Search results for: evaluation of products

Authors: Martin Juhas, Bohuslava Juhasova, Igor Halenar, Andrej Elias

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This article deals with the possibility of increasing efficiency, reliability and safety of the system for teledosimetric data collection management and their evaluation as a part of complex study for activity “Research of data collection, their measurement and evaluation with mobile and autonomous units” within project “Research of monitoring and evaluation of non-standard conditions in the area of nuclear power plants”. Possible weaknesses in existing system are identified. A study of available cluster solutions with possibility of their deploying to analysed system is presented.

Keywords: teledosimetric data, efficiency, reliability, safety, cluster solution

Procedia PDF Downloads 508

Authors: I. Inuaeyen, L. Phil, O. Eni

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Fossil fuels have been the main source of global energy for many decades, accounting for about 80% of global energy need. This is beginning to change however with increasing concern about greenhouse gas emissions which comes mostly from fossil fuel combustion. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are responsible for stimulating climate change. As a result, there has been shift towards more clean and renewable energy sources of energy as a strategy for stemming greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere. The production of bio-products such as bio-fuel, bio-electricity, bio-chemicals, and bio-heat etc. using biomass materials in accordance with the bio-refinery concept holds a great potential for reducing high dependence on fossil fuel and their resources. The bio-refinery concept promotes efficient utilisation of biomass material for the simultaneous production of a variety of products in order to minimize or eliminate waste materials. This will ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the environment. In Nigeria, cassava solid waste from cassava processing facilities has been identified as a vital feedstock for bio-refinery process. Cassava is generally a staple food in Nigeria and one of the most widely cultivated foodstuff by farmers across Nigeria. As a result, there is an abundant supply of cassava waste in Nigeria. In this study, the aim is to explore opportunities for converting cassava waste to a range of bio-products such as butanol, ethanol, electricity, heat, methanol, furfural etc. using a combination of biochemical, thermochemical and chemical conversion routes. . The best process scenario will be identified through the evaluation of economic analysis, energy efficiency, life cycle analysis and social impact. The study will be carried out by developing a model representing different process options for cassava waste conversion to useful products. The model will be developed using Aspen Plus process simulation software. Process economic analysis will be done using Aspen Icarus software. So far, comprehensive survey of literature has been conducted. This includes studies on conversion of cassava solid waste to a variety of bio-products using different conversion techniques, cassava waste production in Nigeria, modelling and simulation of waste conversion to useful products among others. Also, statistical distribution of cassava solid waste production in Nigeria has been established and key literatures with useful parameters for developing different cassava waste conversion process has been identified. In the future work, detailed modelling of the different process scenarios will be carried out and the models validated using data from literature and demonstration plants. A techno-economic comparison of the various process scenarios will be carried out to identify the best scenario using process economics, life cycle analysis, energy efficiency and social impact as the performance indexes.

Keywords: bio-refinery, cassava waste, energy, process modelling

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Authors: Danilsa Lorduy, Liliana Valle

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Assessment and evaluation are inextricable parts of the teaching learning process. Evaluation practices concerns are gaining popularity among curriculum developers an educational researchers, particularly in Colombian regions where English language is taught as a foreign language EFL. This study addressed one of those issues, which are the unbalanced in –services’ evaluation practices perceived in school classes. They present predominance on the written test among the procedures they use to evaluate; therefore, the purpose of this case study was to explore in-service teachers’ evaluation practices, their beliefs about evaluation and to establish an eventual connection between practices and beliefs. To this end, classroom observations, questionnaires, and a semi structured interview were applied to three in-service English teachers from different schools in a city in Colombia. The findings suggested that teachers’ beliefs indicate a formative inclination and they actually are using a variety of procedures different from test but they seem to have some issues regarding their appropriateness for application Moreover, it was found that teachers’ practices are being influenced by external factors such as school requirements and national policies. It could be concluded that the predominance in using tests is not only elicited by teachers’ beliefs but also by national test results 'Pruebas Saber' and law 115 demanding. It was also suggested that further quantitative research is needed to demonstrate connections between overuse of testing procedures and 'Pruebas Saber' national test.

Keywords: beliefs, evaluation, external factors, national test

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Authors: A. S. V Polgampala, F. Huang

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This is an overview of what is entailed in an evaluation and issues to be aware of when class observation is being done. This study examined the effects of evaluating teaching practice of a 7-day ‘block teaching’ session in a pre -service science teacher training program at a reputed National College of Education in Sri Lanka. Effects were assessed in three areas: evaluation of the training process, evaluation of the training impact, and evaluation of the training procedure. Data for this study were collected by class observation of 18 teachers during 9th February to 16th of 2017. Prospective teachers of science teaching, the participants of the study were evaluated based on newly introduced format by the NIE. The data collected was analyzed qualitatively using the Miles and Huberman procedure for analyzing qualitative data: data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing/verification. It was observed that the trainees showed their confidence in teaching those competencies and skills. Teacher educators’ dissatisfaction has been a great impact on evaluation process.

