Labor Utilization Research Articles

Estimation of bovine equalizing units in India: A regional perspective

Study was conducted to formulate region specific standard animal units (SAUs) more comprehensively by considering labour utilization as well as size of animals. Both primary as well as secondary data were used in the study. Primary data were collected from 2,700 households from 18 districts of nine states. Conversion coefficients were formulated by aggregating coefficients of bodyweight and labour utilization and giving appropriate weights based on the experts’ opinion. We found that the dairy farmers devoted majority of their time on care and maintenance of milch animals in the herd. Heifers got almost equal or even more priority in care and maintenance than the adult male bovines. The intensity of labour utilization in crossbred cow as compared to local adult female was higher. The overall conversion coefficients were higher for crossbred cow. The estimated regional coefficients will be helpful in estimation of costs and returns in not only in dairying but also in other livestock production. Besides the overall SAU, the separate estimation of SAU based on bodyweight and labour utilization pattern will serve the purpose of both social as well as biological research studies, particularly for studies carrying capacity, housing management and overall farm planning.

Relationship between the profile characteristics of homestead vegetable growers with the extent of knowledge and rate of adoption

The productivity from homesteads may vary based on the effective adoption process, which can only be achieved if farmers had sufficient awareness and knowledge on different cultivation practices.The scale of knowledge and rate of adoption of various vegetable production practices may vary from person to person.Their personal characteristic has a significant role on the acceptance and adoption of a practice. Hence, the present study was conducted in the randomly selected 120 homesteads in Kollam district to understand the relationship between the profile characteristics of homestead vegetable growers with their extent of knowledge and rate of adoption of vegetable production practices. This will help the extension workers and policy makers to formulate new policies based on their profile characteristics. From the analysis conducted it was found that among the selected independent variables education and economic motivation were positively and significantly correlated to scale of knowledge at 5 per cent. Whereas the variables, experience in vegetable cultivation, extension agency contact, information seeking behaviour, social participation and training were positively and significantly correlated to scale of knowledge at 1 per cent level of significance.Among independent variables of occupational status, economic motivation, family labour utilization were positively and significantly correlated to extent of adoption at 5 per cent. Whereas the variables experience in vegetable cultivation, extension agency contact, information seeking behaviour, social participation, and training were significantly correlated to extent of adoption at 1 per cent.

Case Article—Agile Auto Sub Assemblies: Challenges in Managing Growth, Resource Productivity, and Demand Variability

The key objective of the case study is to help students understand the nuances of assembly line design without having to manage a huge problem context. The case study provides a platform for an engaging discussion on assembly line balancing and related concepts. The case is developed in a setting of an auto subassembly manufacturer that currently operates two lines. The management is confronted with a situation in which the production requirements are increased. The management needs to decide between hiring additional workers, reconfiguring the assembly lines, or both to meet the new demand. The production manager suggests a simple linear allocation of resources based on demand. Its validity and various other options are investigated to manage the projected volume. The following considerations are used to evaluate each option: capacity utilization, labor utilization and flexibility of operations, cost of overtime, cost of new recruitment, and inventory. As an extension, we also discuss the trade-offs involved in level-production strategy and a market-driven strategy when the demand profile is variable.

DISTRIBUTION AND PRODUCTIVITY OF LABOR ON AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS: EMPIRICAL STUDIES AT CHILI FARMING

Chili is classified as a commodity with high economic value and intensive labor absorption. The needs of farmworkerswere usuallygiven from labor in the household and labor outside the household of farmers by different distributions. The research aims to measure the utilization and distribution of labor in the cultivation of chili,determine the factors affecting the working time allocation of the labor in chili cultivation, and measure the feasibility of chili-based on labor productivity. This research was conducted in the Pakem District in Sleman D.I. Yogyakarta. The number of respondents selected in this study was 60 farmers. Thedesign of the study is descriptive analysis, use the Cobb-Douglas analysis functions and the analysis of the labor productivity index. The results showed that the allocation of working time on the farm was 49.70 HKP. Land factors and real wages are positively influential, while the education factor negatively affects the time of labor in the household. Chili cultivated in the Pakem District is feasible based on the productivity index. The Labor productivity index value is 2.81.

