ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Optimal production scheduling: A case study of Everpure Ghana Limited

The manufacturing industry undoubtedly has immeasurable impart on countries worldwide. It has opened up business opportunities, create jobs, and improved quality of life. It thus improves the socio-economic development of nations. For instance, in 2012, the manufacturing industry contributed $1.87 trillion to the united states’ economy. This was 11.9% of the united United States’ total GDP(Gross Domestic Product). In the same way, in Ghana, it accounted for 27.6% of GDP in 2011. The pivotal role of the manufacturing industry to the global economy is therefore not in doubt. The main objectives of this study among others were to establish a good production schedule that will satisfy future demand for the manufacturing industry, determine how to optimize a production scheduling using transportation model and establish schedule formulation and analyze using MATLAB software. The study modeled the production problem as a transportation problem which involve determine how to optimally transport goods.In a balanced transportation problem, the supply must be equal to the demand. The initial basic feasible solution is found using the Vogel’s Approximation Method and to iterate to optimality, the Modified Distribution Method (MODI) is used. A twelve month data on production capacity at Everpure Ghana Limited is collected for the study. The methods used have proven appropriate in obtaining the optimum schedule. From the result, it is clear that efficient scheduling could reduce production and inventory cost whilst satisfying customer demand.

Source: KNUST
The optimal production-transportation problem of Latex Foam Ghana Ltd.

Manufacturing firms are tasked to produce to meet market demand at a minimum cost. Production and transportation are the major components of total cost to such firms. Coordinating production and distribution functions of such firms is seen as a step towards cost optimization. Latex Foam Ghana. Ltd. was incorporated in March, 1969 to produce quality foam products for the bedding and furniture Industry. In this thesis, we assume that the customers' monthly demand for high density mattress as well as the monthly production capacities of each plant is known. We consider the problem of finding an optimal monthly production program for each plant as well as the optimal monthly transportation of products to customers for which the sum of the production and transportation costs is minimized. We solve the production and transportation planning problems sequentially each by the transportation model for the available data from Latex Foam Ghana Ltd for the 2012 operation year. As a result we get a complete solution consisting of production and transportation plans. The study revealed that with the introduction this model, management could reduce production and transportation cost by 43% and 38% respectively. The model is useful for annual budget planning and financial planning. The proposed model solution has demonstrated improvement in cost optimization as compared to the rule-of-thumb based planning.

Source: KNUST
Optimal production scheduling: Case Study Texstyle Ghana Limited Tema

Many manufacturing firms generate and update production schedules, which are plans that state when certain controllable activities (e.g., processing of jobs by resources) should take place. As production systems expand, there is the tendency for the scheduling activities to become complex. When viewed from the problem-solving perspective, production scheduling is a fascinating puzzle to be solved by moving tasks around a Gantt chart, searching for the optimal solution. The organizational perspective, which is the most complete, views production scheduling as a system of decision-making that transforms information about the manufacturing system into a plan (the production schedule). Schedulers must perform a variety of tasks and use both formal and informal information to make scheduling decisions. Previous production scheduling involves complicated iterative procedures. A new approach brings out the basic principles and leads to a simple solution. The objective of this study is to establish an efficient optimum production schedule that will minimize the total production and inventory cost whilst satisfying customer demands for TexStyle Ghana Limited. The Vogel’s Approximation Method (VAM) was used to find an Initial Basic Feasible Solution (IBFS). Improving the solution to optimality was carried out by using the Modified Distribution Method (MODI). The production problem was modelled as a transportation problem. Optimality conditions were satisfied and a solution was found using Excel Solver. Results from the analysis indicated that customer demands could be satisfied without necessarily running overtime production throughout the year and that an efficient production schedule could ensure cost reduction, optimum utilization of capacity, proper inventory control and management, quality and ultimate optimality.

Source: KNUST
Optimal Resource Allocation Using Knapsack Problems: a Case Study of Television Advertisements at Ghana Television (GTV)

