Utilization Of Production Capacity Research Articles

Engineering a Paradox of Thrift Recession

We build a variation of the neoclassical growth model in which financial shocks to households or wealth shocks (in the sense of wealth destruction) generate recessions. Two standard ingredients that are necessary are (1) the existence of adjustment costs that make the expansion of the tradable goods sector difficult and (2) the existence of some frictions in the labor market that prevent enormous reductions in real wages (Nash bargaining in Mortensen-Pissarides labor markets is enough). We pose a new ingredient that greatly magnifies the recession: a reduction in consumption expenditures reduces measured productivity, while technology is unchanged due to reduced utilization of production capacity. Our model provides a novel, quantitative theory of the current recessions in southern Europe.

Production Orders Sequencing in Mixed-Model Assembly Lines

The paper presents the production orders sequencing issue, which main aim is to establish a proper sequence of tasks, that would maximize the utilization of companys production capacity. According to the literature research, the sequencing problem considered in the paper, may be denoted as CSP (Car Sequencing Problem) and belongs to the NP-hard class, as has been proven by simple reduction from Hamiltonians Path problem [1]. Optimal method of solution has not yet been found, therefore only approximate solutions have been offered [2]. Approximate solutions are based mainly on the evolutionary algorithms. However certain problems, as lack of possibility to check the effectiveness of the solution or the possibility to reach twice the same solution are observed. Regardless of the structure of specific assembly system, while considering reception of new tasks into the execution, current review of the state of the system is obligatory in order to decide whether, when and which new order can be accepted for assembly. In this paper, the problem of task scheduling is limited to the specific existing mixed-model production system. The main goal is to determine the effective method of creation of task sequence.

A New Procedure of Production Orders Sequencing in Mixed-Model Production Systems

The paper presents the task scheduling issue, which main aim is to establish a proper sequence of tasks, that would maximize the utilization of companys production capacity. According to the literature sources, the presented sequencing problem, denoted as CSP (Car Sequencing Problem) belongs to the NP-hard class, as has been proven by simple reduction from Hamiltonians Path problem. Optimal method of solution has not yet been found, only approximate solutions have been offered, especially from the range of evolutionary algorithms. Regardless of specific production system, while considering reception of new tasks into the system, current review of the state of the system is required in order to decide whether and when a new order can be accepted for execution. In this paper, the problem of task scheduling is limited to the specific existing mixed-model production system. The main goal is to determine the effective method of creation of task sequence. Through the use of computational algorithms, and automatic analysis of the resulting sequence, rates of production are able to be checked in a real time, and so improvements can be proposed and implemented.

Labor productivity index decomposition analysis and the innovation-driven methods of its improvement \ on sugar plant

In recent years, Ukraine has lost its leading position in the global sugar production and export- oriented industry has evolved into an import-dependent one, whose production is concentrated only to meet the needs of the domestic market. Today the Ukrainian sugar is uncompetitive due to the low efficiency of utilization of production capacity and outdated technology. One of the major drawbacks of sugar factories is the lack of incentives to innovate that inhibits productivity growth and development in general. The relevance of the study is the importance of identifying the labor productivity growth factors of sugar factories for catching sector and to improve its competitiveness. The purpose of the article is to conduct an index decomposition analysis of sugar plant’s labor productivity and provide practical recommendations to improve productivity through innovation in sugar industry. A structural logic model of the innovation-driven improvement of labor productivity is proposed.

Exponential Smoothing for Multi-Product Lot-Sizing With Heijunka and Varying Demand

Abstract Here we discuss a multi-product lot-sizing problem for a job shop controlled with a heijunka box. Demand is considered as a random variable with constant variation which must be absorbed somehow by the manufacturing system, either by increased inventory or by flexibility in the production. When a heijunka concept (production leveling) is used, fluctuations in customer orders are not transferred directly to the manufacturing system allowing for a smoother production and better production capacity utilization. The problem rather is to determine a tradeoff between the variability in the production line capacity requirement and the inventory level.