An Economic Analysis of the Costs Associated with Pre-Weaning Management Strategies for Dairy Heifers.

Simple SummaryRearing of replacement female calves on a dairy farm is of critical importance to maintain herd sizes, improve the genetic quality of the herd, and remain economically sustainable. A 2-year investment period is needed for replacement female heifers to grow before entering the milking herd. The management of replacements over this 2-year period can vary greatly among operations, making it difficult to compare producers’ cost to benchmark. The objective of this project was to develop a model to calculate the cost of rearing a replacement heifer from birth to weaning under different housing, milk source, allotments, and labor and health management decisions to be used as a dairy farm decision support tool. We calculated the cost for management options with general cost values. We found that the average feed cost represented 46% of the total cost while labor, and fixed and variable costs represented 33%, 9%, and 12%, respectively. The total cost increased as milk allotment increased, but cost per Kg of gain decreased. The ranges in total cost within each management scenario often exceed the difference in cost from one scenario to the next. In conclusion, variable costs have the potential to vary among operations, playing a major role in the total cost of rearing replacements from birth to weaning.Dairy calves are raised in various housing and feeding environments on dairy farms around North America. The objective of this study was to develop a simulation model to calculate the cost of raising replacement dairy heifers using different inputs that reflect different management decisions and evaluate their influence on the total cost. In this simulation, 84 calves were modeled between 0–2 months of age to reflect a 1000 heifer herd. The decisions associated with housing, liquid diet source and allowance, labor utilization, and health were calculated. Costs and biological responses were reflective of published surveys, literature, and market conditions. A 10,000-iteration economic simulation was used for each management scenario using @Risk and PrecisionTree add-ons (Palisade Corporation, Ithaca, NY, USA) to account for variation in pre-weaning mortality rate, weaning age, and disease prevalence. As milk allotment increased, total feed cost increased. Feeding calves a higher allowance of milk resulted in a lower cost per kg of gain. Average feed cost percentage of the total cost was 46% (min, max: 33%, 59%) while labor, and fixed and variable cost represented 33% (20%, 45%), 9% (2%, 12%), and 12% (10%, 14%), respectively. Total pre-weaning costs ranged from $258.56 to $582.98 per calf across all management scenarios and milk allotments.

Manufacturing Process Cost Reduction of Agricultural Machinery Part

Company ABC is an agricultural machinery part manufacturer. Nowadays demand of such parts are substantially increasing. Cost reduction without affecting product quality become a proper way to raise organization profit. Prior study of manufacturing process of part A shows that the processing cost is too high as a result from short tool life, non-value-added movement of tools, high loading and unloading time, improper number of operator which effect the labour utilization and cost. This project mainly focuses on reducing processing cost by rectifying the problem mentioned above. The improvement includes experimenting to locate the appropriate cutting factors resulted in longer tool life. The shape of drill is changed in order to lengthen tool life. Loading and unloading time is decreased by using the new design of clamp. The movement of cutting tool in machining centre is redesigned and lastly man-machine chart is employed to enhance the labour utilization. As a result, the objective of this project is reached. The processing cost of Part A is decreased from 21.78 Baht to 19.55 Baht or 2.23 Baht which is 10.24% and cycle time also shortens. The proper number of operator is now decreased from 3 operators to 2 operators.

Information system design using labor productivity measurement for construction

Labor utilization in construction project is the most critical because it costs 30-50% of the total cost. In many projects, the labors e.g craftman are hired outside the company. Contractors and owners need sufficient information related to those labors whom they will work with. It is necessary for clients understanding each labor productivity performance in order to achieve the project quality. This study aims to provide the infomation needed by designing an information system that can be easily accessed. This is also to support clients for decision making in terms of teamwork project involved. The level of productivity is measured by Labor Utilization Rate (LUR) using three variables: effective working time, contributory working time, and ineffective working time. Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is applied in designing the information system. The finding showed that information system is properly implemented to assist clients in determining workers using productivity calculation. The system can inform the recommended workers by calculating and sorting their level of productivity that support client’s decision making towards construction workers.

