System Engineering and Productivity

System Engineering and Productivity

Resilient Wheat Supply Chain Design Considering Circular Economy Principles

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Kiyarash Noushi 1
Fatemeh Sabouhi 2
1 M.Sc. Student, School of Industrial Engineering College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 Corresponding author: Assistant Professor, School of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/sep.2026.2079220.1441
Abstract
Wheat is a key element of national food security, providing a major share of the calories and protein required by the population and therefore playing an important role in public health and livelihoods. Ensuring its consistent production and reliable access is essential for economic stability, food equity, and social resilience. In this regard, this study develops a multi-period, multi-product stochastic optimization model to design a resilient wheat supply chain under disruption risks. The supply chain includes suppliers of agricultural inputs (seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers), farms, wheat suppliers, storage silos, processing factories, livestock feed customers, cosmetics and hygiene industries, and flour consumers. To address weather-related disruptions affecting farm output, the model incorporates additional wheat procurement from supplier - considering quantity discounts - as a resilience strategy. Circular economy principles are also considered through selling straw, bran, and damaged grains to cosmetics and hygiene, and livestock feed industries. The objective of the model is to maximize the total profit of the supply chain by determining product flows between different stages, flour production quantities, inventory levels of agricultural inputs, wheat, and flour, supplier selection, and the location and capacity of silos. The model is then applied to a numerical example, and the computational results are presented.

Highlights

  • Developing a two-stage stochastic programming model to design a resilient wheat supply chain. 
  • Mitigating disruption risks through supplemental wheat procurement using quantity discounts.
  • Integrating circular economy principles by selling wheat by-products, including straw, bran, and damaged grains.

Keywords
Wheat supply chain
Resilience
Circular economy
Disruption risks
Stochastic Optimization
Subjects

Copyright © Kiyarash Noushi, Fatemeh Sabouhi

 

License

This article is released under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone is free to copy, share, translate, and adapt this article for any purpose, whether commercial or non-commercial, as long as proper citation is given to the authors and original publication.

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System Engineering and Productivity

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 September 2025

  • Receive Date 21 July 2025
  • Revise Date 23 August 2025
  • Accept Date 11 September 2025
  • First Publish Date 13 September 2025
  • Publish Date 13 September 2025