BEAVERTON, Ore. (News release) -- Gurobi Optimization, LLC, the leader in decision intelligence technology, is helping Suzano, the world's largest pulp producer, optimize their supply chain logistics and further their commitment to sustainability.
"I believe optimization plays a major role in our planning processes," said Bruno Scalia, Senior Data Scientist at Suzano. "We start with a very strategic view, and then our solutions unfold to more tactical or operational databases to not only optimize, but to guarantee reliable results and mitigate risks due to inconsistencies in operational data."
Shipping routes, transportation contracts, and capacity limits are just some of the many constraints and objectives that Suzano must consider when planning out their supply chain logistics.
The company's Sales and Operations planning team uses those constraints to formulate a multi-objective, mixed-integer linear programming model, which they refer to as "SnOPy" (Sales & Operations Planning in Python). Suzano has also deployed an operational model named "Tangram," and plans to implement a tactical model, "Compass." These models focus on shorter-term, one to three-month plans under distinct granularity planning levels.
By running their optimization models on Gurobi, Suzano has identified roughly R$76 million in new opportunities based on flexible scenarios and reduced their time spent on data handling by 60%. In addition, with optimized shipping routes, Suzano has been able to lower their fuel consumption, and consequently, their emissions.
"Sustainability and profitability are often seen as competing objectives--but Suzano has proven that it is possible to achieve both simultaneously through robust supply chain optimization. We're very proud to be their solver of choice," said Duke Perrucci, CEO of Gurobi.
According to Scalia, "With more efficient operations, we're able to provide more competitive prices, better products, and better customer service. In operational planning, we've reduced the time needed to create consistent plans from eight hours to something between 20 minutes and one hour. Although the exact financial impact is still being measured, we expect improvements in vessel demurrage, production, and operational costs."
To learn more about how Suzano uses mathematical optimization powered by Gurobi to support their sustainability goals while maximizing profitability, read the full Suzano case study.
