NOTE: This item is not available outside the Texas A&M University network. Texas A&M affiliated users who are off campus can access the item through NetID and password authentication or by using TAMU VPN. Non-affiliated individuals should request a copy through their local library's interlibrary loan service.
The use of management science techniques to improve decision making in poultry processing facilities
Abstract
The growth of the poultry industry into a major meat producing agribusiness has caused poultry processing facilities to evolve into major complexes that rely increasingly on machinery to process mass numbers of chicken carcasses. This results in a less flexible environment in which production decisions are made. A software system has been developed to meet these challenges. Parts Pro utilizes its model builder (MB) component to gather statistical and genetic information about the poultry flock to develop a mathematical model representing the constraints of the facility, as well as the request of the decision maker. This information is delivered to the second component, the model solder (MS) which is responsible for solving the mathematical model. Three experiments were conducted to determine if PartsPro was capable of representing a poultry processing facility. In Experiment 1 , genetic information from four different strains of broilers (A,B,C,D), was used in combination with the incrementally increased profits of white and dark meat final products to determine the effects of prices and strain cross on final product. A composite-base control trial was run using a composite average of the strain cross data and base final product prices. Strain cross A combined with 20% increases in white meat final products offered the highest profit of any combinations. Experiment 2 was conducted to determine if the system was capable of accommodating user made production decisions. Final profits and final product mixes were compared to a composite-base run that was the average genetic yields of all strain crosses, and base prices of final products. The system altered cut-up means to accommodate the production of requested products. Final trial profits were less than the composite-base trial. Experiment 3 was conducted to determine the system's sensitivity to price changes of unproduced products. A nearly 60% increase in price of the unproduced product caused the system to alter final product mix. Total profit of the newly altered product mix was less than the composite-base trial. This research demonstrates that management science techniques can be applied successfully to aid decision making in a poultry processing facility.
Description
Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to digital@library.tamu.edu, referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references.
Collections
Citation
Conrad, Kenneth Allen (1994). The use of management science techniques to improve decision making in poultry processing facilities. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1994 -THESIS -C754.
Request Open Access
This item and its contents are restricted. If this is your thesis or dissertation, you can make it open-access. This will allow all visitors to view the contents of the thesis.