A conceptual framework of a decision support system for operational dispatching of agricultural bulk goods - an agent-based approach

Abstract

Transportation planning may imply versatile and complex decision problems. The most distinctive feature of agricultural transportation planning is: a dynamic and rapid transaction of harvesting processes. During the harvesting process various actors such as farmers, contractors, agricultural traders, transportation companies and processing industries have to collaborate. This contribution presents a conceptual framework of a decision support approach for operational dispatching and its implementation based upon a multi-agent system (MAS). This agent-based approach enables users to conflate dispersed structure information, apply optimization techniques and provide a goal-oriented planning and transaction of transportation. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.