Coordinated Integration of Agricultural and Industrial Processes: a Case Study of Sugarcane-Derived Production

Abstract

The coordinated integration of agricultural and industrial processes in plant-derived production can offer a solution toward sustainability. However, it is hard for general practitioners to realize the coordinated integration of these processes just based on the precedent fact. A special form clarifying the functions of the required activities should be shared among the practitioners for deliberate system design. In this study, a function model for coordinated integration was developed using the type-zero language of integrated definition for object-oriented design. Inputs, outputs, controls, and mechanisms for the required activities and the relationship between them were analyzed through modeling, after which the model was verified based on actual historical facts in the Japanese cane sugar industry. Finally, as a case study from a different industry, the applicability and limitation of the function model in the palm oil industry are discussed. Although the validity of the model should be confirmed through accumulating future case studies, the structure of the function model should be common to industrial crop-derived productions.