Abstract: Over the years manufacturing industries faced persistent increase in global competition to the extent that most industries find it difficult to make profits. This unfavorable trend in global competition coupled with high costs of production were responsible for the new trend in business. In order to survive in today’s fiercely competitive market, and remain profitable while producing at a lower cost, many manufacturing outfits started thinking on the best way to eliminates wastes through the lean methodology. This work evaluated the application of lean approach of wastes elimination through the application of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) techniques. The manufacturing operations of Fava Long Goods 3 (FLG3) production line of Golden Pasta Company (GPC) was carefully understudied. Data collected from the company’s Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) and shop floor including feedback from the customers were analysed and evaluated. The results of the evaluation of these data were used to derive the Value Stream Mapping parameters for the developing the current state map and exposure of pasta manufacturing activities that accumulated to wastes generation. A Kaizen Blitz, a lean improvement workshop was held at the workplace where improvement suggestions were made towards the elimination of the wastes. The improvement suggestions were approved and implemented using a series of Value Stream Mapping techniques such as 5S, Kanban pull system, Supermarket pull system, Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED), Kaizen idea sheet, Lean implementation tracking sheet and root-cause analysis to remove all the identified wastes. The results of the lean implementation showed that Production Lead Time (PLT) was massively reduced from 34.4 hours to 5.04 hours with a 85.3% waste reduction. A practical approach of implementing the value stream mapping, using Microsoft Visio 2016 software was suggested. An actual cost savings of N158, 515,200 was realised after third quarter (nine months) of lean implementation between September 2016 and June 2017. This was revealed in the Financial Statements of Accounts approved by the General Manager/Director of the Golden Pasta Company.Abstract: Over the years manufacturing industries faced persistent increase in global competition to the extent that most industries find it difficult to make profits. This unfavorable trend in global competition coupled with high costs of production were responsible for the new trend in business. In order to survive in today’s fiercely competitive market, a...Show More
Abstract: Health and safety of construction workers on building construction sites in Nigeria have become necessary as a result of the hazardous nature of the practice. It is noteworthy to mention that accidents of any kind are bound to happen on these sites resulting into injuries that are sometimes fatal to site workers. Nevertheless, an evaluation of the health and safety management practices put in place by building contractors in the construction industry in Nigeria is the main thrust of this study. This paper discusses the different sources of accidents on construction sites. It also investigates the current state and adherence to health and safety practice in Nigeria. 110 questionnaires were used to extract information from respondents within the Akure metropolis. The safety precautions put in place by contractors for their site workers was also probed. Issues such as the post-accident treatment of site workers were also investigated. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The study found that construction workers are left to protect themselves in the line of duty and are largely responsible for any occurrence of accidents. As a result, a lot needs to be done to ensure the health and safety of site workers. Recommendations were made on possible solutions yearning for strict actions to be taken against defaulters by the respective site inspectors.Abstract: Health and safety of construction workers on building construction sites in Nigeria have become necessary as a result of the hazardous nature of the practice. It is noteworthy to mention that accidents of any kind are bound to happen on these sites resulting into injuries that are sometimes fatal to site workers. Nevertheless, an evaluation of the ...Show More
Abstract: This paper presents the results of theoretical and experimental investigation to determine the optimal flow rate of collector loop to improve the performance of a solar hot water system under real weather conditions at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The optimal flow rate of flat-plate collector loop is researched based on the relationship between the useful heat gain of the flat plate collectors and the electricity consumption of the collector pump. The result of the simulation and experiment shows that the optimal flow rate was determined at the value of 0.132 (kg/s). Besides, the effects of various parameters such as initial water temperature of storage tank, flat plate collector area and volume of storage tank are investigated. Furthermore, the validation of simulation and experiment results of the progress of the water temperature in the storage tank is also evaluated.Abstract: This paper presents the results of theoretical and experimental investigation to determine the optimal flow rate of collector loop to improve the performance of a solar hot water system under real weather conditions at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The optimal flow rate of flat-plate collector loop is researched based on the relationship between the u...Show More