TRABALHO INFANTIL E TEORIA DO “U” INVERTIDO: EVIDÊNCIAS PARA O BRASIL

Este artigo investiga o efeito da riqueza familiar sobre o trabalho infantil no Brasil rural. No tocante à metodologia, para captar heterogeneidades na distribuição de horas trabalhadas das crianças e lidar com os problemas de censura e endogeneidade, utiliza-se o estimador censored quantile instrumental cariable (CQIV). Os resultados mostram uma relação negativa entre riqueza, medida pelo tamanho da propriedade de terra, e trabalho infantil no quantil inferior de horas de trabalho, enquanto nos quantis médio e superior, uma relação não linear, corroborando a hipótese do “U” invertido. Destaca-se que o turning point é maior no quantil superior, no qual as famílias têm menor nível de altruísmo. De forma geral, os principais achados deste estudo apontam as preferências dos pais como principal determinante do trabalho infantil.

A Spatial Analysis of Child Labour Utilization in the Tourism Industry of the Eastern Tourism Region of Sri Lanka: Issues and Challenges

Tourism is the world’s leading and fastest growing industry which generates many positive impacts on the destinations. It is also considered as a root cause of generating different socio-cultural problems. Employing of child labor in different tourism related activities is a prominent issue and it has now become a common jeopardy and a public debate, especially among social scientists. Therefore, an incessant attention has been given to study the different facets of this issue. This background is common in the Sri Lankan tourism industry too. The main objective of this research was to study the issues and challenges of utilizing child labor in the tourism industry of the Eastern Tourism Region of Sri Lanka. After a preliminary survey, Ampara, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts were selected as the study area. The judgment and purposive sampling methods were used to select the sample and the total sample of this research was 190, which comprised of 140 child workers and 50 tourism related establishments. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to collect data. The data was analyzed applying qualitative and quantitative analytical methods. The overall findings of the study are discussed under several sub headings including the overall nature of the child labour utilization with main facets such as the existing nature and types of work, the place of work, salaries and wages, different problems faced by child workers and the existing issues and challenges. As per the general findings of the research the child workers of the study area have been employed in both formal and informal sectors of the tourism industry. The issues related to child labour utilization are in two main forms viz. the different issues and challenges faced by child labourers and the business community of the study area.

Technical Efficiency of the Pineapple Smallholders at Johor: Data Envelopment Analysis

Background: Johor is the main pineapple producer in Malaysia. However, this state is still facing the issue of low productivity where the productivity level is 24 Mt/ha compared to the national target which is at 40 Mt/ha (MPIB, 2015). The low productivity is caused by the existence of inefficient smallholders operating below the economics of scale. Objective: Thus, there is an urgent need to study the productivity status by investigating their technical efficiency levels. The data collected from 88 respondents were analyzed using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), focusing on Variable Return to Scale (VRS) with the assumption of output-oriented. Results: The findings suggested that smallholders are inefficient with VRS Technical Efficiency (TE) score ranging from 0.50 to 1.00. Variables that are affecting the smallholder’s technical efficiency are age, education level, land size, labor utilization, seeds density, chemical application and fertilizer while the farming experience had a negative effect on the technical efficiency. Conclusion: These findings could be used as a baseline data by the relevant parties or agencies involve in improving the pineapple farmers’ productivity and technical efficiency.