English

This paper econometrically analyzed the factors affecting competitive advantage of broiler agribusinesses in Ghana, using multiple regression analysis. Through a multi-stage random sampling technique, structured questionnaire was used to collect farm level data from 441 small-scale commercial broiler agribusinesses in the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions of Ghana. The average variable cost of producing a broiler at an average market age of 57 days was GH¢8.48 (US$5.93). Of this cost, feed and one day-old chick costs together constitute about 72%. Results of the econometric regression analysis show that feed and day-old chick costs, broiler market age and capacity utilization are the main factors that significantly affect competitive advantage of broiler agribusinesses in the study area. Feed cost, one day-old chick cost and market age of broilers positively and significantly affect cost of broiler agribusinesses while production capacity utilization negatively and significantly affect cost. This suggests that reducing feed and day-old chick costs, market age of broilers and increasing capacity utilization will reduce production cost to promote competitive advantage of broiler agribusinesses. Broiler agribusinesses should be encouraged to adopt better feed management practices and also feed broilers with nutritious feed for the right market weight to be gained by week eight to reduce expenditure on feed. Policies that will encourage broiler producers to increase production capacity should also be encouraged. Key words: Competitive advantage, broiler, agribusiness, econometric, Ghana.

Dynamic coalition reformation for adaptive demand and capacity sharing

To deal with volatile product demand and rapidly changing manufacturing technologies for sustainable returns, selective collaboration among companies in supply networks (SNs) is required. Recently, demand and capacity sharing among independent and non-competitive manufacturers, at the same horizontal layer in SNs, has been studied. Through an appropriate coalition for collaborative demand and capacity sharing, manufacturers can minimize their lost sales, as well as maximize production capacity utilization against lumpy real demand. In a previous study, we have developed the Collaborative Demand and Capacity Sharing (CDCS) protocol which addresses a long-term profitable and well-balanced collaboration for each manufacturer through distributed decision making. However, the uncertainty of circumstances calls for an effective and timely reformation of coalitions. In reality, there is a trade-off between frequent accommodation to changeable environments and high additional costs incurred by reformation. Hence, in this paper, we design the Adaptive CDCS protocol based on dynamic contract mechanism. In each period, our protocol suggests whether to reform existing coalitions or not based on theoretical analyses of long-term expected net profit. To evaluate its performance, a numerical experiment is conducted by comparing three models: no collaboration, static collaboration, and dynamic collaboration by Adaptive CDCS protocol. Dynamic collaboration results in more profits and its balanced redistribution by accommodating with changeable conditions.

Cloud-Based Supply Chain Integration Service Platform

In recent years, Taiwan has enhanced the manufacturing advantages in the competitive global market because of excellent manufacturing processes, product quality, and the flexible delivery date and speed. However, how to maintain the competitive advantages in the global market has become an issue. Due the advanced development of the Internet, the cloud computing technology has significant progress and become more matured. Therefore, if the cloud computing technology can be applied in the supply chain of the manufacturing industry, the information among manufacturing, assembly, logistics, sales, and customers can be shared and accessed easily. In this study, a cloud-based supply chain integration service platform of the manufacturing industry is developed, and this platform includes the supplier management, procurement and materials management, manufacturing management, facilities planning, customer service, transportation and physical distribution, and information flow to form a supply chain integration service cloud. Thus, the members of the whole supply chain integration service cloud are able to work together, and rapidly deploy and dynamically allocate resources, and the computer hardware and software resources of the upstream and downstream can be appropriately shared. By doing so, the inventory fluctuations caused by the bullwhip effect can also be reduced. Eventually, it will achieve the goals of shortening delivery time, raising production capacity utilization, and decreasing the material preparation time.

Study on the Simulation Model of the Production Capacity Decision in Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles Industry

Effective utilization and expansion of production capacity has crucial cost implications, and arguably drives the profitability of the operation in the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) industry. We develop a production capacity model for a HFCVs manufacturer decision, which is expressed by the market and the assumptions of information usage. From three factors of equipment construction, the rapid advancement of the HFCV technology and the inconsistent between the manufacturing capacity and the effective capacity, we expressed the basic mathematic descriptions of question. Then the computing model is programmed in the EXCEL interface. After the operation of the simulation, the different scenarios show that demand and capacity variability has clear impaction on the decision. The observation provides perception on the production capacity decision in HFCVs industry as capacity expansion and the cell technologies arise. Both result in different cost type and the cost of the transition. It also implicates that not the computer simulation but the information technology application are important to improve the industry decisions.