Keywords: evaluation, perceptions & perspectives, pre-service, science teachering

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Authors: Ersin Karakaya, Halit Tutar

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Reliable foods must be consumed in terms of healthy nutrition. The production and dissemination of diatom products in Turkey is rapidly evolving on the basis of preserving ecological balance, ensuring sustainability in agriculture and offering quality, reliable products to consumers. In this study, year in Turkey as (2002- 2015) to determine values of such as cultivated land of organic vegetable production, production levels, production quantity, number of products, number of farmers. It is intended to make the econometric analysis of the factors affecting the production of organic vegetable production (Number of products, Number of farmers and cultivated land). The main material of the study has created secondary data in relation to the 2002-2015 period as organic vegetable production in Turkey and regression analysis of the factors affecting the value of production of organic vegetable is determined by the Least Squares Method with EViews statistical software package.

Keywords: number of farmers, cultivated land, Eviews, Turkey

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Authors: W. F. Ribeiro, J. L. N. Góes

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The industrial process adds to engineering wood products features absent in solid wood, with homogeneous structure and reduced defects, improved physical and mechanical properties, bio-deterioration, resistance and better dimensional stability, improving quality and increasing the reliability of structures wood. These features combined with using fast-growing trees, make them environmentally ecological products, ensuring a strong consumer market. The wood I-joists are manufactured by the industrial profiles bonding flange and web, an important aspect of the production of wooden I-beams is the adhesive joint that bonds the web to the flange. Adhesives can effectively transfer and distribute stresses, thereby increasing the strength and stiffness of the composite. The objective of this study is to evaluate different resins in a shear strain specimens with the aim of analyzing the most efficient resin and possibility of using national products, reducing the manufacturing cost. First was conducted a literature review, where established the geometry and materials generally used, then established and analyzed 8 national resins and produced six specimens for each.

Keywords: engineered wood products, structural resin, wood i-joist, Pinus taeda

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Patsara Sirikamonsin

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The purposes of this study were I) to study development guidelines of community product which was basket handicraft-bag of Ang Thong province; II) to study consumer demand for the community of basket handicraft-bag products of Ang Thong province. Data were collected via group interview of the community of basket handicraft-bag and consumer in order to obtain information related to product development guidelines in line with consumer demand. The study revealed that development guidelines of community product which was basket handicraft-bag of Ang Thong province caused by the demand of consumers changed by the era which made community of basket handicraft-bag products of Ang Thong province might develop community products to be novel, stylish and accessible. The consumer demand for the product came from the need to consume goods that are like local symbols. Most of them were foreigners and tourists. The advantage of this research was that it would lead to policy implementation and lead to the development of basket handicraft-bag community products of Ang Thong to meet the needs of consumers.

Keywords: community product, product development, basket handicraft-bag, business research

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Authors: Wassim Katerji, Mercedes Farjas, Carmen Morillo

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Terrain-Based Analysis results in derived products from an input DEM and these products are needed to perform various analyses. To efficiently use these products in decision-making, their accuracies must be estimated systematically. This paper proposes a procedure to assess the accuracy of these derived products, by calculating the accuracy of the slope dataset and its significance, taking as an input the accuracy of the DEM. Based on the output of previously published research on modeling the relative accuracy of a DEM, specifically ASTER and SRTM DEMs with Lebanon coverage as the area of study, analysis have showed that ASTER has a low significance in the majority of the area where only 2% of the modeled terrain has 50% or more significance. On the other hand, SRTM showed a better significance, where 37% of the modeled terrain has 50% or more significance. Statistical analysis deduced that the accuracy of the slope dataset, calculated on a cell-by-cell basis, is highly correlated to the accuracy of the input DEM. However, this correlation becomes lower between the slope accuracy and the slope significance, whereas it becomes much higher between the modeled slope and the slope significance.

