, Sustainability, and Efficiency in Grain Post-Harvest Activities: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…The adoption of containerized grain logistics are discussed for their potential to improve sustainability by tracking and preserving grain longer in protected environments. In conclusion, containerized grain logistics emerge as a promising approach to counter grain quality deterioration during post-harvest logistics, with favorable economic aspects contributing to quality preservation and sustainability in the grain supply chain [34].…”

Optimization of Green Containerized Grain Supply Chain Transportation Problem in Ukraine Considering Disruption Scenarios

“…Mogale et al [13] studied a multi-period model for the Indian grain supply chain and tried to achieve optimal transportation, capacity, and allocation of silos. The following were the contributions of their paper: (1) taking into account seasonal procurement, inventory and operational costs of grain, fixed costs of capacitated silos, variety of vehicles parked, vehicle preference constraints, railroad flexibility, and a definite planning horizon, and (2) creating a variant of the Max-Min Ant System algorithm, named Improved Max-Min Ant System (IMMAS). It was used to solve the mixed-integer nonlinear programming model under time limitation.…”