Análise da aplicação de indicadores alternativos ao Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) na gestão do desempenho global de uma fábrica

Embora a medição do Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) seja uma prática de gestão industrial com crescente difusão, indicadores alternativos ao mesmo têm sido propostos na literatura para tratar da avaliação do desempenho num nível mais global dos sistemas de produção. O objetivo deste artigo é de apresentar e analisar tais indicadores e explorar suas possibilidades de aplicação na busca de um aproveitamento efetivo da capacidade de produção. Inicialmente, é elaborado um quadro referencial para o enquadramento de indicadores que ampliam a abordagem de avaliação adotada pelo OEE. Para analisar o potencial de aplicação de indicadores que têm essa função, é desenvolvido um estudo de caso em uma empresa processadora de alimentos. O caso mostra que a aplicação de indicadores como o Overall Throughput Effectiveness (OTE) e o Overall Plant Effectiveness (OPE) pode tornar o diagnóstico de problemas de utilização da capacidade mais eficaz, além de induzir a integração da estratégia de produção com outras estratégias funcionais e, assim, promover uma gestão mais efetiva do desempenho global de uma fábrica.

Cooperative optimization of reconfigurable machine tool configurations and production process plan

The production process plan design and configurations of reconfigurable machine tool (RMT) interact with each other. Reasonable process plans with suitable configurations of RMT help to improve product quality and reduce production cost. Therefore, a cooperative strategy is needed to concurrently solve the above issue. In this paper, the cooperative optimization model for RMT configurations and production process plan is presented. Its objectives take into account both impacts of process and configuration. Moreover, a novel genetic algorithm is also developed to provide optimal or near-optimal solutions: firstly, its chromosome is redesigned which is composed of three parts, operations, process plan and configurations of RMTs, respectively; secondly, its new selection, crossover and mutation operators are also developed to deal with the process constraints from operation processes (OP) graph, otherwise these operators could generate illegal solutions violating the limits; eventually the optimal configurations for RMT under optimal process plan design can be obtained. At last, a manufacturing line case is applied which is composed of three RMTs. It is shown from the case that the optimal process plan and configurations of RMT are concurrently obtained, and the production cost decreases 6.28% and nonmonetary performance increases 22%. The proposed method can figure out both RMT configurations and production process, improve production capacity, functions and equipment utilization for RMT.

Clustering in crude oil prices and the target pricing zone hypothesis

This paper studies the target pricing zone (TPZ) hypothesis for crude oil by examining price clustering in the dollar digit. It is hypothesized that price clustering occurs within an established TPZ if OPEC is able to defend the upper and lower bounds through output changes. The results show that prices strongly cluster around the dollar digit value of 9 within the TPZ sub-periods, but not outside the sub-periods. Furthermore, the degree of clustering declines when production capacity utilization is high and when production significantly exceeds quotas, consistent with OPEC's inability to defend the zone. Nine-centered clustering also results in lower contemporaneous and next-day volatility. These results support the target pricing zone hypothesis of crude oil.

Capacity Utilization in Nepalese Sugar Industry

Under utilization of production capacity is a common issue for Nepalese manufacturing enterprises and sugar industry is no exception to this. This study mainly deals with the cause of underutilization of production capacity of Nepalese sugar mills as well as the market situation of sugar and sugarcane. Inspite of sufficient production of sugarcane, the sugar mills do not get adequate quantity and proper quality of sugarcane at right time. Almost half of the sugarcane production has no market which reveals the poor procurement system. The approved production capacity of Nepalese sugar mills is more than domestic requirement of sugar. However, the unfulfilled demand for sugar is fulfilled mainly by imported as well as smuggled Indian sugar. The capacity utilization rate of Nepalese sugar industry, which has been decreasing, dropped to 45percent in FY 2008/09. The main identified reasons are stoppage, breakdown and slow motion of machines, delay in settlement of minimum support price of sugarcane and late commencement of production season, political instability, less operation days of sugar mills and ultimately the overlook of sugar producers to utilize their full capacity of production. Measures to improve the capacity utilization rate of sugar mills have become an urgent need.