Time-consistent consumption taxation

We characterise optimal tax policies when the government has access to consumption taxation and cannot credibly commit to future policies. We consider a neoclassical economy where factor income taxation is distortionary within the period, due to endogenous labour and capital utilisation and non-tax-deductibility of depreciation. Contrary to the case where only labour and capital income are taxed, the optimal time-consistent policies with consumption taxation are remarkably similar to their Ramsey counterparts. The welfare gains from commitment are negligible, while they are substantial without consumption taxation. Further, the welfare gains from taxing consumption are much higher without commitment.

Analysis of family labour utilization in the production of selected crops in dry-lands: evidence from Kahutu, Katsina State, Nigeria

Employment on family farms plays an important socio-economic role in dry-land agrarian economies. Given the cropping system, information on the utilization of family farm labour in various crop production activities is an important first step in suggesting measures that could improve its use-efficiency. Guided by a conceptual framework for the analysis of factors influencing the management decision of family farm labour, this paper presents empirical evidence on the utilization of family farm labour in various crop production activities. The analysis is based on survey data collected in 2013 from a sample of 118 farm households that were systematically selected from a population of 5290 households in Kahutu village, Katsina State, Nigeria. Descriptive statistical method using bar charts show that family farm labour utilization measured in average man-days per hectare is highest in May (for maize production), June (for rice production) and July (for sorghum production). On the other hand, the months of June (for maize production), August (for sorghum production) and April (for rice production) have the least family farm labour use. Moreover, weeding requires the highest average man-days per hectare in the cultivation of maize (> 8) and sorghum (≈ 10). However, for rice production, land preparation has the highest (≈ 7 man-days). Therefore, ways to mechanize weeding and land preparation for these crops should be explored by government in collaboration with key stakeholdersKeywords: Crop Production Tasks, Family Farm Labour, Dry-lands

Relationship Between Dairy Cattle Farming Motivation and Farmer’s Attitude Towards Portable Milking Machine

The research was a case study for dairy cattle farmers being the members of Sarono Makmur Cooperative at Cangkringan District, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta. The objectives of the research were (1) to explore dairy cattle farming motivation based on multidimensional approach, and (2) to analyze the relationship between the dimensions of dairy cattle farming motivation and the attitude of farmers towards the using of portable milking machine. 63 dairy cattle farmers, selected by purposive random sampling, participated in the research. Data were collected using survey method by interviewing the farmers based on the questionnaire already prepared. Spearman correlation was used to analyze the data. The results showed that most of farmers had high dairy cattle farming motivation including ease of farming management (95.24%), family labor utilization (93.65%), economic motives(92.06%),safety motives (92.06%), and land utilization (84.13%). As well as the attitudes, most of farmers (92.06%) had positive attitudes towards portable milking machine utilization. There were positive significant relationship between attitude and family labor utilization (P<0.05), safety in farming (P<0.05), economic motives (P<0.10), and land utilization (P<0.10). The conclusion of the research was that the high motives of family labor utilization, safety, economic, and land utilization to encourage the farmers raising dairy cattle, the high positive attitude of farmers towards the utilization of portable milking machine.

Performance analysis of log yards using data envelopment analysis

ABSTRACTLog yards are an important component of the forest value chain. Yet, the performance of log yards, which are a specific case of warehouses, has not been thoroughly studied. The aim of this paper was to investigate log yard efficiency, explore the relationship between efficiency and operational conditions, and identify management practices that lead to best/worst performance. A benchmarking analysis of technical efficiency of 38 log yards in Quebec, Canada, was conducted by means of a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach. Three input factors (area, equipment, labor), and one output factor (annual volume), were considered in an input-oriented model. Technical efficiency scores were analyzed using a complexity factor that expressed the combined influence of seasonality, shape, and number and sort to be handled. The average technical efficiency of log yards is 61%, and 81%, when assuming constant and variable returns to scale respectively. Inefficient log yards operate under increasing returns to scale and the source of inefficiency is both technical (inefficient transformation of inputs into output) and managerial (inadequate scale of operations). The results suggest possible median reduction in input consumption of 17%, 20%, and 14%, respectively for area, equipment and labor utilization. Log yard technical inefficiency is mainly due to an inadequate utilization of area and moving equipment.

