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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between total productive maintenance (TPM) practices and operational performance (OP) in soft drinks manufacturing industry, Ethiopia.

In this study acceptability and implementation of five TPM practices (i.e., dependent factors: autonomous maintenance (AUT); safety, health and environment (SHE); education and training (EDT); focused improvement; and planned maintenance (PLM)) in soft drinks manufacturing industry have been elaborated to ascertain the benefits accrued as a result of successful TPM practices (i.e., independent variables) on OP (i.e., dependent variables). A self-administered survey seven-point Likert scale questionnaire was used for primary data collection. By using simple random sampling technique a total of 100 useable responses resulted in a 66.66 per cent response rate. Descriptive (mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (factor analysis, correlation, simple and multiple regression analysis) analysis were performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version-28) to identify the relationship and effect of TPM practices on OP. Five hypotheses were developed and tested.

Results show that four of the TPM practices were positively and significantly correlated with OP. Aggregate TPM shows positive and significant correlation with OP. Four hypotheses results revealed that the AUT; SHE; EDT and PLM practices have positive and significant relationship with OP and significantly improve OP. The results also show that the TPM practices have positive and significant relationship with OP and significantly improve cost effectiveness, product quality, on-time delivery and volume flexibility.

The benefits gained by TPM practices in selected soft drinks manufacturing industry have been highlighted, that could be genuine source of motivation to other companies to go in for TPM program. This research contributes to the literature by examining the contingency of various TPM enabling factors in the context of the Ethiopian soft drinks manufacturing sector, and it, therefore, provides direction to increase the success rate of TPM implementation. Study offers academics and practitioners a better understanding of the relationship and effect of the TPM practices on the OPs. Thus, practitioners will be able to make better and more effective decisions about the implementation of TPM practices for better OP results.

The relationship between the five factors TPM practices and OP has not yet been studied or reported in the case of soft drink manufacturing industry. The questionnaire manner and items developed, factor considered in this study, sampling method, deeply statistical data analysis techniques used, soft drink manufacturing industry, developing country like Ethiopia make this study unique and revealed the gap identification in this area. The study has contributed to the TPM literature with a better understanding of the five TPM practices and their association with a soft drink manufacturing industry OP that will provide valuable knowledge to top-management of manufacturing companies, to refine their current TPM practices and subsequently improve OP.

The purpose of this research is to identify the current reverse logistics practices adopted by soft drink companies and the prominent factors which can decide the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire process of the reverse logistics channel. The paper employs Pareto analysis and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method on data collected from logistics professionals involved in the software industry in Sri Lanka using two questionnaires. As the prominent factors, transportation, accidents, packaging, a method of storage, the cleaning process and sorting process was identified and the first four prominent factors have a higher influence on both measures of efficiency and effectiveness. They can also identify the external factors which can emerge inefficiencies due to outsourced dealers. Lack of previous literature on the subject matter and the difficulty to access the filed data were the main limitations of this study. The identified factors will help to identify the correct root causes for the inefficiencies of the current reverse logistics practices and concentrating on these factors will give an opportunity for the soft drink industry players to successfully implement a sustainable green supply chain which reduces waste at each stage of its forwards and reverse logistics process. Transportation, Accidents, Packaging, and Storage have been previously identified as considerations in reverse logistics processes and the current study showed that they have a higher impact on both efficiency and effectiveness on reverse logistics and these factors should be given specific consideration while in the operations.

Crisis is the real test of the capabilities, of both the organizations as well as individuals. When time is hard, they are tempted to break the rules of the game, only to realize later that the harm done by their socially irresponsible behaviour while handling the crisis, outweigh the damage because of the crisis itself. The Spring of 2003 brought crisis on the MNCs in soft‐drinks and chocolate industries. In this paper, the action of three MNCs to get out of the crisis is analyzed from the CSR perspective, both theoretically and empirically. The actions of the company manufacturing chocolates are perceived as being socially responsible, while those manufacturing soft‐drinks are not perceived as being socially responsible. Although the MNCs are out of the crisis now, but people are able to differentiate between socially responsible behaviour and those actions, which are not. Such repeated actions may damage the company reputation and erode their competitive advantage in long run.

Introduces the Food Advertising Unit (FAU), a coalition of multinational food companies, advertising agencies and the broadcast media which operates under the auspices of the Advertising Association as a centre for information and research on advertising for children; and the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) which represents the UK food and soft drinks industry. Reports research on the effect of television advertising of food products on children which suggests that there is only a slight direct effect, but the November 2005 White Paper is prioritising new restrictions on food and soft drink advertising to children, and the industry accepts the need for advertising code changes and for a holistic approach to behavioural change through education. Describes the work of the Food and Soft Drink Advertising and Promotions Forum, led by the Department of Health. Outlines positive approaches under way by individual companies such as Turner Broadcasting as well as by public service broadcasting. Argues that there must be proportionality in new government restrictions, given that their positive effects on children’s health may be far smaller than their adverse effects on the industry.

