Thomas Munyai - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Thomas Munyai
33rd Annual Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineering Conference (SAIIE33)
Lecture notes in mechanical engineering, 2023
IEEE Conference Proceedings, 2017
International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2021
Procedia Manufacturing, 2020
Effective management of the end-to-end process of a food industry is vital for the achievement of... more Effective management of the end-to-end process of a food industry is vital for the achievement of the key strategic objectives of this organisation. However, various factors have limited the performance and productivity of the supply chain system of food industries; thus hindering an organisation from meeting its customers demand target. Hence; there is a need to appraise the performance of the supply chain system of a food industry with a view to identify factors limiting its performance and ensure continuous end-to-end process improvement. In light of this, this paper assesses the performance of the supply chain system of a food industry using a questionnaire-based approach. The structure of the questionnaire consists of myriad of questions that appraises the performance of various factors responsible for effective functioning and optimal flow of the supplier and production sections of the supply chain of a food industry based on the industry benchmark for these factors. The production operators responded to the appropriate sections of the questionnaire. The questionnaire result revealed that the overall performance of work stations 1, 3, 4 and 5 are below the organisation's target. Hence, the resolutions of various factors lowering the performance of these work stations were recommended as future studies. The questionnaire developed in this study serve as a template that could be used by supply chain managers to measure the performance of their supply chain systems, with a view to ensure continuous and sustainable end-to-end process improvement.
2017 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM), 2017
South African steel manufacturers are now under pressure to stay functional within the competitiv... more South African steel manufacturers are now under pressure to stay functional within the competitive business environment, since the productivity in this industry over the past couple of years has been dwindling. However, productivity measurement and monitoring, which plays an important role in driving steel productivity improvement has not been explored. The present research work therefore developed a system model capable of measuring and monitoring the productivity of these industries. This was achieved by modelling and simulating the South African Steel Industry using the real life manufacturing operating conditions of this industry. Simulation results of the virtual South African Steel Industry showed that the saw master and milling machines, with a total number of 241 and 304 unprocessed workpiece at their respective stations are the bottlenecked machines. Hand sawing machine and relatively cheap milling machine were recommended to support the existing steel production process in order to alleviate the bottlenecks.
International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2021
2017 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM), 2017
The banking industry plays a vital role in the safe-keeping and delivery of various financial tra... more The banking industry plays a vital role in the safe-keeping and delivery of various financial transactions required by the customers. Servicing problems such as queues and other various forms of customer complaints are the major threats which limit the efficiency of service operations in the banking industry. In light of this, the aim of this paper is to propose suitable process improvement methodologies capable of alleviating these complaints in the banking industries. To achieve this, heuristic searching and benchmarking of suitable process improvement tools and other strategies from the literature desk was explored. The results of the heuristic benchmarking exercise revealed that 5Ys, Fishbone Diagram, Value Stream Mapping, Line Balancing, workshops/training, flexible and reconfigurable service operation systems, modular and flexible banking system layout and queueing theory model are the strategies capable of reducing or alleviating the common customer complaints that are rampant in the banking industry.
South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 2019
Productivity improvement in the steel industry is pivotal to achieving competiveness that stimula... more Productivity improvement in the steel industry is pivotal to achieving competiveness that stimulate the economic growth of a country. In the past decade, the steel shaft manufacturing industry has experienced low productivity rates, making it difficult to compete at a global level. In light of this, the aim of this research study is to investigate the various process wastes and bottlenecks that limit the productivity progression of a steel shaft manufacturing environment, using integrated value stream mapping and system simulation methodologies. Data captured through the system observation of the shaft manufacturing process of a steel company was used to map and simulate the system. The results of the current state mapping of the steel shaft manufacturing environment revealed the various process wastes present in this system. The result of the simulation of the system revealed that the system bottlenecks were the saw master and milling stations. The strategic interventions in the saw master and milling stations improved these stations throughput from 959 to 1 218 (27%) and 624 to 1 003 (60.74%) components respectively. The work-in-progress components generated in the entire system after the strategic interventions reduced from 415 to 17.