Keywords: terrain-based analysis, slope, accuracy assessment, Digital Elevation Model (DEM)

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Authors: Manab Bandhu Bera, Navdeep Singh, Paramjit Singh Panesar

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In view of exploiting the health benefits of probiotic yeast S.boulardii NCDC 363 and make it available in the form of non-dairy food products, study was undertaken. In this, probiotic yeast S.boulardii NCDC 363 was incorporated in the edible film made from sodium alginate (SA), whey protein concentrate (WPC) and glycerol (50%). Response surface methodology was used to optimize process variables such as; concentration of SA (0.25-0.75%), WPC (1-2%) and temperature (70-80°C) and also to investigate effect of these process variables on viability of probiotic yeast and hardness when applied as an edible coat on extruded food products. Accelerated storage stability of optimized probiotic extruded food products samples was determined at 38 C and 90% RH. The optimized products were packed in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and aluminum laminated polyethylene (ALP) pouches at 38°C and relative humidity maintained was 90%. It was observed that product stored in ALP had better stability in terms of moisture absorption, hardness and viability.

Keywords: probiotic yeast, extruded food product, WPC, RSM

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Authors: Mohamed Saad Gad Elzoghby

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Nanomaterials are widely used nowadays for the consolidation of degraded archaeological limestone. It’s one of the most predominant stones in monumental buildings and statuary works. It is exposed to different weathering processes that cause degradation and the presence of deterioration pattern as cracks, fissures, and granular disintegration. Nanomaterials have been applied to limestone consolidation. Among these nanomaterials are nanolimes, i.e., dispersions of lime nanoparticles in alcohols, and nano-silica, i.e., dispersions of silica nanoparticles in water, promising consolidating products for limestone. It was investigated and applied to overcome the disadvantages of traditional consolidation materials such as lime water, water glass, and paraliod. So, researchers investigated and tested the effectiveness of nanomaterials as consolidation materials for limestone. The present study includes an evaluation of some nanomaterials in consolidation limestone stone in comparison with traditional consolidants. These consolidation materials are nano calcium hydroxide nanolime, and nanosilica. The latter is known commercially as Nano Estel and the former Known as Nanorestore compared to traditional consolidants Wacker OH (ethyl silicate) and Paraloid B72 (a copolymer of ethyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate). The study evaluated the consolidation effectiveness of nanomaterials and traditional consolidants by using followed methods, characterization of physical properties of stone, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy, and mechanical properties. The study confirmed that nanomaterials were better in the distribution and encapsulation of calcite grains in limestone, and traditional materials were better in improving the physical properties of limestone. It demonstrated that good results could be achieved through mixtures of nanomaterials and traditional consolidants.

Keywords: nanomaterials, limestone, consolidation, evaluation, weathering, nanolime, nanosilica, scanning electron microscope

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Authors: Kuan-Wu Lin, Tsu-Wu Hu

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In recent years, product design has already begun to comfort and humanize, and for different user needs to design products, In particular, closer relationship with the people of the products, Such as headphones and other consumer electronics products. In this study, will for general comfort design principles and field survey results through the use of a headset, including adolescents, young and middle-aged groups such as three users, Further identify the general design principles belong to the headset comfortable design. The study results will include the significance of headphones design and differences between product design principles, Provide the basis for future product design.

Keywords: wearing type headphones , comfort degree design, general design principles, product design

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Authors: Alice Nwanyioma Ohuoba, Rose Erdoo Kukwa, Ukpabi Joseph Ukpabi

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Cassava root (Manihot esculenta) is one of the important carbohydrates containing crops in Nigeria. It is a staple food, mostly in the southern part of the country, and a source of income to farmers and processors. Cassava gari processing methods result to residue fiber (solid waste) from the sieving operation, these residue fibers ( solid wastes) can be dried and milled into flour and used to prepare cakes, cookies, crackers and chin-chin instead of being thrown away mostly on farmland or near the residential area. Flour for baking or frying may contain carbohydrates and protein (wheat flour) or rich in only carbohydrates (cassava flour). Cake, cookies, crackers, and chin-chin were prepared using the residue flour obtained from the residue fiber of cassava variety NR87184 roots, processed into gari. This study is aimed at evaluating the proximate composition, mineral content and sensory attributes of these selected snacks produced. The proximate composition results obtained showed that crackers had the lowest value in moisture (2.3390%) and fat (1.7130%), but highest in carbohydrates (85.2310%). Amongst the food products, cakes recorded the highest value in protein (8.0910%). Crude fibre values ranges from 2.5265% (cookies) to 3.4165% (crackers). The result of the mineral contents showed cookies ranking the highest in Phosphorus (65.8535 ppm) and Iron (0.1150 mg/L), Calcium (1.3800mg/L) and Potassium (7.2850 mg/L) contents, while chin-chin and crackers were lowest in Sodium ( 2.7000 mg/L). The food products were also subjected to sensory attributes evaluation by thirty member panelists using 9-hedonic scale which ranged from 1 ( dislike extremely) to 9 (like extremely). The means score obtained shows all the food products having above 7.00 (above “like moderately”). This study has shown that food products that may be functional or nutraceuticals could be prepared from the residue flour. There is a call for the use of gluten-free flour in baking due to ciliac disease and other allergic causes by gluten. Therefore local carbohydrates food crops like cassava residue flour that are gluten-free, could be the solution. In addition, this could aid cassava gari processing waste management thereby reducing post-harvest losses of cassava root.