Facts and figures relating to the largest soft drinks manufacturing operation in Europe. The factory relies heavily on computer systems to facilitate all its operations and there are seven major systems for process and production plant in addition to the local control systems. Also detailed are the benefits of operating a single‐union agreement which promotes a continuous improvement in company performance as well as providing open and direct communication between all staff on site.

The last two years have witnessed what may justly be described as a revolutionary change in the packaging and marketing of goods, of which pre‐packed food constitutes a substantial part, but as far as public reaction goes, it has largely been a silent witness. There has been none of the outcry such as accompanied metrication, sufficient to call a halt to the process, and especially to the introduction of the decimal currency, of which most shoppers are convinced they were misled, “conned”. Every effort to make the changeover as smooth as possible was made; included was the setting up within the Department of Trade of a National Metrological Co‐ordinating Unit charged with co‐ordinating the work of 91 local weights and measures authorities in Great Britain in enforcing the new law, the Weights and Measures Act, 1979. This Act replaced the net or minimum system of the old law, the traditional system, re‐enacted in the Weights and Measures Act, 1963 with the average system, implementing EEC Directives and bringing weights and measures into line with Member‐states of the European Community.

The main ingredients are soya flour, separated milk powder and oatmeal. In some mixtures vitamin concentrates are included. In theory they are admirable, but the chief objection to soup as a meal for a child is that it is difficult to get 1,000 calories into the stomach, even with a good hunk of bread. Thick soup is too filling. It is excellent for emergency use, as experience with the Ministry of Food canned thick soups has shown under “blitz” conditions. But, on bread and thick soup, a child feels full before it has eaten the 1,000 calories it is desirable to get into him. Health of children is, from all reports, whether from public, private or elementary schools, remarkably good. We were not a little worried at this time last year about the adequacy of the supply of first‐class protein for growing boys and girls. The position is now reasonably satisfactory and every effort is being made to see that what is required for development of muscle and bone shall be provided. You, Sir, have on numerous occasions emphasised your determination to see that the younger generations shall not suffer as the younger generations suffered in the last war from diet deficiencies. The spirit that has moved you to take that firm stand will be a powerful force in the post‐war period. I can foresee, and hope to live to see, the day when every child in the country shall be able to get a good nourishing meal at school if the parents so wish. There is another important aspect of this vast expansion of the school feeding programme. The proper planning of school meals is only one way in which the child will benefit. Education in the simple facts of food values will be an essential part of the school. Impressions formed in the minds of these young people will last their lifetime. That is fully recognised in America, where a big concerted drive is about to begin to put nutrition propaganda before every section of the nation. It is true that food habits of a lifetime are sometimes hard to change. Whether they are based on long‐established custom or deep‐rooted fallacies, or both, they are not readily given up by adults. No better illustration could be given than the reluctance of the mass of the people to purchase wheatmeal bread when there was a choice between that and the ordinary white loaf. On the one hand we were urged to force wheatmeal bread down the throats of the people and were assured that they would like it when they came to understand that it was good for them. At the other extreme we were emphatically told that the public actively disliked a dark loaf. My own impression, from a close study of the matter, is that the majority of people are “conditioned,” to use a much overworked word, to white bread and give little thought to other variety. They are certainly apathetic to any appeals based on food values. Most people go into a shop, ask for a loaf of bread, get a white one, as has always been the case unless brown were specifically asked for, and give no more thought to the matter. A striking example of this indifference has been provided recently in America, where there has been extensive commercial development of the manufacture of white flour “fortified” by additions of synthetic vitamins. Large‐scale production has been in progress for about a year. At first the public, stimulated by a vigorous publicity, bought the new type of bread. Sales rapidly mounted. That it was largely novelty rather than vitamins that sold the bread in the first instance appears to be shown by the steady fall in sales that has recently occurred. Had the public as a whole actively disliked bread that is not white, as we were so often assured, it would have been reasonable to expect a volume of protest when National Bread came into general use. No such reaction occurred. On the other hand, favourable comment has been widespread. The war‐time nutrition policy that aimed at improving the food value of bread either by use of long‐extraction flours or artificial reinforcement will certainly be reflected in post‐war developments. What line they will take is not yet clear. It is certain, I believe, that minimum requirements, at least in respect to vitamin B1, will be laid down. Whether particular methods of manufacture will be specified is another question. In this connection it is appropriate to mention that a new method of milling wheat has been devised as a result of collaboration in Canada between the Government Cereals Research Department, certain milling interests and an enthusiastic pioneer who is leading Canada's nutrition “drive,” Dr. F. Tisdall, of Toronto. This method yields a flour, as rich in vitamin B1 as an 85 per cent. wheatmeal and containing considerably