Productivity Improvement in Manufacturing SMEs
Factors influencing growth in manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are studied and d... more Factors influencing growth in manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are studied and debated to provide an insight into how manufacturing SMEs face challenges in growing their businesses. These factors comprise physical capital components such as human resources, material, machinery, building (environment/ergonomics), location, and finance; and technological capital components such as tangible assets and intangible assets as well as management.
African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 2017
Industry is faced with increased challenges relating to transferring knowledge due to the complex... more Industry is faced with increased challenges relating to transferring knowledge due to the complex nature of the manufacturing process. This paper is part of a comprehensive research study to develop a knowledge transfer model for improving productivity. Although knowledge management research generally flourishes, few investigations have been made into the transfer of knowledge in the cable industry. A questionnaire survey was therefore conducted with a total of 135 respondents. Taking the view that cable systems are a production processes, this paper develops a conceptual framework for improving the productivity rate, and affords a preliminary validation. Not much research has surveyed this concept of knowledge transfer in the manufacturing sector. The findings will therefore add to the existing body of knowledge and improve the productivity ratio in cable firms. The model suggests that management can create a working environment which promotes knowledge transfer which requires a la...
Procedia Manufacturing, 2020
Smooth running and optimal flow of the supply chain system of an electronic product manufacturing... more Smooth running and optimal flow of the supply chain system of an electronic product manufacturing organisation solely rely on the just-in-time (JIT) availability of raw materials required by various manufacturing processes of an organisation. Hence, the selection of suitable suppliers that meet the key strategic objectives required to ensure effective functioning of end-to-end processes of an organisation is vital to ensure sustainable manufacturing in an organisation. In light of this, the aim of this study is to develop a supplier assessment form that could be used by a procurement manager of an electronic product manufacturing organisation to select a suitable supplier of their raw materials. In order to achieve this, various criteria were appraised and utilised to establish the key indicators that should be used to rate the performance of suppliers, with a view to establishing a suitable raw material supplier. The result of the criteria assessment revealed that the criterion “su...
Fluctuation in mineral concentrates demand has resulted into the design of a Reconfigurable Vibra... more Fluctuation in mineral concentrates demand has resulted into the design of a Reconfigurable Vibrating Screen (RVS) machine. However, the question; “which configuration(s) should this machine be configured to, at different periods in order to minimize the total operating cost of utilizing this machine in meeting the fluctuating customer demands?” still need to be answered by the designer of the machine. In light of this, this paper proposes a dynamic programming model that will ensure cost-effective configuration and utilization of the RVS machine in meeting fluctuating customers demand. The dynamic programming model was tested using the mineral concentrates demand of mining company XYZ. The results of the dynamic computation for this case study revealed that RVS machine must be operated using a configuration sequence of 4700mm × 2500mm, 3500mm × 2000mm and 4700mm × 2500mm, for a period of first two (2) months, second two (2) months and the last month respectively, in order to meet t...
Procedia Manufacturing, 2020
The classical inventory models solely rely on accurate estimate of the back order cost, with a vi... more The classical inventory models solely rely on accurate estimate of the back order cost, with a view to establish economic order quantity (EOQ) that must be placed by a customer. Recognizing and quantifying the adverse effects of loss of customer goodwill owing to the inability of a raw material or product supplier organisation to meet customer demands should not only focus on direct penalty cost computation, but should also incorporate change in customers’ future demand owing to this backordering phenomenon. A lot of classical and mathematical approaches focused on the computation of the back order penalty cost coefficient; which gives an organisation a clue of the customer disappointment index, and not the estimated back order cost required for EOQ computation. In light of this, this paper proposes an approach that could be utilized to accurately compute the back order penalty cost of an organisation. The approach considers: (i) the number of times backordering phenomenon have occu...
