Pinch-based targeting for production planning for small and medium enterprise

Pinch analysis techniques have been widely used as systematic design tools in the chemical process industry over the past decades. However, there has been very limited work on the use of pinch analysis in the area of production planning. Some of the common problems encountered by Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are fluctuation of demand and supply of goods, inadequate warehouse, machine allocation problem, and the lack of factory space. With the application of systematic production planning techniques based on pinch analysis, these problems can now be resolved. The research objective of this dissertation is to develop novel graphical tools for production planning for the SMEs. In this dissertation, new pinch targeting techniques known as production planning pinch diagram and production planning grand composite curve (PPGCC) are presented to assist production planning in the SMEs. The research methodology adopted was from similar graphical tools utilized for the recovery of energy, material resources, carbon capture and storage, production supply chain and human resource planning in the chemical process industry. The targeting techniques are graphical in nature where pinch point that acts as production bottleneck can be identified and opportunities for operational changes can be explored easily. Four illustrative examples and four industrial case studies were done to demonstrate how pinch analysis could be used to solve the various production planning problems faced by the SMEs. The case studies show that pinch analysis is practical for the manufacturing industries and provides tangible benefits such as cost savings from reduction of outsourcing and lead time, as well as better cash flow management. The developed methodology in this dissertation can also be extended to a broad range of applications, such as large scale manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, aquaculture, livestock, infrastructure development, forestry, medical, automotive, immigration, town planning and construction

Physiochemical changes and nutritional content of black garlic during fermentation

This study was conducted to understand the reactions involved in black garlic fermentation, and thereby to determine its maturity stage. Black garlic was produced from fresh garlic after fermentation at 70–75 °C and 80–90% relative humidity up to 12 days in this study. The enzymatic hydrolysis of fructans and oligosaccharides, and endophytic bacterial action were likely to be the dominant processes at the initial stage, and followed by non-enzymatic browning Maillard reaction. Fructose was initially detected at the highest concentration and started to decrease after 10 days together with the exponential increase of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) content. The predominant acids were citric and succinic acids, whereas potassium was the most abundant minerals. The loss of pungent smell could be attributed to the degradation of sulfur containing compounds. The pH of fresh garlic was 6.61, and gradually decreased to 8 days. Garlic fermentation involved multiple reactions including enzymatic hydrolysis, endophytic bacterial action, and non-enzymatic browning reaction to achieve maturity after 8 days