Timber transportation planning using bees algorithm

Abstract Timber transportation planning is among the costliest activities in forest operation. Traditionally, the goal of timber transportation planning adopted to determine feasible way to extract high timber volume from the stump site to the final destination. However, modern transportation problems are not driven by the productivity of timber itself, but also by the efficiency of forest operation. This efficiency considerations and requirements introduce a new technique in timber extraction called log fisher as a complement to common technique, cable skidder. Nevertheless, side constraints within timber transportation planning may arise when two timber extraction techniques applied, complicates to and from several problems more extensive and more complex. While cable skidders affixed only on gentle slopes, log fishers possibly applicable regardless of slope conditions. Proper evaluation required to justify decisions since the use of these two techniques in the right places will result in efficient timber transportation planning. In the present study, a new problem-solving approach using Bees Algorithm (BA) was developed. BA can provide transportation planner with a large and complex transportation planning problem solving while complying with the forest road guidelines as required by the Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia. Herein, timber extraction technique is considered the least-cost in the main objective function for an efficient timber transportation planning and limitation of machinery to extract timber as constraints. Preliminary results show that this problem solving is promising for timber transportation planning problems with side constraints. A description of the algorithm development and its search process presented within this study.