Production Inefficiency Research Articles

Effect of degassing on scaling in hypersaline system: Tuzla geothermal field, Turkey

A serious issue with geothermal power plants is the loss of production and decline in power plant efficiency. Scaling, also known as mineral precipitation, is one of the frequently-observed issue that causes this loss and decreasing efficiency. It is heavily observed in the production wells when the geothermal fluid rises from the depths due to a change in the fluid’s physical and chemical properties. Scaling issue in geothermal power plants result in significant output losses and lower plant effectiveness. In rare instances, it might even result in the power plant being shut down. The chemistry of the geothermal fluid, non-condensable gases, pH, temperature and pressure changes in the process from production to reinjection, power plant type and design, and sometimes the materials used can also play an active role in the scaling that will occur in a geothermal system. ICP–MS was used to evaluate the chemical properties of the fluids. On the other hand, XRD, XRF and SEM were used to investigate the chemical and mineralogical compositions of the scale samples in analytical methods. For the numerical approach, PhreeqC and GWELL codes were used to follow the chemical reactivity of the geothermal fluid in Tuzla production well. The novelty of this study is to determine potential degassing point and to characterize the mineralogical assemblage formed in the well because of the fluid composition, temperature and pressure variations. During production, geothermal fluids degas in the wellbore. This causes a drastic modification of the chemistry of the Tuzla fluids. This is why it is focused the calculations on the nature of the minerals that are able to precipitate inside the well. According to simulation results, the degassing point is estimated to be about 105 m depth, consistent with the field observations. If a small quantity of precipitated minerals is predicted before the boiling point, degassing significantly changes the fluid chemistry, and the model predicts the deposition of calcite along with smaller elements including galena, barite, and quartz. The simulation results are consistent with the mineral composition of scaling collected in the well.

Effect of foreign direct investment on income inequality in Ghana

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on income inequality in Ghana, by examining the effect of FDI flow, FDI stock and FDI per capita on income inequality in Ghana. The study adopted the quantitative and descriptive research design to analyse annual time series data on the dependent and independent variables spanning twenty-seven (27) years from 1996 to 2022. The ordinary least square and seemingly unrelated regression techniques were used for data analysis. The study revealed that FDI flow, FDI stock and FDI per capita had a statistically significant positive effect on income inequality. The study thus recommended that the government of Ghana should intensify its efforts to carefully develop and implement progressive and attractive policies that can induce more investment from foreign multinationals, thereby increasing the stock of external capital inflows that can be channeled into the most value generating sectors of the country to eliminate production inefficiencies and boost domestic output that can increase income inequality. Additionally, the government of Ghana through the appropriate agencies can improve the enforcement of its regulatory policies to ensure that multinational firms and the general activities of foreign investors consistently provide fair and commensurate wages to Ghanaian workers, in order to promote the beneficial effects that FDI has on reducing income inequality in Ghana. MNCs must therefore provide the same value of remuneration for the same level of skills-quality and demand that workers in other economies would receive. This will eliminate wage differentials, transition low-wage earners into higher income status and thus reduce income inequality.

New model to streamline customer order scheduling

The Customer Order Scheduling (COS) problem involves organizing a set of orders, each characterized by a release time, a due date, and a processing time, with the objective of minimizing the costs associated with delivery delays. This study introduces an innovative approach, the Streamline COS, which integrates order scheduling optimization with improved resource utilization and a reduction in production inefficiencies. We present a model aimed at minimizing an objective function that encompasses delay penalties and the optimization of resource usage. Additionally, we introduce an optimized COS algorithm, named SCOS (Streamline COS), designed to find the optimal solution. The efficacy of this approach is validated through experiments with several datasets of varying sizes and instances, demonstrating that the Streamline COS method significantly enhances resource management, reduces delays, and optimizes order scheduling, while offering flexible priority management. This approach provides a practical and effective solution to complex scheduling problems and opens new research avenues, particularly in integrating dynamic constraints and leveraging optimization and machine learning techniques for further performance improvements.

Reducing Agricultural Land Use Through Plant-Based Diets: A Case Study of Romania.

