Improvement of Work Methods in Tomato Greenhouses Using Simulation

Bechar, Avital; Yosef, Sivan; Netanyahu, Sinaia; Edan, Yael

doi:10.13031/2013.22623

Cited by 29 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…This aspect is common to many other studies where the cost of labor is usually hard to decrease when it is conditioned by the specific nature of the production process [44][45][46]. This cropping system, in fact, on the one hand allows a large number of productive cycles per year, but on the other hand requires considerable workload [47,48]. As has been reported in other studies [49,50], this is attributable essentially to the harvest that, with an average cost of 3.40 €/m 2 , represented the main farming operation required during tomato production.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Economic Sustainability of Italian Greenhouse Cherry Tomato

et al. 2014

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Greenhouse tomato cultivation plays an important role in Sicily, being the primary production area in Italy, due to its favorable pedo-climatic conditions that permit extra-seasonal productions. In Sicily, more than half of greenhouse tomato production is derived from the Province of Ragusa on the southeastern coast, where especially cherry tomato typologies are cultivated. Over the last decade, the Ragusa Province has registered a decrease both in terms of greenhouse tomato area and harvested production due to several structural problems that would require restructuring of the tomato supply chain. Thus, since recognition of real costs and profitability of tomato growing is a vital issue, both from the perspective of the farm, as well as from that of the entrepreneur, the aim of this paper was to analyze the economic sustainability of Sicilian greenhouse cherry tomato cultivated in the Ragusa Province. In particular, an economic analysis on 30 representative farms was conducted in order to estimate production costs and profits of greenhouse cherry tomato. According to our results, the lack of commercial organization, which characterizes the small farms we surveyed, determines low contractual power for farmers and, consequently, low profitability.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Economic Sustainability of Italian Greenhouse Cherry Tomato

et al. 2014

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“…Simulation is also applied to investigate workers recruiting scenarios and their operational and economical effects. Bechar et al (2007) used a DES model to study working practices that reduce labor involvement in harvesting in greenhouse tomato yards. Similarly, van't Ooster et al (2014) applied DES to simulate different recruiting scenarios based on the labor skills for rose harvesting operations.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid modeling for vineyard harvesting operations

Mesabbah¹,

Mahfouz²,

Af³

et al. 2016

2016 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC)

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“…Against this background, the most desirable design would be the one that gives a combination of the highest production rate (PR) [3] and a minimum risk for musculoskeletal disorders [4]. Because such disorders constitute a large financial burden on industries [5], many ergonomic assessment methods have been developed to reduce the risk of injury.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated Simulation-Based Workplace Design that Considers Ergonomics and Productivity

Harari¹,

Bechar²,

Raschke³

et al. 2017

Int. j. simul. model.

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When designing a workplace with manual material handling tasks, it is important to consider both production and ergonomics. We developed an automated workplace design methodology that addresses production and ergonomics for tasks involving a handled mass of up to 23 kg. This process combines optimisation and a Digital Human Modelling (DHM) simulation, which yield the production and ergonomic measures. The task cycle time in current DHM simulations is based on Predetermined Motion Time Systems (PMTS). To address reservations about the time prediction accuracy of PMTS, we developed a new time prediction model that takes the influence of the handled mass into consideration. Our model and optimisation process were evaluated by using a case study of a box conveying workplace design. The time prediction model results did indeed agree with the real mass handling behaviour. Three design approaches (objective functions) were compared: considering only production, only ergonomics and both production and ergonomics. Each approach resulted in a different optimal solution.

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Improvement of Work Methods in Tomato Greenhouses Using Simulation

Cited by 29 publications

References 0 publications

Economic Sustainability of Italian Greenhouse Cherry Tomato

Economic Sustainability of Italian Greenhouse Cherry Tomato

Hybrid modeling for vineyard harvesting operations

Automated Simulation-Based Workplace Design that Considers Ergonomics and Productivity

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