Sugarcane harvesting has undergone a profound transformation over the last 20 years: the transition from manually harvested burnt cane to mechanically harvested unburned cane, also called raw cane, increasing from 20% in 2000 to almost 100% currently. The sugarcane harvest during this period has also been extended due to the larger quantity of cane to be harvested, taking place during periods with more critical weather. In the 1990s, the harvest typically began in May and extended until the end of October, while nowadays it is common to find mills with harvests between March and December.
Associated with this, in the late 2000s, there was an expansion of sugarcane cultivation into regions without a sugarcane tradition, typically pasture or grain production areas, leading to a high demand for labor to operate agricultural equipment; labor that lacked the necessary experience and qualifications.
When we think about sugarcane harvesting, we are actually talking about a sequence of operations, encompassing the harvesting itself, transshipment (the internal transport of the sugarcane), and road transport, and for this reason, it is called CTT (Cost of Transshipment). In the last harvest, according to Pecege (2018), the cost of CTT in the Central-South region of Brazil ranged between R$ 26,00 and R$ 42,00 per ton, with an average value of R$ 33,00 per ton. This value represents 46% of the total operational cost, considering an average value of R$ 72,00 per ton. The variation in the total operational cost in this study was between R$ 59,00 and R$ 94,00 per ton.
The harvester performs at least 11 processes during cutting, which demonstrates the importance and complexity of harvesting and transshipment/transport operations in the sugarcane industry. Furthermore, we must consider meeting the harvest schedule established by the mill as the greatest challenge in the harvest logistics process (CCT – Cutting, Loading, and Transport), maintaining a continuous and stable supply of sugarcane for milling. This supply, which can be considered a just-in-time operation, should aim for low downtime of agricultural equipment and high-quality harvesting.
More efficient machine management begins with organizing machines and equipment at harvesting fronts to meet best operational and safety practices, and with developing well-defined processes and protocols that should be disseminated among the operational team. The main points to be considered during harvesting, which significantly affect it, are: raw material with low levels of mineral and vegetable impurities; minimized cane losses; controlled traffic over the productive area, avoiding trampling and, consequently, productivity losses in subsequent harvests; average density of transported loads and effective field capacity of the machine, which identifies the logistical efficiency of the CCT system.
Achieving a harvest that meets the quality standards mentioned above begins with proper land preparation and crop planting. Improper planting can cause damage until the stubble is removed, on average after five harvests.
The next step is defining the parameters to be monitored during operation, which are: cane topping, billet size (ideally around 18cm), rotation of the primary/secondary extractors according to the conditions of the cane field, positioning of the deflector plate, harvester speed (crop and terrain conditions directly influence the harvester's travel speed), suitability of the equipment (base cutting knives, cutting discs, floating plates and guides, new and synchronized chopping blades, elevator length, flap movement), operational synchronization between the equipment, engine/elevator ratio, load transfer sequence, among others.
This monitoring can be done qualitatively or quantitatively, using metrics defined by the organization.
In addition to careful operation, attention must be paid to equipment through preventive maintenance. This care ensures that machines, especially harvesters, achieve maximum performance. Therefore, we must always consider that everything related to CCT (Centralized Control and Traction) is valuable and should be optimized.
Examples of factors that impact and affect the value of the operation include each sugarcane stalk that fails to reach the mill; oil leaks in equipment; fuel consumed beyond what is necessary (idle engine or irregular acceleration); parts that are out of specification or misused; unproductive equipment downtime, added to each absence of team members from their daily duties; and the use of incorrect techniques, among others. These are extremely important values in the raw material transformation process and cannot be wasted.
In this context of optimizing the CCT process, the Lean methodology emerges as a powerful tool to avoid waste and provide continuous improvement. The methodology was developed by Toyota in the late 1980s with the goal of reducing waste of resources (time, materials, labor, and others), and thus eliminating everything that does not add value to the product, through the implementation of a more simplified process flow.
The main benefits include: synchronized production stages, improved production quality, elimination of most defects, reduced operational costs, shorter production cycles, and enhanced productivity.
There are several tools that make up the Lean methodology and that can be implemented in the management of mechanized operations, especially harvesting; however, we will only mention two: 5S, which consists of organizing the workplace to make it cleaner, more functional, and safer, and value stream mapping.
The 5S concept brings with it a way of thinking to better organize and manage the work environment. It is formed by five Japanese words that begin with S: Seiri – Sense of utilization, Seiton – Sense of organization, Seiso – Sense of cleanliness, Seiketsu – Sense of standardization, and Shitsuke – Sense of discipline.
Its use brings about cultural changes and helps eliminate the seven wastes defined by the Lean manufacturing system, which are: defects, overproduction, waiting, transportation, movement, improper processing, and inventory.
Another very important tool is value stream mapping, from the beginning to the end of the production process. This maps the flows of material and information, as well as the time required for their execution, and is an excellent starting point for adopting the Lean methodology.
Therefore, it is clear that introducing methodologies such as Lean to sugarcane harvesting processes can lead to potential reductions in operational costs for mills, improving their competitiveness in a commodities market.
The processes that a chopped sugarcane harvester must perform to harvest the sugarcane in 11 different stages.
*Per Marcelo Pierossi (Lidera Consulting and Projects) and Douglas Rocha (Specialist Consultant in Mechanization)
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