This paper investigates current productivity levels of baked beans in a fast manufacturing consumer goods (FMCG) company. The market demand for baked beans on average has increased by 14% year on year over the past two to three years. This growth was unexpected and was unplanned for, hence equipment was utilized to maximum capacity, at times ignoring maintenance issues. The outcome of this approach was a major concern of unplanned stoppages on the production line. The canning process has manual activities such as soaking and sorting. Blanching is semi¬automatic while filling and seaming are fully automated. The filling station was identified as the bottleneck station due to its slow speed (145 cans/minute) as compared to the seamer (200 cans/minute). The major objective of this study was to evaluate how the productivity of the canning process was achieved. Efforts were made to increase the output of soaking, sorting and blanching. This led to the reduced cycle time of the filler and the elimination of sources of contaminations. Industrial engineering tools such as autonomous maintenance, total productive maintenance, total quality management and some of the 20 keys were used to improve the plant’s production output. This paper contributes to the theory of productivity improvement and to industry practitioners it highlights challenges faced when improving productivity.
This empirical paper seeks to address the challenges related to digital public administration and e governance at the South African Local government during the time of Covid 19 pandemic which affected the global village. The world is moving from manual way of doing things to technological ways of delivering services which is digital public administration. However, in the process of implementing digital public administration, there are consequences which the society at large is likely to experience more especially the poor people in the rural villages of South Africa. Digital transformation of public administrations is a way of trying to fasten the service delivery, and make the services cheaper and better, and save time. E-government improves efficiency and increases user-friendliness and accessibility. It also helps promote ethical practices and reduce the risks of corruption in the public sector. Effective e government is so critical in public administration today because majority of the people are using technology to access some of the services, although the poor are still struggling. Received: 12 January 2022 / Accepted: 10 October 2022 / Published: 5 November 2022
Eating fast foods more than twice per week is associated with more weight gain and insulin resistance in otherwise healthy young adults. However many consumers see fast foods as symbols of wealth, progress and well-ordered openness of western society. Studies reveal that fast food consumption is the dominant dietary pattern among children and young adults today. However there is little data on the factors influencing fast food consumption in South Africa. Therefore this research paper focuses on factors influencing fast food consumption in South Africa. This is an empirical data which was obtained using exploratory and descriptive research design. Data was collected through unstructured interview of focus groups. The interview involved a direct interaction between the researcher and a group. Participants reported to use fast foods due to the perceived lack of time to prepare one’s own meal. Fast food consumption was found to be more frequent among participants especially during lunch times. The following findings were recorded as factors influencing fast food: Lack of time, change in living conditions, lack of cooking skills & cooking utensils, fun & cravings, socializing and convenience.
Despite all the migration policies implemented in South Africa and the world at large, the illicit immigrants continue to suffer in the hands of the host communities. This paper seek to address the challenges and experiences of illegal immigrants in South Africa and the hostility by the host communities. In this qualitative study, linguistic data was collected through the focus group discussions with illicit immigrants from different countries in the African continent as well as the blinded focus group with communities in Limpopo province. The aim of the study was to explore the hostile environment that the illicit immigrants find themselves in while in South Africa and the problem of integration with the host communities. Findings from this study revealed that the illicit immigrants continue to become a problem in the receiving communities, and this is because they are snatching job opportunities for the locals since they do not mind exercising cheap labour, that’s is why there is tension between them and the locals. Most employers prioritise employing illicit immigrants instead of the locals. Furthermore, the participants indicated that the immigrants continue to temper with job security in the host communities. The researcher conducted two focus group discussions, one consisted of illicit immigrants from different African countries like Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Burundi, and the other focus group with the locals as blind group discussion. This is conceptualized as fear or black-on-black hatred which is also famously known as Afrophobia
This paper maps out the strategy that both Zimbabweans and Mexicans use to migrate to their neighboring countries in order to alleviate poverty. Both South Africa and United States of America have witnessed an increase in a cross-border migration whereby illegal and legal migrants cross the border to find greener pastures in different parts of the countries. Limpopo shares the borders with Zimbabwe and in the United States; California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas share the borders with Mexico. The high flow of immigrants to South Africa from Zimbabwe and United States of America from Mexico is mainly caused by the economic hardships in their home countries. Most migrants are youth, both males and females, and adult males who left their families back home and came to South Africa and America to find work and be able to support their siblings and children back in Zimbabwe and in Mexico. This is a conceptual paper; therefore, the author identifies the gap and relies on what is already documented but not addressing the issues of migration and poverty. The study aims to show the similarities between the Mexican immigrants and Zimbabwean immigrants while looking at how poverty encourages international human mobility. Findings from the study demonstrate that poverty is a push factor to migration. A large number of people from poor countries migrate to countries with good economies and opportunities with the aim of being employed so they can support their families in their own countries and some even start businesses and investments.
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