Keywords: allergy, flour, food-products, gluten-free

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Authors: M. Barsa

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This paper argues that current jurisprudence under the Dormant Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution and the WTO should be altered to allow states to more freely foster clean energy production. In particular, free trade regimes typically prevent states from discriminating against 'like' products, and whether these products are considered 'like' is typically measured by how they appear to the consumer. This makes it challenging for states to discriminate in favor of clean energy, such as low-carbon fuels. However, this paper points out that certain courts in the US—and decisions of the WTO—have already begun taking into account how a product is manufactured in order to determine whether a state may discriminate against it. There are also compelling reasons for states to discriminate against energy sources with high carbon footprints in order to allow those states to protect themselves against climate change. In other words, fuel sources with high and low carbon footprints are not, in fact, 'like' products, and courts should more freely recognize this in order to foster clean energy production.

Keywords: clean energy, climate change, discrimination, free trade

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Authors: Albena Ivanova, Jill Kurp, Austin Hampe

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Cereal products in the US contain rich information on the front of the package (FOP) as well as point-of-purchase (POP) summaries provided by the store. These summaries frequently are confusing and misleading to the consumer. This study explores the relationship between perceived quality, objective quality, price, and value in the cold cereal industry. A total of 270 cold cereal products were analyzed and the price, quality and value for different summaries were compared using ANOVA tests. The results provide evidence that the United States Department of Agriculture Organic FOP/POP are related to higher objective quality, higher price, but not to a higher value. Whole grain FOP/POP related to a higher objective quality, lower or similar price, and higher value. Heart-healthy POP related to higher objective quality, similar price, and higher value. Gluten-free FOP/POP related to lower objective quality, higher price, and lower value. Kid's cereals were of lower objective quality, same price, and lower value compared to family and adult markets. The findings point to a disturbing tendency of companies to continue to produce lower quality products for the kids’ market, pricing them the same as high-quality products. The paper outlines strategies that marketers and policymakers can utilize to contribute to the increased objective quality and value of breakfast cereal products in the United States.

Keywords: cereals, certifications, front-of-package claims, consumer health.

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: A. Brunel, A. Kernevez, F. Leclere, J. Trenteseaux

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Today, wine quality is only evaluated by wine experts with their own different personal tastes, even if they may agree on some common features. So producers do not have any unbiased way to independently assess the quality of their products. A tool is here proposed to evaluate wine quality by an objective ranking based upon the variables entering wine elaboration, and analysed through principal component analysis (PCA) method. Actual climatic data are compared by measuring the relative distance between each considered wine, out of which the general ranking is performed.

Keywords: wine, grape, weather conditions, rating, climate, principal component analysis, metric analysis

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Authors: S. Lungtae, C. Noknoi

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The main purpose of this research is to analyze the marketing strategies of the various five-star rated herbal businesses of One Tambon One Product (OTOP) entrepreneurs in Songkhla province, Thailand. This includes the targeting, positioning and marketing mix in order to develop marketing strategies for OTOP entrepreneurs. The data were collected from the presidents of herbal-product enterprises in Songkhla province. The products of all these enterprises were selected as five-star herbal products for the OTOP project in 2012. In-depth interviews were conducted, and content analysis was used to analyze the data. The research found that the community enterprises should 1) increase the range of product sizes offered, 2) increase their distribution channels, 3) publicize more to inform consumers about their identities and products, 4) undertake promotional activities during the festival, and 5) choose salespeople who are knowledgeable about the features of their products.

Keywords: marketing mix, market positioning, marketing strategies, target market.