Agricultural systems face increasing global pressure to address sustainability challenges, particularly regarding land use and environmental protection. In Romania, where traditional diets are heavily dependent on animal-based products, optimizing land use is critical. This study investigates the potential of plant-based diets to reduce agricultural land use, examining scenarios of partial and complete replacement of animal protein with plant protein sources (soy, peas, and potatoes). The research modeled three dietary transition scenarios-replacing 33%, 50%, and 100% of animal protein with plant-based protein-using data from the Romanian National Institute of Statistics, the FAO, and international sources. Land use was calculated for each scenario using formulas that take into account protein content and land use intensity for animal and plant protein sources. The simulations quantify the reduction in agricultural land use at the per capita and national levels. The study reveals significant land-saving potential across all scenarios. At the national level, land use reductions ranged from 84,020 hectares (33% replacement) to 1,067,443 hectares (100% replacement). High-impact products such as beef and dairy continue to dominate land use, even in partial replacement scenarios. Conversely, replacing pork and chicken proteins shows substantial savings. The findings highlight the inefficiency of animal-based protein production and the ecological benefits of transitioning to plant-based diets. A dietary shift towards plant-based protein in Romania could achieve significant reductions in agricultural land use, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals. This transition not only supports environmental conservation and resource optimization, but also provides public health benefits by reducing consumption of red and processed meat. These results provide a basis for policies to promote sustainable and nutritionally balanced food systems.

Promoted formation of pyrazines by targeted precursor addition to improve aroma of thermally processed methionine-glucose Amadori compound

The methionine/glucose (Met/Glc) and methionine/glucose-derived Amadori rearrangement product (MG-ARP) models were established to analyze their differences in flavor profiles and aroma potentiality. The principal component analysis revealed the advantage of MG-ARP in the formation of low temperature-induced processing flavor. MG-ARP exhibited superior potential in the rapid formation and high intensity of processed flavor than the Met/Glc except for the inefficiency in pyrazine production. The extra-added Glc tended to react with recovered Met to compete against α-dicarbonyl compounds to suppress the Strecker degradation and pyrazine formation. The additional Met effectively improved the precursor availability and facilitated the conversion of C6-α-dicarbonyl compounds to short-chained α-dicarbonyl compounds for pyrazine formation rather than their dehydration and cyclization to generate furans. The oxidation of Met favored the nonoxidative carbohydrate degradation leading to MGO formation and the aldolization of dihydropyrazines, which synergistically enriched the varieties of pyrazines, especially for the promoted formation of long-chain substituted pyrazines.

Improving Egg Production, Quality and Eggshell Hygiene by Supplementation of Sage (Salvia officinalis) and Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) Essential Oils

ABSTRACT Objective: This study was performed to evaluate the effects of sage (Salvia officinalis) and lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oils (EO) supplementation into drinking water on egg production, quality and eggshell hygiene in laying hens. Material and Methods: A total of 300 Nick Brown laying hens between 30 and 38 of age were used in a completely randomized design in three treatments and ten replicates. The treatments consisted of: control group, sage EO, lavender EO supplementation group. EOs were supplemented into drinking water (0.3 mL/L). Results: A lower value of egg production, egg weight, egg mass and deteriorations in feed efficiency, eggshell breaking strength and thickness were observed in lavender EO group (P

Voluntary sustainability standards and technical efficiency of Honduran smallholder coffee producers

Sustainable coffee production promises to improve production techniques and enhance the socioeconomic conditions of smallholder farmers. Using primary survey data from 659 coffee producers in Honduras, this study assesses the impact of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) on the technical efficiency of smallholder coffee production. The article uses the Stochastic Production Frontier Analysis model to analyze and compare the technical efficiency (TE) of certified and non-certified coffee producers. To provide reliable comparability between groups, the dataset was balanced using Covariate Balancing Propensity Score (CBPS). The results show that the mean technical efficiency was 52.86% for pooled certified farmers and 55.56% for non-certified smallholder coffee producers. Specifically, the technical efficiency of 4C farmers was 51.58%, 53.82% for the Fairtrade group, 60.56% for RA farmers, and 60.15% for the UTZ group, indicating substantial inefficiencies in the coffee production of the different certified groups. Results from Tobit’s model for the determinants of TE indicated that variables such as the age of the household head, access to credit, and training attendance are among the main factors that significantly drive the technical efficiency of certified and non-certified farmers. Based on the findings, enhancing education opportunities, improving infrastructure for better market access and farm management, and expanding credit access are recommended to improve efficiency in the study area. Honduran smallholder coffee producers have considerable potential to increase output with existing technology by improving their technical efficiency. Therefore, stakeholders’ efforts should focus on enhancing efficiency levels and capitalizing on potential gains for both certified and non-certified farmers, to ultimately improve the farmers’ livelihoods.