The Knapsack Problems are among the simplest integer programs which are NP-hard. Problems in this class are typically concerned with selecting from a set of given items, each with a specified weight and value, a subset of items whose weight sum does not exceed a prescribed capacity and whose value is maximum. The specific problem that arises depends on the number of knapsacks (single or multiple) to be filled and on the number of available items of each type (bounded or unbounded). Because of their wide range of applicability, knapsack problems have known a large number of variations such as: single and multiple-constrained knapsacks, knapsacks with disjunctive constraints, multidimensional knapsacks, multiple choice knapsacks, single and multiple objective knapsacks, integer, linear, non-linear knapsacks, deterministic and stochastic knapsacks, knapsacks with convex / concave objective functions, etc. The classical 0-1 Knapsack Problem arises when there is one knapsack and one item of each type. Knapsack Problems have been intensively studied over the past forty (40) years because of their direct application to problems arising in industry (for example, cargo loading, cutting stock, and budgeting) and also for their contribution to the solution methods for integer programming problems. Several exact algorithms based on branch and bound, dynamic programming and heuristics have been proposed to solve the Knapsack Problems. This thesis considers the application of classical 0-1 knapsack problem with a single constraint to selection of television advertisements at critical periods such as Prime time News, news adjacencies, Break in News and peak times. The Television (TV) stations have to schedule programmes interspersed with adverts or commercials which are the main sources of income of broadcasting stations. The goal in scheduling commercials is to achieve wider audience satisfaction and making maximum income from the commercials or adverts. Our approach is flexible and can incorporate the use of the knapsack for Profit maximization in the TV adverts selection problem. Our work focuses on using a simple heuristic scheme (Simple flip) for the solution of knapsack problems. We show that the results from the heuristic method compares favourably with the well known meta-heuristic methods such as Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing. The thesis shows how television advertisement at critical segments such as prime time news (19:00 GMT) and news adjacencies (five minutes before and after news time) can be prioritized to rake in the maximum returns to support operations of a national Television station (GTV). The computer solution developed could be used for any problem that can be modeled as single 0-1 knapsack problem.

Source: KNUST
Optimal Resource Allocation of a Cocoa Processing Company: Application of Integer Programming with Implicit Enumeration

Most cocoa producing countries are moving from the traditional export of raw cocoa beans to cocoa processing countries due to the hike in profit at the finished end of the production chain. For example; cocoa processing Company Ghana Limited has been increasing in production tonnage consistently from two thousand (2,000) tonnes in 1983 to sixty two thousand five hundred (62,500) tonnes, currently. This thesis describes the resource allocation problem of Cocoa Processing Company Ltd. as an integer programming problem. We applied integer programming algorithm to solve the company’s resource allocation problem. Our research focused on the use of the integer programming problem for resource allocation given limited available funds for Cocoa Processing Company Ltd. in Ghana. The objective of this study is to mathematically model resource allocation problem of the Ghana cocoa processing company in the processing of the cocoa beans as a means of adding value to Ghana’s cocoa to earn higher foreign exchange. In our methodology, we used the implicit enumeration algorithms in solving our problem. First, the algorithm was presented. A real life computational study was performed to evaluate the algorithms. We used the Quantitative Method (QM 32) to analyze our data. Cocoa Processing Company Ltd. resource allocation problem for the processing of the cocoa beans into various consumable products was modelled as integer programming problem. The Quantitative Method (QM 32) software was used to analyze the data collected from the Company Processing Company Ltd. The optimal value was GH¢770,000.00. It was observed that the solution that gave this achievable value was the utilization of the available resources to produced 3,000kg Royale, 7,000kg Altime, and 1,000kg Vitaco

Source: KNUST
An optimal resource allocation for a financial institution and oil company in Ghana using dynamic programming

A study was carried out to determine an Optimal Resource Allocation for: i. a financial institution ii. An oil company and iii. A joint operations set-up for the financial institution and the oil company in order to establish an overall optimal resource allocation policy for the financial institution and the oil company. In line with these objectives, investment data were collected from a financial institution labelled company A and an oil company labelled company B, both based in Accra. [Names withheld as this was the condition under which the data were provided]. Thus, these data were utilised to set-up and solve the Resource Allocation problem for each of the companies using Backward Recursion method of Dynamic Programming.. Next, a simulation of a joint investment venture for the two companies was carried out by setting up a hypothetical company C, owning all the resources and investment programmes for the two companies. The Resource Allocation of this hypothetical company was also solved, using the above-mentioned method. The following observations were made: i) The Dynamic Programming Approach provided better solution to the Resource Allocation Problem of each of the companies under consideration. ii) The sum of the individual annual mean optimal returns of the two companies viz A and B was greater than that of company C, the joint operations set-up. iii The existence of a high variability in the investment rates among the investment programmes under consideration gave an indication that the pattern of the resource allocation tends to be skewed towards the investment programme with the highest investment rate of return (i.e. gradient factor) whilst where there is low or no variability in the investment rate of returns, the pattern tends to be clustered around the mean value of the investment rate of return and iv) The higher the value of the units of the resource available for allocation, the more accurate the optimal return value obtained. In line with the observations made, it was recommended that i) it is also not advisable for the two companies A and B to operate as joint entity since the sum of the individual annual mean optimal returns of the two companies viz A and B was greater than that of company C, the joint operations set-up. and ii) the companies A and B should allocate their respective resources at any given time according to the allocations given by the solutions to their main problems using Dynamic Programming or for that matter any suitable mathematical programming method.

