The development of the refrigerated-container loading problem model for perishable fishery products considering internal temperature distribution

Abstract

The paper aims to develop a refrigerated-container loading problem (R-CLP) model for perishable fishery products in a cold chain. The novelty of this study is to enhance the models and algorithms of CLP to deal with two different temperatures in reefers: those of cargoes and those of containers. This research considers synchronising the required optimum temperature of products and the internal temperature distribution of reefers to minimise the quality deterioration of the products. The objective of the R-CLP is to minimise total loading costs while fulfiling quality requirement of the products. The quality requirement is based on the temperature distribution inside the reefer, which was obtained by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The model includes traditional loading constraints of CLP. Moreover, this research has developed a heuristics algorithm that deals with various types of products, cargo box dimensions and temperature distribution data. A prototype application has been developed to simulate the loading plan visually using an application prototype named REFLOAD. The numerical experiment shows the ability of the model to minimise the quality loss while maintaining the utilisation of the reefer. The R-CLP algorithm can reduce the total loading costs to about 16% compared with those of CLP algorithm.

KEYWORDS:

• Container loading problem
• refrigerated container
• perishable products
• computational fluid dynamics
• fishery products
• quality deterioration

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember.

Notes on contributors

Ahmad Rusdiansyah

Ahmad Rusdiansyah received his BEng in Industrial Engineering from Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, Indonesia in 1992, the MEng in Industrial Engineering from Dalhousie University, Halifax NS, Canada in 1999 and the Dr.Eng in Industrial Engineering and Management from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan in 2005. He also holds CSCP and CLTD certificates of APICS. He is an associate professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. He is the head of the Transportation and Distribution Logistics (TDLog) research group. His research interests include transportation and distribution systems modelling and agri-food supply chain management.

Irza Rachmadiar Adetio

Irza Rachmadiar Adetio received the undergraduate programme in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) Surabaya in 2019. He joined an internship programme in Garuda Indonesia, an Indonesian flag carrier airline. He is currently working in PT. Telkomsel, a leading telecommunication service provider in Indonesia. His research interests are logistics and supply chain management and operations research.

Ratna Sari Dewi

Ratna Sari Dewi received her B.E. degree in Industrial Engineering and M.Tech. Degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Indonesia, in 2003 and 2005, respectively. In 2017, she received her PhD degree in Industrial Management from National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), Taipei, Taiwan. Her PhD research was on Human Factors/Ergonomics. She joined the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Surabaya, Indonesia, in 2008 where she is currently an assistant professor and the Head of Ergonomics and Work System Design Laboratory. Her research interests are Human–Computer Interaction, Work System Design, Occupational Health and System Safety and Virtual Reality. She is a member of Perhimpunan Ergonomi Indonesia and International Ergonomics Associations.