Enhancing efficiency and economy of hydrogen-based integrated energy system: A green dispatch approach based on exergy analysis

Hydrogen-based integrated energy system holds promise for leveraging the low carbon advantage of hydrogen, but inefficiency of electrolysis hydrogen production leads to significant exergy loss within its operation. Addressing this, this paper focuses on the energy-saving and economic operation of the hydrogen-based integrated energy system, proposes a novel green dispatch approach using loss cost as the objective function and establishes a refined loss cost accounting model based on exergy analysis theory. Firstly, derived from the analogy of exergy loss, the concept and accounting framework of system loss cost are proposed. Secondly, employing exergy analysis and consistent unit exergy cost principle, equipment operation loss cost is calculated through energy, exergy flows analysis and cost allocation. Thirdly, utilizing the total of equipment operation loss cost, wind curtailment penalty cost, and transmission line loss cost as the objective function, a green dispatch model is formulated to minimize overall loss cost while ensuring energy balance and other constraints. Finally, simulations analysis are conducted. The results show that compared to economic dispatch, minimized exergy loss dispatch and multi-objective dispatch methods, proposed approach increases exergy efficiency by 0.54 %, reduces cost by 6.13 % and increases the scale of hydrogen utilization by 3.45 %, respectively.

ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF GROUNDNUT PRODUCTION IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA

The study examined the economic efficiency of groundnut production in Kano State, Nigeria. Using a simple random sampling, two hundred and sixty-seven (267) farmers were selected and interviewed from nine communities, under the three selected LGAs from the study area. Descriptive statistics, DEA, as well as Tobit regression model were used for data analysis. The result of the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) reveals that the farmers were operating below the optimum frontier with average Technical Efficient (TE), Allocative Efficiency (AE) and Economic Efficiency (EE) scores was 0.265, 0.371 and 0.098 respectively, with the GM enterprise having a higher mean TE score of (0.7654). All the inefficiency variables met a prior expectation with positive coefficients except age and level of education. This indicates that increase in age and years of schooling have minimal effect in reducing the farmers’ inefficiency in groundnut production. Four out of the eight fitted inefficiency variables were significant at 10%, while three at 5%, but the extension contact was not significant. It was thus concluded that even though groundnut production enterprise is a profitable one, groundnut farmers in the study area were both technical and allocative inefficient. It was therefore recommended that farmers should be encouraged through extension to adopt new available technologies and improved varieties which will help improve both their technical and cost efficiency thereby widen their margin gaps.

Recommendation System for Determining the Best Banner Supplier Using Profile Matching and TOPSIS Methods

Background: Choosing a banner supplier is a significant challenge for digital printing companies due to the various advantages offered by each supplier, often leading to selections based on subjective aspects such as price and quality. Objective: This research aims to develop a system that determines the best banner supplier to minimize production inefficiencies and maximize profits by comparing two calculation methods, Profile Matching and TOPSIS. Methods: A quantitative study was conducted using transaction data from the last six months. The parameter criteria used in this system include price, quality, delivery, availability, and payment terms. The study compares the effectiveness of Profile Matching and TOPSIS methods in identifying the best supplier. Results: The study results show that the TOPSIS method is superior, yielding 100% accuracy, 84% recall, and a 92% F1-score, outperforming the Profile Matching method. This demonstrates that the correct method and algorithm effectively provide the best alternative recommendations. Conclusion: The results indicate that using the TOPSIS method leads to more accurate and objective decisions based on predetermined criteria. The findings suggest that further research should focus on refining these methods to enhance decision-making in supplier selection.