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: Ammar Y. Alqahtani

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In order to minimize the negative impact on the environment, it is essential to manage the waste that generated from the premature disposal of end-of-life (EOL) products properly. Consequently, government and international organizations introduced new policies and regulations to minimize the amount of waste being sent to landfills. Moreover, the consumers’ awareness regards environment has forced original equipment manufacturers to consider being more environmentally conscious. Therefore, manufacturers have thought of different ways to deal with waste generated from EOL products viz., remanufacturing, reusing, recycling, or disposing of EOL products. The rate of depletion of virgin natural resources and their dependency on the natural resources can be reduced by manufacturers when EOL products are treated as remanufactured, reused, or recycled, as well as this will cut on the amount of harmful waste sent to landfills. However, disposal of EOL products contributes to the problem and therefore is used as a last option. Number of EOL need to be estimated in order to fulfill the components demand. Then, disassembly process needs to be performed to extract individual components and subassemblies. Smart products, built with sensors embedded and network connectivity to enable the collection and exchange of data, utilize sensors that are implanted into products during production. These sensors are used for remanufacturers to predict an optimal warranty policy and time period that should be offered to customers who purchase remanufactured components and products. Sensor-provided data can help to evaluate the overall condition of a product, as well as the remaining lives of product components, prior to perform a disassembly process. In this paper, a multi-period disassembly-to-order (DTO) model is developed that takes into consideration the different system uncertainties. The DTO model is solved using Nonlinear Programming (NLP) in multiple periods. A DTO system is considered where a variety of EOL products are purchased for disassembly. The model’s main objective is to determine the best combination of EOL products to be purchased from every supplier in each period which maximized the total profit of the system while satisfying the demand. This paper also addressed the impact of sensor embedded products on the cost of warranties. Lastly, this paper presented and analyzed a case study involving various simulation conditions to illustrate the applicability of the model.

Keywords: closed-loop supply chains, environmentally conscious manufacturing, product recovery, reverse logistics

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Authors: Ergün Şakalar, Şeyma Özçirak Ergün

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Pistachio nuts, the fruits of the pistachio tree (Pistacia vera), are edible tree nuts highly valued for their organoleptic properties. Pistachio nuts used in snack foods, chocolates, baklava, meat products, ice-cream industries and other gourmet products as ingredients. Undeclared pistachios may be present in food products as a consequence of fraudulent substitution. Control of food samples is very important for safety and fraud. Mix of pistachio, peanut (Arachis hypogaea), pea (Pisum sativum L.) used instead of pistachio in food products, because pistachio is a considerably expensive nut. To solve this problem, a sensitive polymerase chain reaction PCR has been developed. A real-time PCR assay for the detection of pea, peanut and pistachio in baklava was designed by using EvaGreen fluorescence dye. Primers were selected from powerful regions for identification of pea, peanut and pistachio. DNA from reference samples and industrial products were successfully extracted with the GIDAGEN® Multi-Fast DNA Isolation Kit. Genomes were identified based on their specific melting peaks (Mp) which are 77°C, 85.5°C and 82.5°C for pea, peanut and pistachio, respectively. Homogenized mixtures of raw pistachio, pea and peanut were prepared with the ratio of 0.01%, 0.1%, 1%, 10%, 40% and 70% of pistachio. Quantitative detection limit of assay was 0.1% for pistachio. Also, real-time PCR technique used in this study allowed the qualitative detection of as little as 0.001% level of peanut DNA, 0,000001% level of pistachio DNA and 0.000001% level of pea DNA in the experimental admixtures. This assay represents a potentially valuable diagnostic method for detection of nut species adulterated with pistachio as well as for highly specific and relatively rapid detection of small amounts of pistachio in food samples.

Keywords: pea, peanut, pistachio, real-time PCR

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Mohamed Saad Gad Eloghby

Abstract:

Nanomaterials are widely used nowadays for the consolidation of degraded archaeological limestone. It’s one of the most predominant stones in monumental buildings and statuary works. Exposure to different weathering processes caused degradation and the presence of deterioration pattern as cracks, fissures, and granular disintegration. Nanomaterials have been applied to limestone consolidation. Among these nanomaterials are nanolimes, i.e., dispersions of lime nanoparticles in alcohols and nanosilica, i.e., dispersions of silica nanoparticles in water promising consolidating products for limestone. It was investigated and applied to overcome the disadvantages of traditional consolidation materials such as lime water, water glass and paraliod. So, researchers investigated and tested the effectiveness of nanomaterials as consolidation materials for limestone. The present study includes the evaluation of some nano materials in consolidation limestone stone in comparison with traditional consolidantes. These consolidation materials are nano calcium hydroxide nanolime and nanosilica. The latter is known commercially as Nano Estel and the former is known as Nanorestore compared to traditional consolidantes Wacker OH (ethyl silicate) and Paraloid B72 (a copolymer of ethyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate). The study evaluated the consolidation effectiveness of nanomaterials and traditional consolidantes by using followed methods, Characterization of physical properties of stone, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Mechanical properties. The study confirmed that nanomaterials were better in the distribution and encapsulation of calcite grains in limestone, and traditional materials were better in improving the physical properties of limestone. It demonstrated that good results can be achieved through mixtures of nanomaterials and traditional consolidants.