Decentralized capacity management and internal pricing

This paper studies the acquisition and subsequent utilization of production capacity in a multidivisional firm. In a setting where an upstream division provides capacity services for itself and a downstream division, our analysis explores whether the divisions should be structured as investment or profit centers. The choice of responsibility centers is naturally linked to the internal pricing rules for capacity services. As a benchmark, we establish the efficiency of an arrangement in which the upstream division is organized as an investment center, and capacity services to the downstream division are priced at full historical cost. Such responsibility center arrangements may, however, be vulnerable to dynamic hold-up problems whenever the divisional capacity assignments are fungible in the short-run, and therefore, it is essential to let divisional managers negotiate over their actual capacity assignments. The dynamic hold-up problem can be alleviated with more symmetric choice of responsibility centers. The firm can centralize ownership of capacity assets with the provision that both divisions rent capacity on a periodic basis from a central unit. An alternative and more decentralized solution is obtained by a system of bilateral capacity ownership in which both divisions become investment centers.

Elucidation of unit operations and energy consumption pattern in small scale cashew nut processing mills

The different unit operations involved in small scale cashew nut processing mill in the context of Konkan region of Maharashtra, India (70°17′ to 74°31′E Longitude 15°37′ to 20°20′N Latitude) was elucidated by conducting the randomized sample survey of registered 122 small scale cashew processing mills in the region. The survey covered the unit operations performed, level and pattern of energy consumption and technologies in use for cashew nut processing. The energy consumption and production of mills was analyzed to compute the disparities in energy consumption to produce the same quantity of similar product in term of installed capacity (P), Production (Pr), percent production capacity utilization (PPCU), energy (En) and energy intensity (EI). The study revealed that, the small scale cashew nut mills in Konkan region of Maharashtra (India) widely followed steam roasting process due to better control over the process which retain the valuable CNSL in the shell as well as generate the huge quantity of shell for further utilization as a fuel. The average working days of the mills were about 227 days in the year depending on the rainy season and availability of raw cashew nut seeds. The average installed production capacity of the surveyed mills was about 9800 kg of raw cashew nut seeds per annum. The actual raw material processed by these mills was in the tune of 5833 kg per annum, which revealed the average percent plant capacity utilization of 55% only. The women workers were prominent in the small scale cashew nut processing mills. The regression analysis of relationship between energy and production revealed the best fit of the form of power law i.e. En = A · (Pr) B where “ A” is the constant and the coefficient “ B” is commonly known as the Energy Elasticity. It was observed that, the energy intensity in the cashew nut processing mills producing the similar product varied from 2.15 MJ/kg to 3.80 MJ/kg. The regression analysis of relationship between energy intensity and production revealed the best fit of the form of power law i.e. En = A · (Pr) − B . The negative exponent ‘ B’ shows a decline in the value of energy intensity with increase in production. It was observed that the frequency of the number of firms in each PPCU range is a bell-shaped curve, which clearly shows about 91 (75%) of the total samples were in PPCU range less than 65% with average energy intensity of 2.9 MJ/kg. This gives considerable scope for saving of energy with better utilization of installed production capacity in the tune of 25.84%.

Trends in capacity utilization for therapeutic monoclonal antibody production

The administration of high doses of therapeutic antibodies requires large-scale, efficient, cost effective manufacturing processes. An understanding of how the industry is using its available production capacity is important for production planning, and facility expansion analysis. Inaccurate production planning for therapeutic antibodies can have serious financial ramifications. In the recent 5th Annual Report and Survey of Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Capacity and Production, 434 qualified respondents from 39 countries were asked to indicate, among other manufacturing issues, their current trends and future predictions with respect to the production capacity utilization of monoclonal antibodies in mammalian cell culture systems. While overall production of monoclonals has expanded dramatically since 2003, the average capacity utilization for mammalian cell culture systems, has decreased each year since 2003. Biomanufacturers aggressively attempt to avoid unanticipated high production demands that can create a capacity crunch. We summarize trends associated with capacity utilization and capacity constraints which indicate that biopharmaceutical manufacturers are doing a better job planning for capacity. The results have been a smoothing of capacity use shifts and an improved ability to forecast capacity and outsourcing needs. Despite these data, today, the instability and financial constraints caused by the current global economic crisis are likely to create unforeseen shifts in our capacity utilization and capacity expansion trends. These shifts will need to be measured in subsequent studies.

