Browsing by Author "Bandara, YMMS"

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item: Thesis-Full-text
Assessing and minimizing the wastages in perishable cargo : case of vegetables supply chain in Sri Lanka
Dahanayake, AP; Bandara, YMMS
Agriculture is the most common livelihood of Sri Lankans, and almost eighty (80) different varieties of fruits and vegetables are grown in Sri Lanka’s in varied agro‐climatic areas.Sri Lanka produces around 710,000 metric tons of vegetables and around 540,000 metric tons of fruits annually. Most of the population involved in agriculture is small producers or home garden growers whose individual extent of land does not exceed a hectare. Fruits and vegetables are damaged due to inappropriate methods of picking, packing, storage and transportation. A considerable portion of products are perished during this process. Insufficient information flow is another major handicap. Therefore, it is very important to study the whole supply chain and find out the necessary remedies to develop Sri Lankan fruit and vegetable industry. Agricultural wastage is a country wide issue in Sri Lanka. According to the past researches done, there are over 40% in fruits and over 30% in vegetables been wasted while passing through the supply chain from farm-gate to the final consumer. Common supply chain for fruits and vegetables can be identified in several stages in the traditional supply chain namely farm-gate to collector, collector to whole-seller and whole-seller to the retailer. The collection and distribution of vegetable in the country is largely based on several economic centers situated across the country which were established with intuitive judgments about the locations suitability interns of transport and distribution optimization attributes. Nevertheless, the mode of transport is mainly by trucks and fruits and vegetable are packed in to plastic sacks by the supplier or intermediaries. As a result of handling, transportation, and distribution, it is reported that there is a considerable portion of fruits and vegetables are wasted. The present research focuses on assessing the wastage levels, due to transport, handling, and identify a strategy that will minimize the wastages in perishable cargo supply chain in Sri Lanka. Objectives of this research are, to identify the factors that lead to high wastage of vegetables, to assess the level of vegetable wastage in the perishable supply chain, and to identify strategies to minimize wastage during transport of vegetables in Sri Lanka. This study identified sample of 100 retailers to examine the supply chain of fruits and vegetables in identical numbers. Samples were drawn from the Manning Market in Colombo, Welisara Economic Center, Meegoda Economic Center, Dabulla Economic Center, Narahenpita Economic center and other vegetables Markets in Colombo and suburbs. The sample consisted the farmers, collectors, traders. Primary data were collected by a questionnaire consisted of fifty questions and pocket discussions and interviews. Face to face interactions and other communicative channels were used to collect information on the vegetable supply chain. According to the survey results, 65% of the supply is directly transported from farm gate to Colombo or city whole sale vendor. The average waste per Kilo of fruits and vegetables is higher in which comes through shops. Leafy vegetables total productions come from the farm gate. Higher proportion of the vegetable samples, were packed into net bags and poly sack bags. Loading method of the poly sack bags in the vehicle were identified as one poly bag on top of the other thus the ventilation to the cargo in the bags were minimal. Lowest wastage for fruits and vegetables were identified as packing into cardboard boxes. The study revealed that lowest wastage exits when vegetables come directly from farm gate. Further it was identified that the wastage levels will depend on the nature of vegetables. More wastage can occur for soft vegetables when transported in large Lorries. Distance is not a significant factor to the wastage in Sri Lankan vegetable supply chain. Direct transportation from farm gate to the Colombo vendors is another advantage to reduce the wastage. When vegetables are transported through intermediate vendors, the wastage will increase. Number of additional handling will impact such wastage in this chain. Therefore, this research identifies the importance of introducing advanced handling methods and usage of new equipments main recommendations. Further the study discusses the importance of the effective use of the equipment, structural changes should be carried out inside the shops, store areas and loading & unloading bays to facilitate direct cargo loading process into the vehicles to minimize wastages.
