Optimal selection of whey processing facilities and technology

Abstract

A large proportion of cheese makers in many countries is made up of small enterprises that use less than 25,000 litres of milk per day. Currently, whey, a by-product of cheese making, goes mostly to waste as a highly contaminating effluent or to animal feed because small manufacturers do not have the capacity to preserve it to consistent quality levels. The optimisation model we present aims at achieving better whey utilisation by selecting a processing site from a cluster of cheese makers, suggesting transportation routes, and selecting among a number of technological alternatives for developing products from underutilised whey. The backbone of the model is a network design/facility location problem, with additional constraints that enable optimal technology selection for whey processing at the selected sites. We present preliminary results for a cluster of Victorian cheese makers to prove the feasibility of the approach. The model will economically assess the feasibility of developing distribution chains of underutilised whey in selected country regions.