Source: KNUST
Optimal Resources Allocation; a Case Study of Sekyere Central District Assembly, Nsuta-Ashanti

Education is input to eradicate poverty in the recent civilization and this cannot be overemphasized and however, the financial outlay required to provide this very important service is far from being enough as a lot of schools are under trees. In this thesis, we consider the problem of allocating resource at the Sekyere central District Assembly, Nsuta-Ashanti with the aim of minimizing unnecessary lapses during budget allocation for resources by the assembly. The problem was formulated as an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) problem using the available data from the District Assembly. This problem was solved with the Branch and- Bound of Method of solving Integer Linear Programming (ILP). It was found that the out of the ten different locations considered and budget of Three Hundred and Sixty Thousand Ghana Cedis, the optimal number of classroom to be built was fifteen (15) representing a 3-unit classroom and two 6-unit classroom buildings at three different locations within the District at a minimum budget of Three Hundred and Seventeen Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢ 317,000) respectively. We concluded that the Knapsack problem for selecting required sites in critical situations such as construction of school buildings was useful and it can be applied to any situation where allocation of funds in the sector of educational development becomes a serious setback. Scientific modeling of allocating resources was recommended as it can be used to reduce financial loss in budget allocations.

Source: KNUST
Optimal Provision of Life Assurance Policy Loans: SIC Life Company Limited as a Case Study

The purpose of the research was to explicitly analyze the provision of Life Assur- ance policy loans using SIC Life Company Limited as a case study. The Poison distribution being one of the exponential families as well as the deviance of model tting was employed in analyzing the data. Microsoft excel programs especially the use of the development year concept, bar chart and curves were used in an- alyzing the data. It was revealed that policies with loans outstanding are more surrendered than those without loans. The Family Security as one of the classes of policies without loans outstanding is mostly surrendered as compared to the other classes of policies. From 1998 to 2013, the total numbers of policies surrendered without loans outstanding were 44,889 whilst those with loans outstanding were 55,854; hence policies with loans outstanding are mostly surrendered as compared to those without loans.

Source: KNUST
Optimal Revenue Generation Using Linear Programming: A Case Study of Dormaa East District Assembly

In the bid to assist in the improvement of revenue generation efforts at the Dormaa East District Assembly, the Primal-dual method, which is one of the interior-point methods, was used. The data was collected from the Dormaa East District Assembly. The data was modeled into objective function and subject constraints. Matrices generated were run on Matlab 7.5.0(R2007b) Code. The results obtained showed a remarkable and efficient income generation strategy compared to the existing one being used by the Assembly for the past four years.

Source: KNUST
Optimal route tour of the Regional Capitals in Ghana case study: West African Examinations Council’s question papers depot inspection plan

The travelling salesman problem is considered to be a classic example of what is known as a tour problem. Essentially, any type of tour problem involves making a series of stops along a designated route and making a return journey without ever making a second visit to any previous stop. Generally, a tour problem is present when there is concern on making the most of available resources such as time and mode of travel to accomplish the most in results. The objective of the thesis is to use Simulated Annealing to determine the optimal route for visiting all the ten regions in Ghana, save time and minimize expenditure. This study formulated a real-life problem of WAEC as a TSP, modelled as network problem and a matlab program was prepared using simulated annealing algorithm in solving the problem. It was observed that the route that gave minimum achievable inspection plan was 3 – 9 – 6 – 10 – 8 – 5 – 2 – 4 – 7 – 1 at the minimum distance of 2229 km. Thus; Koforidua → Ho → Tamale → Bolgatanga → Wa → Sunyani → Kumasi → Takoradi → Cape Coast → Accra Hence an officer assigned to inspect the various question paper depots can start from Accra and end in Accra following the order above.