The Econometric Analysis of Urban and Rural Areas in China—— Population Migration and the Long-term Economical Prediction ——

This paper examines the economic growth and reduction of income disparity under the population migration policy and rural area development in China with an econometric model. The model assesses the impacts of income disparity due to investment and remittance to the place of household registration. The econometric model used to assess these impacts is characterized by an intrinsic combination of demand-oriented short-term mechanisms and supply-side medium- to long-term dynamics, where the balance of aggregate demand and supply determines the cyclic phase of the economy as represented by the overall utilization of production capacity along the long-term path. The simulations and the forecasts of this model show that continuance of stable economic growth while reducing income disparity in China is necessary to relax the population migration policy, expand investment in rural areas, and improve the education level in rural areas.JEL Classification: C50, J31, O15, O18, O47, R15

Electricity consumption and associated GHG emissions of the Jordanian industrial sector: Empirical analysis and future projection

In this paper, an empirical model is developed for electricity consumption of the Jordanian industrial sector based on multivariate linear regression to identify the main drivers behind electricity consumption. In addition, projection of electricity consumption for the industrial sector based on time series forecasting is presented. It was found that industrial production outputs and capacity utilization are the two most important variables that affect demand on electrical power and the multivariate linear regression model can be used adequately to simulate industrial electricity consumption with very high coefficient of determination. To illustrate the importance of integrating energy efficiency within national energy plans, the impact of implementing high-efficiency motors was investigated and found to be significant. Without such basic energy conservation and management programs, electricity consumption and associated GHG emissions for the industrial sector are predicted to rise by 63% in the year 2019. However, if these measures are implemented on a gradual basis, over the same period, electricity consumption and GHG emissions are forecasted to ascend at a lower rate with low/no cost actions.

MILP-based campaign scheduling in a specialty chemicals plant: a case study

Supply chain management in chemical process industry focuses on production planning and scheduling to reduce production cost and inventories and simultaneously increase the utilization of production capacities and the service level. These objectives and the specific characteristics of chemical production processes result in complex planning problems. To handle this complexity, advanced planning systems (APS) are implemented and often enhanced by tailor-made optimization algorithms. In this article, we focus on a real-world problem of production planning arising from a specialty chemicals plant. Formulations for finished products comprise several production and refinement processes which result in all types of material flows. Most processes cannot be operated on only one multi-purpose facility, but on a choice of different facilities. Due to sequence dependencies, several batches of identical processes are grouped together to form production campaigns. We describe a method for multicriteria optimization of short- and mid-term production campaign scheduling which is based on a time-continuous MILP formulation. In a preparatory step, deterministic algorithms calculate the structures of the formulations and solve the bills of material for each primary demand. The facility selection for each production campaign is done in a first MILP step. Optimized campaign scheduling is performed in a second step, which again is based on MILP. We show how this method can be successfully adapted to compute optimized schedules even for problem examples of real-world size, and we furthermore outline implementation issues including integration with an APS.

Credit cycles in a Neo-Austrian economy

This paper discusses the relationship between firms’ access to credit market and business fluctuations in a sequential Neo-Austrian economy. Existence of cycles reflects a fundamental distortion in the intertemporal structure of production, that is a lack of coordination between utilization of productive capacity and construction of new machines. The role of credit market institutions is to sustain viability of the economy along an out-of-equilibrium transition. Allowing for a high degree of price flexibility turns out not to be a general response to boosts in capital accumulation and employment. When we focus on an irreversible, off-equilibrium dynamics the coordination of policy interventions becomes a relevant tool to govern fluctuations.