Data-Driven Modeling and Simulation in Forestry and Agricultural Product Transportation Management by Small Businesses: A Case Study

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Referee Report for "Data-driven Modeling and Simulation in Forestry and Agricultural Product Transportation Management by Small Businesses: A Case Study    "
Manuscript ID: data-3640529
Authors: Galina Merkurjeva, Vitalijs Bolsakovs, Jurijs Merkurjevs, Andrejs Romanovs, Wouter Faes

Summary:
The manuscript presents an integrated methodology combining symbolic regression, system dynamics modeling, and discrete-event simulation to optimize transportation management for small businesses in agriculture and forestry sectors. 

Recommendation: 

The topic studied in this manuscript is relevant and fits the scope of the journal. The research demonstrates certain strengths, particularly in its experimental work with data from the studied company and the proposed integration of these experiments with simulation-based methods. However, I have several reservations regarding the manuscript, particularly concerning its exposition, contribution, methodology, and numerical analysis. Below, I summarize my main concerns. Given the extent of these issues, I believe the manuscript requires substantial revision.

Comments:

1. Contribution: The contribution of this manuscript in relation to the extant literature remains unclear. The description of the contribution provided in the Introduction lacks sufficient detail, leaving the reader uncertain as to what constitutes the novel aspect of this work. Furthermore, the manuscript fails to offer a critical review of the literature, particularly with regard to the application of various approaches to the addressed decision-making problem.

2. Methodology:
   The methodology presented in this manuscript is notably difficult to comprehend. There is a lack of clarity regarding the interconnections between the individual components of the proposed solution. The authors describe the research methodology as a set of applied methods and tools encompassing web data management, data-driven modeling, system dynamics modeling (SDM), stochastic discrete event simulation, and a multi-user web environment. However, this description is insufficiently articulated and clearly lacks a diagram and a corresponding explanation of the information flow between the proposed models. Furthermore, the authors fail to demonstrate any novelty in the application of these well-established and long-used methods.
   Figures 2 and 3, presented in Section 2, appear, in my view, to be of limited utility, as they do not pertain directly to the methodology or the developed models. Instead, they merely illustrate simulation results and a fragment of the system architecture.

3. Experiments:
   Chapter 3 presents the results of experiments conducted on a real-world case study. The authors provide analyses and comparisons of collaboration scenarios in the transportation of agricultural and forestry products by a small logistics company. Unfortunately, the description of the data structure used in the experiments is limited and lacks clarity. The chapter offers only a cursory overview of the data analysis and the seasonal demand patterns for transport services in the examined cases. A statistical analysis of the data is missing, and the sole inclusion of histograms is insufficient for a rigorous assessment of the observed effects.

   Subsection 3.3 discusses the application of symbolic regression for data modeling; however, it lacks a clear presentation of the resulting models, as well as a thorough analysis of the regression outcomes and model validation. Similarly, Section 3.4 requires substantial improvement. The authors provide only a high-level description of the system dynamics model, without a detailed discussion of either the model's structure or the simulation results.

4. Other shortcomings of the numerical study include the following:

   • The quality of the graphical material requires improvement—several figures are difficult to interpret; for instance, Figure 10 is completely blurred and lacks clarity.

   • The discussion of the results is limited to a brief summary of the work carried out; there is no substantive synthesis of the simulation experiments, nor any discussion of their practical implications.

   • The comparison of the three scenarios presented in the manuscript is insufficient and requires significant enhancement.

   • The manuscript does not provide any information on how the developed models were validated.

I hope that these comments will be helpful in improving the manuscript, and I encourage the authors to revise the manuscript accordingly and submit an improved version that addresses the issues raised.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer, Thank you very much for taking the time to review our manuscript. Please find the detailed responses in the file attached as well as the corresponding revisions/corrections that are highlighted in the resubmitted file ‘data-3640529 V2 with highlighted corrections’ in red. On behalf of the authors, Prof. Galina Merkurjeva (Merkuryeva)

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This study develops data-driven modeling and simulation for small agri-forestry transport firms, demonstrating cross-sector collaboration improves resource efficiency and vehicle utilization through case analysis.The article has a clear structure and detailed content, but there is still room for improvement in some aspects.The following are the detailed review comments on the article:

1. The integration of symbolic regression with system dynamics and discrete-event simulation is innovative. However, the case study lacks clarity on data sample size and generalizability to non-Baltic regions. Further validation with diverse datasets is recommended.

2. The methodological framework is robust, but the validation metrics for symbolic regression are insufficiently contextualized. How do seasonal uncertainties impact model accuracy? Additional sensitivity analysis would strengthen the conclusions.

3. Practical implications for SMEs are compelling, yet the paper overlooks implementation challenges. A cost-benefit analysis of cross-sector collaboration tools and scalability insights for micro-enterprises would enhance real-world relevance.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you very much for taking the time to review our manuscript. Please find the detailed responses in the file attached as well as the corresponding revisions/corrections that are highlighted in the resubmitted file ‘data-3640529 V2 with highlighted corrections’ in red.

On behalf of the authors,

Prof. Galina Merkurjeva (Merkuryeva)

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

All the comments are worked out by the authors. And this edition of manuscript is appropriate for publishing.