Business Process Analysis: A Case of Primary Shrimp Processor

Shrimp industry is important for Thai economy due to high volume of export. However, there is an increasing trend in shrimp consumption in domestic market as well. Our objective is to study the current supply chain of a medium sized primary shrimp processor in Samut Sakhon province. First, we analyze its business process and identify the problems and propose the improvement. The business process is analyzed by using Integration Definition for Function Modeling (IDEF0) to illustrate major activities in the current situation of primary processing facility. Next, we propose guidelines to improve efficiency in each activity. We found that the temperature control material of shrimp during production is ice since it is convenient and need low investment. In summary, the appropriate material to control the temperature is important to minimize cost and maintain the quality of shrimp. In addition, the proper production processes can increase the productivity

Reduce Loss During Transportation: A Case Study of Fresh Vegetables in Thailand

The cold chain management is the temperature control process which is essential for maintain the quality of fresh produce from upstream to the consumer in the supply chain so that the loss is minimized. Our objectives are to monitor the temperature during transportation, analyses and identify the problem cause loss of fresh vegetables by using causal-loop diagram. We monitor the temperature during transportation of fresh vegetables from a farm in Northern Thailand to a packing house in the central Thailand around 750 kms. for 17 to 18 hours. The fresh vegetables are packed in a stereo foam box with the cool packs and pile up on the back of a truck. At the packing house, fresh vegetables are bruised and rotten and loss about 30-40 percent by weight. The temperature is monitored by the data loggers. The result showed that the temperature inside the box during transport is 20oC-30oC where the range of external temperature is 20oC-40oC. Then, we suggest how to reduce loss by using proper management such as suitable material to control the temperature during transportation, location of box in the truck and packing method

EOQ models for a coordinated two-level international supply chain considering imperfect items and environmental impact

For a two-level supply chain, models are presented to determine the optimal production-shipment policy for items with imperfect quality in three different scenarios: (a) both the vendor and the buyer are in the same country, (b) the vendor and the buyer are in different countries where the stochastic behavior of the exchange rate between the two countries is modeled using a mean-reverting process, and (c) environmental impact is incorporated in determining the optimal production-shipment policy by taking into account the fixed and variable carbon emission costs. The objective is to minimize the total expected cost per unit time. For each scenario, considering equal shipment size, the total expected cost per unit time is derived and the solution procedure is proposed. Numerical examples are presented and the results are discussed.Economic order quantity Coordination Imperfect quality Exchange rate Environmental impact