University of Mines and Technology, Ghana
*Corresponding author:George Agyei, University of Mines and Technology, PO-Box 237, Tarkwa, Ghana
Submission: August 07, 2018; Published: September 21, 2018
ISSN : 2578-0255Volume2 Issue3
The purpose of this paper is to consider the option of re-locating one of the plants from Ghana to a neighbouring country or locating a new facility, with all sites receiving emulsion supply from these manufacturing sources. The application of Lindo software for linear programming optimisation with transportation methods to determine the most suitable set of bulk emulsion plant locations and financial evaluations of the locations possibilities was done. An assessment into the current bulk emulsion plants locations in Ghana based on cost, distribution of customer demands and clients’ requirements; analysis into the options of an emulsion plant location or relocation outside Ghana revealed that locating a bulk emulsion plant with a monthly production capacity of 1200 tonnes in Burkina Faso C would provide a lower total operating cost. The Comparative analysis of selected scenarios of locations revealed that adding a bulk emulsion plant with a monthly production capacity of 1200 tonnes in Burkina to Faso Site C to the existing locations in Ghana constitute the most economically viable set. This would earn African Explosives Limited (AEL) a strategic competitive edge to maintain its market position in the explosives industry in West Africa and Africa as whole. The originality of the research is evidenced by the need for a good decision on selecting optimal locations of the manufacturing facilities, leading to minimising total weighted costs, transportation distances and time for supplying emulsion to clients.
Keywords: Bulk emulsion plant location; Supply chain; Optimisation