International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering
33rd Annual Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineering Conference (SAIIE33)
Lecture notes in mechanical engineering, 2023
IEEE Conference Proceedings, 2017
International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2021
Procedia Manufacturing, 2020
Effective management of the end-to-end process of a food industry is vital for the achievement of... more Effective management of the end-to-end process of a food industry is vital for the achievement of the key strategic objectives of this organisation. However, various factors have limited the performance and productivity of the supply chain system of food industries; thus hindering an organisation from meeting its customers demand target. Hence; there is a need to appraise the performance of the supply chain system of a food industry with a view to identify factors limiting its performance and ensure continuous end-to-end process improvement. In light of this, this paper assesses the performance of the supply chain system of a food industry using a questionnaire-based approach. The structure of the questionnaire consists of myriad of questions that appraises the performance of various factors responsible for effective functioning and optimal flow of the supplier and production sections of the supply chain of a food industry based on the industry benchmark for these factors. The production operators responded to the appropriate sections of the questionnaire. The questionnaire result revealed that the overall performance of work stations 1, 3, 4 and 5 are below the organisation's target. Hence, the resolutions of various factors lowering the performance of these work stations were recommended as future studies. The questionnaire developed in this study serve as a template that could be used by supply chain managers to measure the performance of their supply chain systems, with a view to ensure continuous and sustainable end-to-end process improvement.
2017 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM), 2017
South African steel manufacturers are now under pressure to stay functional within the competitiv... more South African steel manufacturers are now under pressure to stay functional within the competitive business environment, since the productivity in this industry over the past couple of years has been dwindling. However, productivity measurement and monitoring, which plays an important role in driving steel productivity improvement has not been explored. The present research work therefore developed a system model capable of measuring and monitoring the productivity of these industries. This was achieved by modelling and simulating the South African Steel Industry using the real life manufacturing operating conditions of this industry. Simulation results of the virtual South African Steel Industry showed that the saw master and milling machines, with a total number of 241 and 304 unprocessed workpiece at their respective stations are the bottlenecked machines. Hand sawing machine and relatively cheap milling machine were recommended to support the existing steel production process in order to alleviate the bottlenecks.
International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2021
2017 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM), 2017
The banking industry plays a vital role in the safe-keeping and delivery of various financial tra... more The banking industry plays a vital role in the safe-keeping and delivery of various financial transactions required by the customers. Servicing problems such as queues and other various forms of customer complaints are the major threats which limit the efficiency of service operations in the banking industry. In light of this, the aim of this paper is to propose suitable process improvement methodologies capable of alleviating these complaints in the banking industries. To achieve this, heuristic searching and benchmarking of suitable process improvement tools and other strategies from the literature desk was explored. The results of the heuristic benchmarking exercise revealed that 5Ys, Fishbone Diagram, Value Stream Mapping, Line Balancing, workshops/training, flexible and reconfigurable service operation systems, modular and flexible banking system layout and queueing theory model are the strategies capable of reducing or alleviating the common customer complaints that are rampant in the banking industry.
South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 2019
Productivity improvement in the steel industry is pivotal to achieving competiveness that stimula... more Productivity improvement in the steel industry is pivotal to achieving competiveness that stimulate the economic growth of a country. In the past decade, the steel shaft manufacturing industry has experienced low productivity rates, making it difficult to compete at a global level. In light of this, the aim of this research study is to investigate the various process wastes and bottlenecks that limit the productivity progression of a steel shaft manufacturing environment, using integrated value stream mapping and system simulation methodologies. Data captured through the system observation of the shaft manufacturing process of a steel company was used to map and simulate the system. The results of the current state mapping of the steel shaft manufacturing environment revealed the various process wastes present in this system. The result of the simulation of the system revealed that the system bottlenecks were the saw master and milling stations. The strategic interventions in the saw master and milling stations improved these stations throughput from 959 to 1 218 (27%) and 624 to 1 003 (60.74%) components respectively. The work-in-progress components generated in the entire system after the strategic interventions reduced from 415 to 17.