Second Bread: Potato Cultivation and Food Security in Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan experienced a remarkable boom in potato production over the past thirty years, driven almost entirely by small farms. Today, potatoes are at once the backbone of national food security, a central source of income for many Kyrgyz households, and a non-trivial source of export earnings. This paper documents the central characteristics of the Kyrgyz potato economy and explains the conditions of its emergence and resilience. We show that Kyrgyzstan’s potato economy is driven by three main features: land reforms that dispersed ownership of land early in the post-Soviet transition, dense social networks that connect producers to input suppliers and markets, and a match between the potato and the country’s mountainous terrain and continental climate. Together, these features have given rise to a food security model that leverages the potato’s well-known nutritional qualities, its cultural status as a food staple across the region, and Kyrgyzstan’s geography and climate. We term this the Kyrgyz Potato Model (KPM). Unlike critics that stress the inefficiencies of Kyrgyz potato production, we highlight the model’s strengths: it is extremely effective in feeding citizens, generates much-needed household incomes, and has been remarkably resilient in the face of recent global economic crises.

Transient and Persistent Technical Efficiencies in Rice Farming: A Generalized True Random-Effects Model Approach

This study estimates transient and persistent technical efficiencies (TEs) using a generalized true random-effects (GTRE) model. We estimate the GTRE model using maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation methods, then compare it to three simpler models nested within it to evaluate the robustness of our estimates. We use a panel data set of 945 observations collected from 344 rice farming households in Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta. The results indicate that the GTRE model is more appropriate than the restricted models for understanding heterogeneity and inefficiency in rice production. The mean estimate of overall technical efficiency is 0.71 on average, with transient rather than persistent inefficiency being the dominant component. This suggests that rice farmers could increase output substantially and would benefit from policies that pay more attention to addressing short-term inefficiency issues.

Peningkatan Kapasitas Produksi dan Penjualan Produk Kelapa Gongseng Aceh Pasca Pandemi COVID-19 Melalui Teknologi Tepat Guna dan Pemasaran Digital

This article delves into the strategic enhancement of production capacity and sales of Acehnese roasted coconut products in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, leveraging the application of appropriate technology and digital marketing approaches. The focus of this community engagement initiative lies in addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by the local community, including disruptions in traditional market access and production inefficiencies exacerbated by the pandemic. The objectives of the program are meticulously outlined, detailing the implementation of innovative technological solutions and digital marketing strategies designed to increase production efficiency, product quality, and market reach. The study also discusses the anticipated socio-economic impacts, particularly the potential for sustained community empowerment and economic resilience. The integration of these modern approaches aims to foster long-term sustainability and competitive advantage for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Aceh, thereby contributing to broader economic recovery and growth.

Enhancing Manufacturing Excellence with Digital-Twin-Enabled Operational Monitoring and Intelligent Scheduling

This research examines the potential of digital twin (DT) technology for reformation within China’s traditional solid-wood-panel processing industry, which currently suffers from production inefficiencies and the slow adoption of digital technology. The research centers around developing a digital twin system, elucidating improvements in manufacturing efficiency, waste management, process simulation, and real-time monitoring. These capabilities facilitate immediate problem solving and offer transparency in the process. The digital twin system is comprised of physical, transport, virtual, and application layers, employing a MySQL database and using the Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture (OPC UA) protocol for communication. The application of this system has led to heightened production efficiency and better material use in the solid-wood-panel manufacturing line. Integrating the dynamic selection adaptive genetic algorithm (DSAGA) into the virtual layer drives the system’s efficiency forward. This evolved approach has allowed for an enhancement of 8.93% in the scheduling efficiency of DSAGA compared to traditional genetic algorithms (GAs), thereby contributing to increased system productivity. Real-time mapping and an advanced simulation interface have strengthened the system’s monitoring aspect. These additions enrich data visualization, leading to better comprehension and a holistic process view. This research has ignited improvements in solid-wood-panel production, illustrating the tangible benefits and representing progress in incorporating digital technology into traditional industries. This research sets a path for transforming these industries into smart manufacturing by effectively bridging the gap between physical production and digital monitoring. Furthermore, the adjustability of this approach extends beyond solid-wood-panel production, indicating the capability to expedite movement towards intelligent production in various other manufacturing sectors.