Keywords: nanomaterials, limestone, consolidation, evaluation, weathering, nanolime, nanosilica, scanning electron microscope

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Chutikarn Sriwiboon, Suwaree Yordchim

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Benjarong handicraft product is one of the most important handicraft products from Thailand. It involves the management of traditional wisdom of arts and Thai culture. This paper drew upon data collection from local communities by using an in-depth interview technique which was conducted in Thailand during summer of 2014. The survey was structured primarily to obtain local wisdom and concerns toward their career development. This research paper was a qualitative research conducted by focus groups with a total of 51 cooperative women and occupational groups around Thailand which produced the Benjarong products. The data were significantly collected from many sources and many communities, which totaled 24,430 handicraft products, in which the 668 different patterns of Benjarong products were produced by 51 local community network groups in Thailand. The findings revealed that after applying the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy, there was a significantly positive change in their career development and the process of knowledge management enables local community to enhance their personal development and career.

Keywords: Benjarong, career development, community, handicraft

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Authors: C. Rana, S. K. Jain

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The enormous amount of Web data has challenged its usage in efficient manner in the past few years. As such, a range of techniques are applied to tackle this problem; prominent among them is personalization and recommender system. In fact, these are the tools that assist user in finding relevant information of web. Most of the e-commerce websites are applying such tools in one way or the other. In the past decade, a large number of recommendation algorithms have been proposed to tackle such problems. However, there have not been much research in the evaluation criteria for these algorithms. As such, the traditional accuracy and classification metrics are still used for the evaluation purpose that provides a static view. This paper studies how the evolution of user preference over a period of time can be mapped in a recommender system using a new evaluation methodology that explicitly using time dimension. We have also presented different types of experimental set up that are generally used for recommender system evaluation. Furthermore, an overview of major accuracy metrics and metrics that go beyond the scope of accuracy as researched in the past few years is also discussed in detail.

Keywords: collaborative filtering, data mining, evolutionary, clustering, algorithm, recommender systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 407

Authors: Badli Shah Mohd Yusoff, Khairur Rijal Jamaludin, Rozetta Dollah

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The emerging of reverse logistics and product recovery management is an important concept in reconciling economic and environmental objectives through recapturing values of the end of life product returns. End of life products contains valuable modules, parts, residues and materials that can create value if recovered efficiently. The main objective of this study is to explore and develop a model to recover as much of the economic value as reasonably possible to find the optimality of return acquisition and sorting to meet demand and maximize profits over time. In this study, the benefits that can be obtained for remanufacturer is to develop demand forecasting of used products in the future with uncertainty of returns and quality of products. Formulated based on a generic disassembly tree, the proposed model focused on three reverse logistics activity, namely refurbish, remanufacture and disposal incorporating all plausible means quality levels of the returns. While stricter sorting policy, constitute to the decrease amount of products to be refurbished or remanufactured and increases the level of discarded products. Numerical experiments carried out to investigate the characteristics and behaviour of the proposed model with mathematical programming model using Lingo 16.0 for medium-term planning of return acquisition, disassembly (refurbish or remanufacture) and disposal activities. Moreover, the model seeks an analysis a number of decisions relating to trade off management system to maximize revenue from the collection of use products reverse logistics services through refurbish and remanufacture recovery options. The results showed that full utilization in the sorting process leads the system to obtain less quantity from acquisition with minimal overall cost. Further, sensitivity analysis provides a range of possible scenarios to consider in optimizing the overall cost of refurbished and remanufactured products.

Keywords: core acquisition, end of life, reverse logistics, quality uncertainty

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Authors: Tamar Lazariashvili

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The paper examines the market of bioproducts in the world and in Georgia. The experience of European countries in the field of production of bioproducts is shown, the level of interest of the population in these products is presented, and the tendency of the demand for them to grow is evaluated. Objectives. The purpose of the research is to identify modern challenges and develop recommendations for development opportunities based on the analysis of the European and local market of organic products. Methodologies. General and specific methods are used in the research process: comparative analysis, induction, deduction. A desk study has been conducted. Findings. It has been revealed that the production of organic products in Georgia is significantly behind the European requirements, in the market of organic products of Georgia there is a formation of a layer of consumers who are in favor of healthy food and are ready to pay a different price. Conclusions. Based on the analysis of the bioproducts market, appropriate recommendations are proposed, namely, the introduction of innovative technologies; financial and legal support by the state; provision of consulting services on the tax system; Elimination of asymmetric information in the market and others.

