Performance Optimizing of a Sanitary Towel Production Plant Using Reliability Model

The study was conducted in a rm that manufactures sanitary pads and babies disposable towels which production is below the installed capacity as a result of high production downtime that resulted from incessant breakdown of the subsystems of the production system. The aim of the study was to reduce the production downtime signi cantly, thereby optimizing the machine time, and consequently, raising the reliability of the production system. The research work obtained machine breakdown records from the production unit and used the data to estimate the reliability of the production system to be 0.708. This showed that the production system was idle for about 30% of the total machine time, thereby incurring a huge production loss. The hazard rates of vital subsystems obtained, as well as the provision of redundancy for some subsystem as appropriate helped to determine the improved reliability of the production system to be 0.862. The study concludes that reliability model could be an e ective tool in performance optimization of a production system.Keywords: production system, downtime, reliability, maintenance, redundancy, hazard rat

Implications of middlemen in the supply chain of agricultural products

This paper appraised the roles of middlemen in the distribution of agricultural products and the inherent implications to food security. The results showed that climate and weather are known limiting factors of production in agriculture. Also, middlemen intervention raise price for consumers. The result showed that farmers encounter high production costs in their efforts to boost production but hardly get fair pricing of their products from the middlemen, the bulk farm gate buyers. The real profit goes to the middlemen who buy up the farm products at almost give away prices and sell at outrageous prices to the consumers. This attitude of middle men have discouraged genuine investors getting into agriculture because of the marginal profit associated with it as the middle men cart away the bulk of the profits. Thus, the activities of middlemen seem to be a threat to food security

Animal Agriculture as Panacea for Increased Protein Intake in Nigeria

The world’s population is expected to increase from 6 billion to more than 7.5 billion by 2020. This burgeoning population may require a doubling of animal protein and a corresponding doubling of feed grains demand. Nigeria is currently the most populous black nation in the world with the threat of nutritional deficiency facing its citizens as a result of high cost and inadequate supply of animal protein. Malnutrition has been blamed for the physical handicap and low performance of Nigerian workers, lack of initiative and drive, susceptibility to endemic and infectious diseases and of course poverty. Supply of meat and milk in Nigeria must be increased considerably through animal agriculture in the next 20 to 50 years so as to fast-track nutritional well-being and economic development. The prospects of achieving food security in a rapidly growing population and relative self-sufficiency in animal protein supply calls for the production of all classes of meat animals, notably poultry, swine, sheep goat, cattle, rabbit etc, which are currently produced at subsistence level. The future of animal agriculture as a panacea to increased protein intake is brighter if federal and state governments and those involved in policy formulation should realize that livestock is a security factor and tackle the problems head-on. This will usher in an era of nutritionally stable Nigerian population indicated by improved standard of living and other economic indices