Alleviating poverty for common prosperity: The role of Fupinguan in an E-tailing supply chain

To alleviate poverty, e-tailers in China have established special web portals or channels, known as Fupinguans (FPGs), to sell products from poor suppliers in rural areas. This paper investigates the underlying mechanism of FPGs in poverty alleviation (PA) and explores their implications for the common prosperity of stakeholders. We consider an e-tailing supply chain where an e-tailer sells substitutes from a poor supplier (characterized by production inefficiency and capital shortage) and a normal supplier to PA-conscious consumers. The benchmark analyses show that the poor supplier faces hurdles in participating due to cost disadvantages in competition. The traditional PA strategy of loan interest subsidies, employed by the e-tailer, can involve the poor supplier in the supply chain by reducing its costs. However, this strategy can mitigate (not eliminate) the poor supplier's cost disadvantage while hurting the normal supplier. Instead, the FPG strategy will provide the poor supplier with a market advantage while indirectly triggering a spillover effect on the normal supplier's product. In this light, the FPG strategy can eliminate or even reverse the poor supplier's competitive disadvantage while benefiting the normal supplier and all stakeholders. Consequently, it can dominate the traditional strategy when the e-tailer has an insufficient financing capability or efficient FPG investment. The e-tailer's FPG investment incentive decreases with the cost disadvantage, whereas competition can strengthen this incentive when the cost disadvantage or competition intensity is sufficiently low. These findings position FPGs as novel business opportunities that align with the ethos of doing well by doing good.

Impacts of environmental regulation perceptions on farmers’ intentions to adopt multiple smart hog breeding technologies: Evidence from rural Hubei, China

Smart hog breeding technologies have been viewed as practical solutions for environmental pollution, pork production inefficiency and food insecurity in rural areas. With difficulty in promoting these technologies, little is known about the role environmental regulation plays. Using 703 household survey data from rural Hubei, China, this paper identifies the impacts of different environmental regulation perceptions (i.e., supervisory, incentive and guiding regulation perceptions) on hog breeding farmers' intentions to adopt smart hog breeding technologies and on the intensity of their adoption intentions. Both multivariate probit model and ordered probit model are employed. Results show that smart hog breeding technologies are strong complementary. Farmers' environmental regulation perceptions greatly promote their intentions to adopt smart hog breeding technologies and their adoption intention intensity. Only the intensity of healthy farmers' adoption intentions is promoted by supervisory regulation perception. Compared to those without village cadres in family, the intensity of village-cadre group's adoption intentions is strengthened more by supervisory and guiding regulation perceptions. The greater incentive regulation perception is, the stronger the intensity of large-scale farmers' adoption intentions would be. The impacts of different environmental regulation perceptions on the intensity of adoption intentions are all partially mediated by value perception of smart agriculture. These findings suggest promoting smart hog breeding technologies jointly and underscore the importance of local environmental regulations in accelerating the diffusion of smart hog breeding technologies.

TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF LAYER FARMERS IN AKWA IBOM

This study analyzed the technical efficiency of layer farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A multistage random sampling technique was employed to select a total of 100-layer farmers across three agricultural zones in Akwa Ibom State. Relevant data was collected with the aid of a questionnaire. Data collated from the field was analyzed using descriptive statistics, stochastic production frontier, and maximum likelihood estimates. The result showed that most of the farmers were female, with mean age of 36.68 years for layer farmers. The production function estimate showed that hired labour, feeds, capital depreciation, pen size, and saw dust use positively influenced output of layer birds, while family labour and medication had a negative impact on output. The technical efficiency distribution showed a mean efficiency of 66%. The determinants of technical inefficiency showed that education, family size, market share, farming experience, extension visits, trainings, farm size and membership in social groups had negative influence of technical inefficiency of layer production, and farmers age and access to credit had a positive effect on the technical inefficiency of layer production. The study recommends the government and relevant stakeholders should make efforts to subsidize the cost of essential poultry inputs, and develop a workable system to enable poultry farmers access credit. Also, extension training should be intensified as it is shown to improve the technical efficiency of layer farmers.

