Heuristic Approach to Job Scheduling in a Small Scale Groundnut Oil Processing Firm in Nigeria

Abstract

Groundnut is an important legume cash crop for tropical farmers and its seeds contain high amounts of edible oil (43-55%) and protein (25-28%). This paper developed a framework for the scheduling of activities (jobs) in small scale groundnut oil processing firm in Nigeria. The research problem is addressed using makespan as a measure of performance with CDS, A1 and Usual Serial Order (USO) heuristics solution methods. Findings reveal that A1 and CDS heuristics are preferred to the traditional USO methods. Also, the mean of A1 (27.11) heuristic, followed by CDS (27.22) heuristics, gives the best makespan results while the USO (31.52) gives the worst result. This paper thus presents a framework that could be beneficial to stakeholders in the Groundnut oil processing industry towards improved customer’s satisfaction, less idle time, and profit optimization.

Keywords: Groundnut, small enterprises, scheduling of orders, makespans, optimum results.