The Relationship Between Nursing Workload, Quality of Care, and Nursing Payment in Intensive Care Units.

ABSTRACTBackground:Nursing workload is highly associated with patient safety. It has been argued that the imbalance between nursing payment and nursing workload in Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI)-covered intensive care units (ICUs) has resulted in the inadequate allocation of nursing manpower. However, limited empirical data are currently available to support this argument.Purpose:The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between nursing workload, quality of care, and NHI-covered nursing payments in ICU settings.Methods:This macrodata analysis study retrieved data from the existing ICU patient classification system, nursing quality monitoring system, and infection control monitoring system of a medical center in central Taiwan. Data on the Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System-28 (TISS-28) and non-TISS-28 scores, nursing hours, and nursing labor utilization rate were retrieved for the 23-month period beginning in January 2013 and ending in November 2014. The indices of care quality used in this study included incidence of falls, pressure sore density, incidence of restraint use, incidence of tube self-extraction, and infection density.Results:A total of 92,442 data sets were collected from eight ICUs, with 61% of the direct ICU nursing hours categorized as TISS-28 and 39% categorized as non-TISS-28. Mean nursing hours totaled 12.5 hours. The direct nursing hours, the total nursing hours, the bed occupancy rate, the nursing hours calculated by patient classification system, and the nursing hours calculated by nurse–patient ratio were statistically, significantly correlated respectively with all of the care quality indices except for incidence of falls. The number of items of patient care in the patient classification records was greater than that of NHI-covered nursing payments. The NHI-covered nursing payment for every patient accounted for only 4.77% of the total medical expenses in the ICU.Conclusions/Implications for Practice:Data from the patient classification database, quality monitoring database, and medical cost database indicate excessive nursing workload and underpayment from the Taiwan NHI program. Current nursing workload was significantly associated with care quality. This study provides empirical data for administrators to consider when revising nursing staffing and NHI payment policies.

Pond dyke utilization: An innovative means for enhancing productivity and income under Integrated Farming System in North East Hill Region of India

Integrated farming system (IFS) is a sustainable and effective means for improving rural economy due to its cumulative cost effectiveness, low investment and higher profitability. IFS has greater role for livelihood improvement in north eastern region (NER) of India where most of the farmers are small and marginal. Farm pond for multiple uses is the integral part of IFS system in the region. In a typical farm pond, about 40-60% area is given to dyke, which is generally very productive area due to water and organic matter availability in the vicinity. In-spite of its high production potential, pond dykes are seldom effectively utilized. Fish pond dyke intensification with crops and poultry an play a significant role in increasing manifold production, income, nutrition and employment opportunities of rural populations. In present study, three different components like fish, poultry and sequential vegetables production were employed in at ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya (980 amsl). The results indicated that in integrated pond management, two additional enterprises, viz. poultry and year round vegetable cultivation exhibited production and income enhanced over traditional practice. Integration of fish-poultry and year roundvegetable production recorded 750% higher system production efficiency and 858.6% higher average profitability over the traditional practice. Furthermore, pond dyke intensification and poultry production also recorded 600% higher employment generation over non-integration. The utilization of family labour round the year in pond based integrated production system increases the production as well as employment opportunities for income generation. The overall results revealed that the integrated pond management with poultry, fish and vegetables on pond dyke is an excellent approach for sustainable production as well as income and employment generation for the resourcepoor rural households.