Source: KNUST
Optimal route for selected tourist sites in the Kwahu Zone of Eastern Region of Ghana

Tourism is becoming more than an economic venture with increasing travels for leisure. Various interventionist approaches have been adopted to improve the tourism sector in Ghana including constructing roads and leisure centres. In this thesis, a mathematical model for nding an optimal route for selected tourist sites in the Kwahu zone of Ghana. The study found out the possible implications of the optimal route on the cost of embarking on leisure travels in the Kwahu zone of Ghana. The distances between the tourist sites were thus determined. The grid points of the sites were also taken and recorded. Genetic Algorithm was applied to the data set and the study revealed that the total minimum distance for the selected tourist sites is One Hundred and Forty-Seven and two { tenth (147.2) kilometres. The study also showed that with this optimal route, the total cost of touring the sites would be signi cantly reduced. This consequently will make resources available to the tourists.

Source: KNUST
Optimal Spline Based Gas-Lift Allocation Using Lagrange's Multiplier

An accurate prediction of the production rate of uids from a reservoir to the surface is essential for e cient arti cial lift application in an oil eld. In an oil production eld, a group of wells can be put under gas lift operation. For each well, there will be an optimum point of gas injection and oil production rate where the incremental oil production rate relative to an incremental gas injection rate should be equal for all wells in the eld. The optimum point for a given group of wells was found by Jamal (2001) using the application of Lagrange Multipliers. An approach that depends on the functional relationship between oil production and gas injection rates. Two types of functions, quadratic and rational functions were used to t the gas injection against oil production data. This thesis used spline based functions to t the gas injection verses oil production data. Gasin, oil-out data t with spline based function produced better results than both the rational function and quadratic function with regard to both data t and resultant total optimum oil rate. The two methods used in this thesis were able to increase the total oil production. However the total optimum oil production rate for data tting with the spline based function is found to be higher than the total optimum oil production rate for data tting with rational function. The optimal value of the spline based function was found to be twice that of the rational function.

Source: KNUST
Optimal strategies for control of cholera in the presence of hyper-infective individuals

primary site of infection being the small intestine. The disease typically spreads through contaminated water and food and becomes more pronounced in areas with poor sanitation and inadequate access to clean drinking water. Cholera infection can lead to severe diarrhoea, dehydration, and death if left untreated. Individuals with low personal hygiene have higher chances of spreading and/or contracting the disease. This study aims to propound a non-linear deterministic model to study the dynamics of cholera in the presence of two groups of individuals based on their level of personal hygiene. We categorize these individuals into low-risk and high-risk to describe individuals with good personal hygiene and those with very low personal hygiene, respectively. The model is shown to have two mutually exclusive fixed points, namely, the cholera-free and the cholera-persistent equilibria, indicating the presence of forward bifurcation. It is shown that restriction of the basic reproduction number below unity guarantees local asymptotic stability of the cholera-free fixed point. The immigration rate, rate of disinfection, bacteria ingestion rate, and bacterial shedding rate are parameters with a higher impact on cholera spread. Optimal control analysis is also used to determine the most cost-effective combination of infection control, adherence to sanitation protocols, treatment control, and bacterial-shedding controls needed to control the spread of cholera.

Source: KNUST
The optimal transportation problem of Accra Brewery Limited

In Ghana, there are a number of beverage manufacturing companies With the aim of distributing their products to the entire, country, The products need to be distributed within the regions of the country at a minimum total cost. Accra Brewery Limited Was chosen as a case study with their distributing cost of beverage particularly beer for the past ten years from their archival data cannot be overemphasized. Huge transportation cost in the past shows that there is a need to investigate the cause.This study is aim at formulating a transportation model to minimize the cost of transporting the beverage (beer) within the entire country, (i. c Ghana), In pursuit of the objectives, secondary data on the transportation Cost and number of beer transported for the past six months in the year 2007 i,e; May- October was collected and analyzed for this project, The company's major distributors transport beer to different retail warehouses within the country. The various production plants and retail warehouse were analyzed. The objective is to develop a mathematical model to optimize the total transportation cost for the Distribution Department of Accra Brewery Limited. Based on a few assumptions made, a mathematical model was formulated to help in solving the problem. Excel Solver was used to solve the problem. The result_shows that guinea-normal season the cost of transporting beer for the entire country Was 2,272,455.9 Ghana cedis, and 2,996,936.7 Ghana cedis in the lean season. The cost of transportingbeer in festive Season Was Ghana cedis.

Source: KNUST
Optimal treatment of water using linear programming: a case study of Berekum water treatment plant

Revised Simplex method was used to reduce treatment cost of water at Berekum water trearment plant. The 2011 data collected was divided into two to reflect the two major seasons-dry and wet season, we have in the country. Each data was modeled into objective functions and subject constraints. Matrices generated from each season were run on Matlab code. Result that were obtained showed a significant reduction in treatment cost compared to actual cost in the same year.

Source: KNUST