Optimization of milk procurement routes of FPO owned dairy unit

Raw milk quality and quantity is the corner stone of excellent dairy products. Milk procurement guards this with an eagle eye and ensures that company’s production needs are met. Milk procurement is the starting point of FPO’s dairy supply chain. The FPO owned dairy unit has adopted a system of milk collection through village level milk pooling points (MPP’s). MPP is a common place in villages where the farmers pool their milk. The person who collects the milk from the farmers is called as “Pala Mitra” / “MPP operator”. The present study was carried out at the selected BMC centre of a FPO owned dairy unit in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The principal objective of the study was to optimize the milk procurement routes using travelling salesman model. The findings of the study show that in route-1 the optimized distance is 48.2 kilometers, time travelled to cover all the milk pooling points is 83.5 minutes and the total cost per trip is around 345 Rs. In route-2 optimized distance is 26.7 kilometers, time travelled to cover all the milk pooling points is 76 minutes and the total cost per trip is around 191 Rs. In route-3 optimized distance is 18.4 kilometers, time travelled to cover all the milk pooling points is 71 minutes and the total cost per trip is around 132 Rs.There was a significance reduction of total distance, time and cost in raw milk transportation for the identified bulk milk cooling unit with the optimization of routes was observed. The total distance for travelling to procure the milk to BMC unit has been reduced to 186.8 kilometers per day from 194.6 kilometers per day. The total time of travelling to procure milk to BMC unit was reduced from 501 minutes per day to 461 minutes per day. The total cost incurred for transportation of raw milk to BMC unit has been reduced from 1391.4 Rs. to 1335.6 Rs. With route optimization in all routes of identified bulk milk cooling unit a total reduction in cost of transportation of 55.77 Rs. per day could be achieved. As these transportation operations are routine and need to be done throughout the year an annual cost saving of 20,356 Rs. per annum for the identified BMC unit could be achieved.

Quality control practices at BMC centre – A comparative study

Raw milk quality is one of the most important factor before processing of milk and milk products. It is the main factor which is responsible for deciding the quality of end products. The present study was carried out at the selected BMC centre of a FPO owned dairy unit in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The principal objective of the study was to draw a comparison between BMC standards of NDDB and standards of selected BMC centre. The findings of the study show that there are no major deviations except delay in opening and closing timings for milk collection. As a result preparation time is reduced hindering the efficiency of milk collection process. BMC unit is well-being running manually by operator and switch was being turned off once BMC centre milk temperature touches 40C and starts at 60C, due to this delay in manual cutoff the milk is being crystallized. As per NDDB standards auto mode is recommended so that the BMC switches off automatically once the milk temperature reaches 40C and restarts at 60C at BMC centre.

A study on sweet corn buying behaviour of consumers

The present study is intended to understand the buying behaviour of sweet corn consumers. For the study Hyderabad and Vijayawada cities were purposively considering the markets for sweet corn and consumer diversity. A representative sample of sixty sweet corn consumers were selected by using simple random sampling technique from the market. The collected data was analyzed by using appropriate tools like percentage and frequencies and Garrett’s ranking. From the investigation it was found that majority of sample consumers preferred to buy sweet corn in raw cob form compared to other forms. Frequency of consumption of sweet corn details revealed that greater percentage of sample consumers were consuming once in a month followed by occasional consumption. Out of the total sample consumer 45 per cent informed that the average monthly consumption is 10-20 cobs. The top preferred reasons for sweet corn purchase were good taste and healthy food. Most preferred place by respondent consumers to purchase sweet corn cobs was from road side vendors followed by small grocery stores.

Economic and potential profitability assessment of poultry farming

India today is the one of the world’s largest producer of eggs and broiler meat. The poultry industry in India has undergone a major shift in structure and operation during the last two decades transforming from a mere backyard activity into a major industry with the presence of a large number of integrated players. Present study was conducted to examine the economic and potential profitability assessment of poultry farming. The study was based on the data collected from the primary source. The results revealed thatthe total fixed cost in RIR breed and Kadaknath breed were estimated to be Rs. 55.66 per bird and Rs. 50.61 per bird, respectively. Feed cost was the major cost item accounting 57 per cent of the total cost. BCR, IRR and PI of the project were 1.56, 57 per cent and 2.57, respectively. Similarly, NPW of the project was also positive. Project recovered its initial investment in one year one month 28 days. It shows that, this project is financially feasible.

A theoretical perspective on consumer brand engagement

Consumer brand engagement has a major impact on the output and the revenues of a company. Consumer engagement refers to a psychological state which is directed towards an engagement object. The engagement object can be of various types such as a product or a service brand, organisation, organisational entities etc. This paper presents a theoretical perspective of consumer brand engagement and its dimensions. Descriptive research design has been used to study the construct consumer brand engagement through secondary data. The research highlights consumer brand engagement as a contextdependent and multi-dimensional concept comprising affective, behavioural and cognitive dimensions. The positively valanced consumer engagement cause favourable affective, behavioural and cognitive brand related activities which led to increase in positive word-of-mouth and brand usage whereas negatively valanced consumer engagement cause brand-denial, rejection and negative word-of-mouth. Positively valanced consumer engagement can open myriad opportunities for the marketers whereas the negatively valanced consumer engagement can be detrimental for the brand. The paper also attempts to highlight the challenges in consumer brand engagement.

Does supply chain coordination impact supply chain performance? Evidence from dairy industry

The objective of this study is to identify extent of coordination among the supply stakeholders; measure supply chain performance and to study the impact of supply chain coordination on supply chain performance. The study is based on primary data collected from dairy supply chain stakeholders namely farmer-producers, bulk milk coolers (BMC), processing unit, wholesalers and retailers. The data was collected through combination of personal interviews, telephonic interviews and e-mail. The total sample size of this study is 420 spread across 28 firms with each firm representing a total of 15 respondents. Linear regression was performed to study the impact of supply chain coordination on supply chain performance. The results of this study reveal that supply chain coordination positively impacts all the supply chain performance metrics namely efficiency, responsiveness, flexibility and quality. Supply chain coordination has highest impact on supply chain responsiveness followed by supply chain quality, supply chain flexibility and supply chain efficiency. In case of impact of supply chain coordination on overall supply chain performance, there is an evidence of strong impact of supply chain coordination on supply chain performance.