No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

M.Tech. (Industrial Engineering) / Material handling is never value-adding, but always increases the production costs. The objective of any new handling system should therefore be to reduce handling and then to find cost-effective solutions for those operations that cannot be eliminated. The systems approach can be used to analyse and solve material handling problems, ensuring that all alternatives are considered. This increases the likelihood of a successful project. The feasibility study should be used at the outset of a project to ensure that a shortlist of the best solutions can be made. This is done before major capital expense is incurred. Thereafter, a systematic procedure guides the project from a concept design, to a few selected option, then to the simulation of the proposed system and finally to the installation plan and construction. The systems approach is often preferred by management, because the financial and technical issues are quantified and therefore reduce the risk of a bad investment. Ultimately, a new material handling system, if required at all, should minimise production costs and therefore be an asset instead of a liability to the company.

M.B.A. / The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate the levels of supply chain process innovation within medium to large chilled-process meat manufacturing organisations throughout South Africa. As well as to compare their levels of process innovation with data obtained from successful process innovators (as recognised by Supply Chain/Logistics Associations and or Organisations) and finally to map out a method for improving supply chain process innovation for chilled-process meat manufacturing organisations. The research methodology employed in this study was to determine the current levels of warehousing performance within chilled-processed meat manufacturing organisations. The second process in the methodology was to analyse the qualitative data by means of a computer based programme. Thirdly, the researcher had to determine if a relationship exist between the warehousing processes within a company and the use of technology. Finally the researcher had to identify steps which chilled-process meat manufacturers could adopt in order to develop into better warehousing process innovators. The major findings of this research study were that the levels of logistical excellence of the chilled process meat manufacturing organisations are significantly lower than that of successful process innovators. This was based on the fact that the researcher selected six questionnaire items to develop the dependent variables for the purposes of assessing its measures of central tendency and dispersion. The results of a correlation matrix showed that the correlation pattern of the six items and fifteen pairs, five were significant at the 95% confidence level and the same five were significant at the 99% level. On the basis of the analytical tools used, the researcher concludes that the levels of warehousing process innovation and logistical excellence were indeed lower in chilled-process meat manufactures than in world-class organisations.