ANALYSIS OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF CASSAVA FARMERS IN ABAK LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

The study analyzed the technical efficiency of cassava farmers in Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to; describe the socio-economic characteristics of cassava farmers; determine the technical efficiency of cassava farmers; estimate the determinants of technical efficiency among cassava farmers and examined the constraints militating against cassava production in the study area. Multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting 120 respondents for the study. Primary data were obtained using structured questionnaire and the data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier production function. The result showed that the average age, household size, farming experience, and farm size of the sampled respondents were 39 years, 4 persons, 6 years and 1.9 hectares, respectively. The mean, maximum and minimum technical efficiency were 0.73, 0.95 and 0.38. The findings on the estimated stochastic production function and the determinants of technical inefficiency showed that farm size (p<0.01), cuttings (p<0.01) and labour (p<0.01) were found to be significant inputs in cassava production while household size (p<0.1), education (p<0.01), monthly income (p<0.01), membership of cooperative (p<0.01), access to credit (p<0.01) and access to extension services (p<0.1) were the determinants of technical inefficiency of cassava production in the study area. Also, the major constraints to cassava production were, high cost of fertilizer (13.7%), theft (13.7%), lack of access to credit (13.7%), inadequate access to land (13.7%), and poor road network (13.7%). The study recommends that training and capacity-building programs should be targeted to improve farmers' knowledge and skills in efficient cassava production techniques, with a focus on optimizing inputs such as farm size, cuttings, labour and extension services. Also outreach programs should be strengthened to provide farmers with timely information, technical support, and best practices for cassava production, thereby reducing technical inefficiencies.

Sources of Technical Inefficiency for Smallholder Field Pea Producers in Ethiopia

This study intended to measure the technical efficiency and sources of inefficiency for field pea producers in Ethiopia. The study used primary data collected from 207 smallholder farmers. A multi-stage sampling technique was followed to select sample households. A stochastic frontier was the model used, and a single-step estimation approach was followed. The result indicated that the mean technical efficiency is 49.23 %, and the average productivity of the crop is 0.96 tons/hectare. This indicates that the technical efficiency could be increased by 51.77 % through proper utilization of production variables, i.e. agrochemicals, oxen power, plot size, and seed rate. The inefficiency model result also confirmed that the technical inefficiency of field pea production was negatively affected by access to off-farm income, access to credit services, extension contacts, adoption of new technologies, access to training, and participation in contract farming of the crop. Therefore, this study recommends agricultural policies favoring vocational training to farmers on the new agricultural technology packages, availing access to off-farm incomes, facilitating credit services to farmers, and establishing legal frameworks that encourage contract farming.

Yield Gaps and Factors Affecting Production Inefficiency in Smallholder Oil Palm Plantations in Muaro Jambi District Jambi Province

Abstract Oil palm plantations in Indonesia, including in Jambi Province, are categorized into large private plantation, state-owned plantation, and smallholder plantation. The productivity of smallholders is the lowest compared to the other 2 categories. At the district and sub-district level, the yield of smallholder oil palm is also vary, spreading from 1,675 to 6,680 kg CPO per ha per year. The large yield variation is inseparable from the plantation management among farmers. The objectives of this research are to study the yield gap and technical efficiency of production among smallholders, and to analyze the factors that affect the technical production inefficiency in smallholder oil palm plantation. The research was conducted in Muaro Jambi District as a main palm oil producing district in Jambi Province. Data was collected from a sampel of 120 independent smallholders. One way anova test was used to study the yield gap and double natural log (ln) of Cobb–Douglas stochastic frontier production function was used to analyze the technical efficiency and some factors affects its inefficiency. The results revealed that there were significant differences in yield among smallholders based on area size, level of education, and activeness in the farmer organizations. However, on average, the management of oil palm by independent smallholders is quite technically efficient. The factor that significantly affects the level of technical inefficiency are the size of the area and farmers’ level of education.