Productivity Improvement in Manufacturing SMEs
Factors influencing growth in manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are studied and d... more Factors influencing growth in manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are studied and debated to provide an insight into how manufacturing SMEs face challenges in growing their businesses. These factors comprise physical capital components such as human resources, material, machinery, building (environment/ergonomics), location, and finance; and technological capital components such as tangible assets and intangible assets as well as management.
African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 2017
Industry is faced with increased challenges relating to transferring knowledge due to the complex... more Industry is faced with increased challenges relating to transferring knowledge due to the complex nature of the manufacturing process. This paper is part of a comprehensive research study to develop a knowledge transfer model for improving productivity. Although knowledge management research generally flourishes, few investigations have been made into the transfer of knowledge in the cable industry. A questionnaire survey was therefore conducted with a total of 135 respondents. Taking the view that cable systems are a production processes, this paper develops a conceptual framework for improving the productivity rate, and affords a preliminary validation. Not much research has surveyed this concept of knowledge transfer in the manufacturing sector. The findings will therefore add to the existing body of knowledge and improve the productivity ratio in cable firms. The model suggests that management can create a working environment which promotes knowledge transfer which requires a la...
Procedia Manufacturing, 2020
Smooth running and optimal flow of the supply chain system of an electronic product manufacturing... more Smooth running and optimal flow of the supply chain system of an electronic product manufacturing organisation solely rely on the just-in-time (JIT) availability of raw materials required by various manufacturing processes of an organisation. Hence, the selection of suitable suppliers that meet the key strategic objectives required to ensure effective functioning of end-to-end processes of an organisation is vital to ensure sustainable manufacturing in an organisation. In light of this, the aim of this study is to develop a supplier assessment form that could be used by a procurement manager of an electronic product manufacturing organisation to select a suitable supplier of their raw materials. In order to achieve this, various criteria were appraised and utilised to establish the key indicators that should be used to rate the performance of suppliers, with a view to establishing a suitable raw material supplier. The result of the criteria assessment revealed that the criterion “su...
Fluctuation in mineral concentrates demand has resulted into the design of a Reconfigurable Vibra... more Fluctuation in mineral concentrates demand has resulted into the design of a Reconfigurable Vibrating Screen (RVS) machine. However, the question; “which configuration(s) should this machine be configured to, at different periods in order to minimize the total operating cost of utilizing this machine in meeting the fluctuating customer demands?” still need to be answered by the designer of the machine. In light of this, this paper proposes a dynamic programming model that will ensure cost-effective configuration and utilization of the RVS machine in meeting fluctuating customers demand. The dynamic programming model was tested using the mineral concentrates demand of mining company XYZ. The results of the dynamic computation for this case study revealed that RVS machine must be operated using a configuration sequence of 4700mm × 2500mm, 3500mm × 2000mm and 4700mm × 2500mm, for a period of first two (2) months, second two (2) months and the last month respectively, in order to meet t...
Procedia Manufacturing, 2020
The classical inventory models solely rely on accurate estimate of the back order cost, with a vi... more The classical inventory models solely rely on accurate estimate of the back order cost, with a view to establish economic order quantity (EOQ) that must be placed by a customer. Recognizing and quantifying the adverse effects of loss of customer goodwill owing to the inability of a raw material or product supplier organisation to meet customer demands should not only focus on direct penalty cost computation, but should also incorporate change in customers’ future demand owing to this backordering phenomenon. A lot of classical and mathematical approaches focused on the computation of the back order penalty cost coefficient; which gives an organisation a clue of the customer disappointment index, and not the estimated back order cost required for EOQ computation. In light of this, this paper proposes an approach that could be utilized to accurately compute the back order penalty cost of an organisation. The approach considers: (i) the number of times backordering phenomenon have occu...
International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering