Discrete event simulation model for the harvest cycle of silage corn

The harvest of silage corn in dairy feed centers can be considered a system characterized for possessing a big complexity from the logistical point of view. A great number of processes are done at the same time (several self-propelled forage harvesters, with a variable number of trucks that transport the forage to the silo, where several vehicles are extending and packing the forage). Derived of this complexity it is necessary the use of decision support systems (DSS) that allow obtaining an approximation of the optimum combination of vehicles to use, in order to guarantee the lowest global cost of the system. The simulation has showed the utility of the analysis of systems in the prediction of the global costs of the process, as well as in the optimum dimensioning of the teams that allow to minimize the dead times of the process. The use of software for modeling graphics events, based on discrete event simulation (systems in which the changes occur in concrete instants) will allow to analyze the performance of the system when we modify any of the variables of state (number of available trucks, capacity of the trucks, number of vehicles compacting the silo, number of SP forage harvesters, effective field capacity of SP forage harvesters, ..). Previously it is necessary to model each one of the processes, obtaining information in field that allows characterizing the operations. In this work the different processes performed in the harvest of silage corn have been modeled (considering different types of SP forage harvesters, different field capacities of the silo packers and variable number of vehicles of transport). The performance of the system was simulated by discrete events. The aim of this work was to improve the efficiency of the harvest cycle, by determining the optimum combination of the resources to be used.