item: Thesis-Full-text
The Feasibility of an MCC model for far East-Europe/USA trade lanes of global retailers by taking Sri Lanka as the hub country
Wanshanatha, DKSS; Bandara, YMMS
Sri Lanka is a country which is uniquely and strategically located in the maritime silk route, and known as the pearl of the Indian Ocean. However, no any government or private entity in the recorded history from 1948 has understood the real value of this natural heritage and act upon it to utilize the resources and to bring out the true benefit to the nation. When considered the size of geography, population, and the technological advancements in Sri Lanka one can clearly identify and accept that the country can hardly compete with the developed and industrialized nations who have achieved superiority in production capacities and export generation. Production and export generation are the only means of economic development and wellbeing for a country. Countries like Singapore has already shown the answers for this question by utilizing the limited resources of their country in to a fortune by establishing manufacturing units, managing millions of TEU’s of transshipments by means of bonding, value addition and Multi Country Consolidation (MCC). The Far East – Europe/USA trade lane passes Sri Lanka in close proximity to the port of Hambanthota carrying 2/3 of containerized cargo volume destined to the giant retail stores in Europe and USA. But unfortunately around 90% of such cargo bypasses our country as non-value added merchandize directly exported from Far East and South East Asia to Europe and Americas. The value addition processes of these imports are carried out at the destinations with high expenditure of service charges and unnecessary lead time. In this thesis proposes a Multi Country Consolidation model for this trade lane by taking Sri Lanka as the hub country to implement consolidations, relevant value additions and finally the transshipment of merchandize. And also, the further research is conducted to validate this model by proving the feasibility of improving the overall cost efficiency and reducing the total average lead time. A thorough comparison is presented between the existing direct trade lane process and the proposed MCC hub model to prove the advantages of the proposed process.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Review of the road sector investments in the last decade : its economic impact and sustainability
(2023) De Silva, MJ; Pasindu, HR; Bandara, YMMS
The Sri Lankan government allocates a significant amount of its yearly capital expenditure toward road infrastructure projects. Since the end of the war terror in 2009, the Road Development Authority (RDA) has invested around 6% of the government's total construction budget for road projects. A significant proportion of financial resources voted for Provincial Councils, and nearly one-third of what RDA obtains has been committed to road infrastructure expansion. When assessing the economic feasibility of a particular road section, a threshold Project Impact Rate of Return, EIRR (Economic Internal Rate of Return), of 9%-12% is typically used. Given the country's GDP (Gross Domestic Rate), this would be a substantial amount of money for a developing country like Sri Lanka. So, determining how effectively capital funds are provided in contrast with the benefit utilization is critical for a sustainable economy. Moreover, the per capita expenditure under transport administrative overheads is drastically high in the country, creating an unsustainable expenditure for the government of Sri Lanka with a fragmented setup in road construction. This study shows whether these road investments have effectively materialized in the last decade toward the country’s sustainable economic growth. The data collection for the study was done through primary and secondary data collections mainly focusing on RDA, PRDA, and rural road projects. In the methodological approach, the performance of road sector investments over the previous decade was analyzed with an emphasis on how money was transferred for road network construction. Identification of how total investments were aggregated across multiple state agencies in Sri Lanka was carried out along with a multi-year benefit calculation in comparison with VOT (Value of Time), VOC (Saving on Vehicle Operating Cost), and Accident Cost Saving. Funding patterns and scenarios were established while investment distribution by province, road class, and geographic locations was considered to compare the GDP growth rate of each province and subsequently to identify growth potentials in respective areas. The calculation was done considering the total expenditures where all these projects would have been feasible under a Minimum EIRR of 9-12%. The study determined whether these projects could provide the expected benefits for the country and if it is reflected in the natural GDP Growth rate. The Macro-Economic approach of the Harrod–Domar (HD) Model of Economic Growth and Development Theory was applied to this concern. Iv Descriptive statistics were carried out in the context of project EIRRs, financial investments, NPV, road length, and road class wise, and subsequently, several relationships were developed. The findings revealed that predicted benefits in the road sector over the previous decade have been overstated since the underlying assumption of estimated economic benefits, that would convert into economically productive activities and economic growth has not been properly materialized. The research findings are beneficial in prioritizing which road investments with adequate growth potentials are yielding the highest return. Correspondingly, for understanding how budget allocations could be done for the next 5-10 years so that there would be a better return on investment, and diversifying road sector investments to yield the maximum benefits for Sri Lanka. Additionally, the findings are advantageous to ensure whether there is a better balance between infrastructures and sectors that will contribute to the overall economic development of a particular area.