Keywords: bioproducts market, European experience, production of bioproducts, layer of consumers.

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Authors: Jimmy L. Caldoza, Erlito M. Albina

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Information Systems are increasingly being used to monitor and assess government projects as well as improve transparency and combat corruption. With reference to existing information systems relevant to monitoring and evaluation systems adopted by various government agencies from other countries, this research paper aims to help the Philippine government, particularly the Department of Agriculture, in assessing the impact of their programs and projects on their target beneficiaries through the development of the web-based Monitoring and Evaluation Information System with the application of a short messaging system (sms) technology.

Keywords: monitoring and evaluation system, web-based information system, short messaging system technology, database structure and management

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Sheriff Muhammad Ibrahim, Tijjani Muhammad

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The study assesses the Islamic Microfinance Bank's role in promoting customers' social welfare, using the newly developed products of Yobe Microfinance Bank to encourage inclusion and alleviate poverty in the Yobe communities. Yobe state is ranked bottom as the poorest in the region and scores low on human development and poverty alleviation. It is clearly indicated low education rates, poor implementation of government policies on poverty, and a high rate of financial exclusion. The study adopted a qualitative approach using random sampling to collect data from customers of Yobe Microfinance Bank. Using the acceptability of the newly introduced sharia complaint products of Yobe Microfinance among the people in Yobe state, using the Structural Equation Modelling, a total of 300 respondents completed the survey using a Likert scale. The study employed Structural Equation Modeling to analyze and test reliability and validity to provide accuracy of respondents' information. The finding indicates the positive relationship between Islamic banking products and customer satisfaction. The study concludes that introducing and consistently managing Islamic products can improve social welfare and reduce poverty through financial inclusion in the state.

Keywords: islamic microfinance, social welfare, products, poverty

Procedia PDF Downloads 121

Authors: Rana Alaa El-Deen Ahmed, M. Elemam Shehab, Shereen Morsy, Nermeen Mekawie

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With the growing popularity and acceptance of e-commerce platforms, users face an ever increasing burden in actually choosing the right product from the large number of online offers. Thus, techniques for personalization and shopping guides are needed by users. For a pleasant and successful shopping experience, users need to know easily which products to buy with high confidence. Since selling a wide variety of products has become easier due to the popularity of online stores, online retailers are able to sell more products than a physical store. The disadvantage is that the customers might not find products they need. In this research the customer will be able to find the products he is searching for, because recommender systems are used in some ecommerce web sites. Recommender system learns from the information about customers and products and provides appropriate personalized recommendations to customers to find the needed product. In this paper eleven classification algorithms are comparatively tested to find the best classifier fit for consumer online shopping attitudes and behavior in the experimented dataset. The WEKA knowledge analysis tool, which is an open source data mining workbench software used in comparing conventional classifiers to get the best classifier was used in this research. In this research by using the data mining tool (WEKA) with the experimented classifiers the results show that decision table and filtered classifier gives the highest accuracy and the lowest accuracy classification via clustering and simple cart.

Keywords: classification, data mining, machine learning, online shopping, WEKA

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Authors: Henry Lau, Dilupa Nakandala, Li Zhao

Abstract:

All along the length of the supply chain, fresh food firms face the challenge of managing both product quality, due to the perishable nature of the products, and product cost. This paper develops a method to assist logistics managers upstream in the fresh food supply chain in making cost optimized decisions regarding transportation, with the objective of minimizing the total cost while maintaining the quality of food products above acceptable levels. Considering the case of multiple fresh food products collected from multiple farms being transported to a warehouse or a retailer, this study develops a total cost model that includes various costs incurred during transportation. The practical application of the model is illustrated by using several computational intelligence approaches including Genetic Algorithms (GA), Fuzzy Genetic Algorithms (FGA) as well as an improved Simulated Annealing (SA) procedure applied with a repair mechanism for efficiency benchmarking. We demonstrate the practical viability of these approaches by using a simulation study based on pertinent data and evaluate the simulation outcomes. The application of the proposed total cost model was demonstrated using three approaches of GA, FGA and SA with a repair mechanism. All three approaches are adoptable; however, based on the performance evaluation, it was evident that the FGA is more likely to produce a better performance than the other two approaches of GA and SA. This study provides a pragmatic approach for supporting logistics and supply chain practitioners in fresh food industry in making important decisions on the arrangements and procedures related to the transportation of multiple fresh food products to a warehouse from multiple farms in a cost-effective way without compromising product quality. This study extends the literature on cold supply chain management by investigating cost and quality optimization in a multi-product scenario from farms to a retailer and, minimizing cost by managing the quality above expected quality levels at delivery. The scalability of the proposed generic function enables the application to alternative situations in practice such as different storage environments and transportation conditions.

