Browsing by Author "Taulo, John Loti"
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- ItemA multi-objective optimization tool for the Malawian tea industry with sustainability considerations(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-03) Taulo, John Loti; Groenwold, Albert; Sebitosi, Adoniya Ben; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering.ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is fast becoming imperative for corporate governance in industry and business worldwide and is assuming an increasingly prominent role in the general discourse on globalization and sustainable development. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has defined CSR “as the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society”. Different countries and organizations agree on the fundamental principles and spirit embedded in this definition. The major challenge, however, is that there are currently no standardised modalities by which it should be achieved nor a yardstick by which compliance can be graded. Differing perceptions of CSR have resulted in many disparate codes where they exist. In Africa, this problem is further exacerbated by a lack of awareness. In addition, there is an absence of a comprehensive management framework that would address, balance and integrate triple bottom-line considerations. This dissertation primarily aims to address this gap. A tool to support this objective has been proposed, designed and tested in the field. The Malawian tea industry has been identified as a case study. A multitude of challenges in this industry includes child labour and deforestation as well as dwindling product quality and profit margins. These objectives have conflicting demands. The primary objective of this dissertation is to develop a multi-objective optimization tool to support decision-making processes in the Malawian tea industry. This work presents a novel decision support tool, called MOISAT (multi-objective optimization and integrated sustainability assessment tool), for the optimization of operating production processes while minimizing cost impacts and maximizing the long-term sustainability. MOISAT is based on a combination of life cycle analysis (LCA), multi-criteria analysis (MCA), particularly, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). LCA–based framework methodology is used to quantify the environmental, social and economic sustainability performance of tea production. AHP is applied to evaluate and rank different alternatives based on the judgment of decision makers. NSGA-II, an increasingly popular multi-objective optimization technique is employed to obtain a set of Pareto optimal solutions. The developed tool is empirically tested on a case study of three tea companies in Malawi. Moreover, the applicability of the developed tool has been validated using usability testing, conducted through questionnaire survey and in-depth semi-structured interviews with eight decision makers as well as face to face discussions with experts. The results have demonstrated the usefulness of the tool in pinpointing environmental and social sustainability hot spots within the tea production life cycle stages that need further improvement. Furthermore, the results from this study have shown that the proposed algorithm is effective and has great potential to solve multi-objective optimization problems in the tea industry. Finally, the findings of this study will help decision makers in the tea industry to incorporate sustainability considerations into tea products, processes and activities.