Optimal distillers distribution planning in an ethanol supply chain

Paper presented to the 4th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex, Wichita State University, April 25, 2008.Research completed at the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, College of EngineeringThe ethanol industry in the United States is expanding rapidly, consequently, the amount of coproducts called distillers feed is also expanding at a rapid rate. These distillers can be fed to cattle because they are excellent source of protein, energy and phosphorus. As they are much cheaper than corn and soybeans, a successful attempt to replace corn and soybeans with distillers feed may provide significant advantages to both ethanol producers and the feedlots. In this paper we propose a supply chain model which minimizes the overall cost of distribution of distillers. We will present a case study on Kansas Ethanol plants