Keywords: cost optimization, food supply chain, fuzzy sets, genetic algorithms, product quality, transportation

Procedia PDF Downloads 216

Authors: Abdinasir Mohamed, Ashraf El-Hamalawi, Steven Yeomans, Matthew Frost, Andy Connell

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The evaluation and selection of appropriate software solutions to meet with an organisation’s inherent business requirements can be a problematic software engineering process that if done incorrectly can have a significant, costly and adverse effect on the business and its processes. The aim of this paper is to show the process and evaluation criteria followed to select the right engineering solution for the identified business requirement. The research adopted an action research method within an organisation in the oil and gas industry, which required a solution suitable for conducting stress analysis for soil-pipeline interaction analysis (SPIA). Through the use of the presented software selection and evaluation approach, to capture and measure key requirements, it was possible to determine a suitable software for the organisation. This paper investigates methodologies for selecting software packages, software evaluation techniques, and software evaluation criteria in evaluating software packages before providing an explanation of the developed methodology adopted. The key findings of the study are: (1) that there is a need to create a framework for software selection methodologies, (2) there are no universal selection criteria in the engineering industry, and (3) there is a need to validate the findings by creating an application based on the evaluation technique and evaluation criteria for selecting software packages for the engineering industry. The findings of the study are offered to support organisations in the oil and gas sector improve software selection methodologies for SPIA.

Keywords: software evaluation, end user programs, soil pipeline analysis, software selection

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Laxuman Thakuri

Abstract:

Community-based forest management is often glorified as one of the best forest management alternatives in the developing countries like Nepal. It is also believed that the transfer of forest management authorities to local communities is decisive to take efficient decisions, maximize the forest benefits and improve the people’s livelihood. The community forestry of Nepal also aims to maximize the forest benefits; share them among the user households and improve their livelihood. However, how the local communities fix the price of forest products and local pricing made by the forest user groups affects to equitable forest benefits-sharing among the user households and their livelihood improvement objectives, the answer is largely silent among the researchers and policy-makers alike. This study examines local pricing system of forest products in the lowland community forestry and its effects on equitable benefit-sharing and livelihood improvement objectives. The study discovered that forest user groups fixed the price of forest products based on three criteria: i) costs incur in harvesting, ii) office operation costs, and iii) livelihood improvement costs through community development and income generating activities. Since user households have heterogeneous socio-economic conditions, the forest user groups have been applied low pricing strategy even for high-value forest products that the access of socio-economically worse-off households can be increased. However, the results of forest products distribution showed that as a result of low pricing strategy the access of socio-economically better-off households has been increasing at higher rate than worse-off and an inequality situation has been created. Similarly, the low pricing strategy is also found defective to livelihood improvement objectives. The study suggests for revising the forest products pricing system in community forest management and reforming the community forestry policy as well.

Keywords: community forestry, forest products pricing, equitable benefit-sharing, livelihood improvement, Nepal

Procedia PDF Downloads 293

Authors: Kathaleeya Chanda

Abstract:

The objectives of the research on the development of printed media for public relations of community products in Bang Khonthi District, Samut Songkram Province were to; 1) develop printed media for public relations of community products in Bang Khonthi District, Samut Songkram Province and 2) study the satisfaction towards the printed media for public relations of community products in Bang Khonthi District, Samut Songkram Province. The study was on the satisfaction focused on content, illustration, design, and quality. The sampling group of this study included 30 local community producers selected by probability sampling and simple random sampling. The research procedure consisted of 4 phases; 1) problem and situation study, 2) the development of printed media for public relations, 3) research tool development, and 4) data collection. Questionnaires to evaluate the satisfaction of local community producers towards the printed media for public relation were used to collect data which were analysed to find percentage, arithmetic means, and standard deviation. The results showed that the informants reported their satisfaction on 4 aspects as follows: 1) very high satisfaction on the content, 2) high satisfaction on the illustration, 3) very high satisfaction on the design, and 4) very high satisfaction on the product quality. This can be concluded that the developed printed media for public relations of community products can be used effectively with high satisfaction.

Keywords: printed media, public relations, community products in Bang Khonthi district, Samut Songkram Province

Procedia PDF Downloads 441