Food manufacturing & economies of scale: a modelling approach

Liliana Angeles-Martinez, Constantinos Theodoropoulos, Estefania Lopez-Quiroga, Peter J. Fryer, Serafim Bakalis

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Since the industrial revolution, the economies of scale have been widely exploited in the food production. A centralised production reduces the manufacturing cost, however the transport costs and the CO2 emissions of process and distribution systems can increase. In this paper, we explore several scenarios that could affect the optimum food supply chain configuration. For this purpose, we propose a novel framework, we call the Honeycomb model, that integrates the techno-economic analysis and environmental impact for the design of an optimum configuration (processing plant capacities, location of the facilities, suppliers, etc.). We use the production of tomato paste as an illustrative case study. The results highlight the importance of the carbon footprint of the raw materials on the predicted configuration for agro-based products. In some cases, the CO2 emissions associated with the agricultural activities far exceed the CO2 from the transportation, turning the food miles an unreliable metric of sustainability.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication27th European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering
EditorsAntonio Espuña, Moisès Graells, Luis Puigjaner
PublisherElsevier
Pages913-918
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9780444639707
ISBN (Print)9780444639653
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Sept 2017
Event27th European Symposium on Computer-Aided Process Engineering - Barcelona, Spain
Duration: 1 Oct 20175 Oct 2017

Publication series

NameComputer Aided Chemical Engineering
Volume40
ISSN (Print)1570-7946

Conference

Conference27th European Symposium on Computer-Aided Process Engineering
Abbreviated titleESCAPE-27
Country/TerritorySpain
CityBarcelona
Period1/10/175/10/17

Keywords

  • distributed/centralised manufacturing
  • optimisation
  • supply chain

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Chemical Engineering(all)
  • Computer Science Applications

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