Effect of Lopping on Lodging, Productivity and Labor Utilization for Rice Cultivation at Transplanting Aman Season

To study the effect of lopping on lodging, productivity and labor utilization for rice cultivation an experiment was conducted at BRRI Farm, Gazipur during Transplanting Aman in a randomized complete block design (Factorial) with three replications. The experimental treatments were: three lopping Viz. i) Control i.e., no lopping ii) lopping at 30 DAT and iii) lopping at 45 DAT; and two cultivars viz. i) BR 22 and ii) BRRI dhan32. Interaction effect of lopping and variety was not significant. The tallest plant (123 cm) was found in ‘no lopping’ treatment followed by lopping at 30 and 45 DAT. A similar trend was observed in lodging (%) and labor requirement for harvesting of rice. Lopping at 45 DAT produced the highest number of filled grain panicle-1 (117), grain yield (5.9tha-1) and straw yield (6.5tha-1) followed by lopping at 30 DAT and no lopping (control). However, there was no significant effect of lopping on labor requirements for threshing of rice. Therefore, effect of lopping on the yield and yield contributing characters of rice showed that lopping had positive effect on yield and decreasing lodging tendency of the studied variety. It was found that lopping at 45 DAT and 30 DAT could increase the rice yield. BR22 and BRRI dhan32 had statistically similar effect on lodging tendency.

PENGEMBANGAN SISTEM MANAJEMEN MUTU SEBAGAI ALAT KONTROL PRODUKTIVITAS KINERJA PEKERJA STRUKTUR BERBASIS INEFFECTIVE WORK (STUDI KASUS : PROYEK PADINA SOHO & RESIDENCE)

This study aims to analyze the productivity of structural workers in the Padina Soho & Residence Project and make the Quality Management System based on ineffective work as a tool to control the productivity of structural workers' performance. Data collection techniques are carried out by field observations and interviews. The method used to measure the level of productivity is work sampling. The productivity measure obtained from this analysis is the labor utilization rate (LUR). In this study there are three types of structural work observed, formwork, reinforcement work, and casting work. Furthermore, the development of the Quality Management System is based on ineffective work as a tool to control the productivity of structural workers' performance.

An Implementation Framework to Attain 6R-Based Sustainable Lean Implementation—A Case Study

The concepts of lean manufacturing operations and sustainability are congruent in nature, marked by the facet of improving organizational efficiency. However, only difference lies in the definition of waste. This definition is given a new dimension by sustainability by incorporating the extensive scope of reductions in the environmental consequences in the form of 6R (reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, redesign and remanufacture); which requires a consolidated integrated approach. Therefore, as to affirm the requirement, a systematic literature review has been carried out which scrutinized previous researches in view of their originality, methodology, objectives and limitations. Based on this literature study, 25 most related approaches (lean and sustainable integrated approaches) were selected and their originality was investigated. Investigation revealed that few research articles are integrating lean and sustainable approaches. This study identifies the gap of the integration of lean practices with 6Rs and a framework was developed which implemented on the case study that carries ability to attain 6R based sustainable lean production systems. Because of more social and environmentally friendly atmosphere achieved through 6R based implementation, the results achieved are 50% decrease in heating cost by redesigning furnaces (from oil furnaces to gas furnaces), 36.33% improvement in value added time, 40.14% in lead-time and 22% reduction in labour utilization. This improvement indicates that use of proposed integrated framework is highly beneficial for any kind of manufacturing sector.

Quality-Assured Synchronized Task Assignment in Crowdsourcing

With the rapid development of crowdsourcing platforms that aggregate the intelligence of Internet workers, crowdsourcing has been widely utilized to address problems that require human cognitive abilities. Considering great dynamics of worker arrival and departure, it is of vital importance to design a task assignment scheme to adaptively select the most beneficial tasks for the available workers. In this paper, in order to make the most efficient utilization of the worker labor and balance the accuracy of answers and the overall latency, we a) develop a parameter estimation model that assists in estimating worker expertise, question easiness, and answer confidence; b) propose a quality-assured synchronized task assignment scheme that executes in batches and maximizes the number of potentially completed questions (MCQ) within each batch. We prove that MCQ problem is NP-hard and present two greedy approximation solutions to address the problem. The effectiveness and efficiency of the approximation solutions are further evaluated through extensive experiments on synthetic and real datasets. The experimental results show that the accuracy and the overall latency of the MCQ approaches outperform the existing online task assignment algorithms in the synchronized task assignment scenario.