more of other important nutrients of the wheat berry than the ordinary type of wheat flour. If there is a public taste in regard to the whiteness of its flour, and if it is of real significance, we have here what appears to be the perfect compromise because the new Canadian flour—to be known officially as “Canada Approved”—is truly white. In passing, I may add that to encourage the production of this type of flour in Canada the addition of synthetic vitamin B1 to white flour has been made illegal. But although we must admit a large measure of resistance in adults to new ideas about food I by no means share the view that it is always a matter of the greatest difficulty to change their food habits. Twenty years ago, perhaps even ten, a workman who openly drank a glass of milk in front of his mates would have had to face a barrage of appropriately phrased ridicule. America led the way with its encouragement of milk in factories. When the war broke out we were rapidly following her lead. Milk was being drunk in considerable and increasing volume in factories. People no longer stopped to stare if they saw a big, husky navvy drinking from a bottle of milk. We were told, when we tried to get vegetable salads into workers' canteens, to make good the loss of vitamin C which is almost unpreventable in large‐scale cooking, that the “hands” would not touch them. They didn't, when little or no effort was made to explain in simple terms what they were for or to serve them attractively. The conventional idea that salads can consist only of lettuce, cucumber and tomato and that they are only to be eaten with cold meat was hard to uproot. But, wherever canteen supervisors have taken even moderate pains to encourage people to try salads—and I am speaking of war‐time salads of shredded cabbage, grated carrot, potatoes, etc.—there has been a record of success. Of course, everything depends on who runs the canteen. In one factory in London it was found not only possible, but a simple task, to make a midday meal of the “Oslo” type popular in summer months, even with men doing relatively heavy work. The serving of a helping of vegetable salad as part of the meal has proved a success in a number of communal restaurants. It is invariably eaten and most people like the innovation. If it were offered as a separate item relatively few would ask for it, merely because they are unaccustomed to do so. This small helping of fresh vegetables is of very great nutritional importance. Large‐scale cooking in restaurant kitchens involves serious losses of vitamin C. Some are caused by vegetables being prepared and left soaking many hours before they are cooked, sometimes overnight. Even more serious losses occur during cooking. Finally, cooked vegetables which have to be kept hot for several hours suffer a further serious reduction in the amount of ascorbic acid. The result is that instead of providing at least 25 mg. of vitamin C, as we would like it to do, an ordinary canteen meal may contain no more than 5·20 mg., particularly in winter months. It is all very well for the nutritional expert to tell us that by taking certain precautions and modifying the methods of cooking vegetables a large proportion of this loss can be prevented. The hard fact is that it is exceedingly difficult, sometimes quite impracticable, to change the organisation and routine of a large kitchen. We know of no means of preventing loss of C when cooked vegetables are kept hot in insulated containers, as is frequently necessary. In four hours the ascorbic acid content of a helping of cooked potatoes can fall from about 6 mg. to 2 mg., and that of one of “greens” from 25 mg. to 10 mg.; losses, that is, of the order of 60 per cent. The small helping of vegetable salad overcomes the difficulty. We have found that there is relatively a small loss when fresh vegetables are shredded or grated. A helping of about 3–4 ozs. of mixed chopped cabbage, carrot, turnip and beetroot gives from 20 to 40 mg. of vitamin C: an amount ample for the average person's daily need. We are trying very hard through the medium of propaganda by the Ministry of Food and Board of Education to make the people salad‐conscious; in the hope that salads will become an accepted part of the daily meals of an increasing number of families, schools, institutions and hospitals. If the movement really gains good ground during the war period, when the choice is so restricted, it should spread rapidly when normal times come and the green‐grocer's shops show once again the rich variety of produce from home and overseas. It has been a hard, uphill fight to make “the man in the street” believe that garden vegetables are a good substitute for fruit, in the nutritional sense. I think we have made good progress, but there are many still unconverted. It is important that the truth of this matter should be widely known. Of the fruits we ate in ordinary times only oranges, grapefruit, blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries and strawberries are particularly good sources of C. Apples, pears, bananas, cherries and plums are relatively poor in this respect. When most of these fruits are unobtainable, as at present, it is important to know that we can easily obtain our vitamin C from cabbage and sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli. We recently published, in collaboration with Dr. H. V. Taylor, of the Ministry of Agriculture, tables showing that a well‐cultivated allotment of the regulation size of ten rods, a mere 300 sq. yards, will provide all the vitamin C required for a family of four during each month of the year, even after liberal allowances for wastage and cooking losses. Moreover, the same crops will provide no less than half the vitamin A required by a family of that size. No stronger evidence of the immense value of an allotment could be produced. It will be a thousand pities if every effort is not made to sustain the allotment movement to the greatest possible extent after the war. After the last war the area cultivated in this manner fell rapidly as parks, building sites and other grounds were taken back for their original purpose. Of necessity, much land will have to be given up when peace comes again, but if our post‐war world, is, as Sir Stafford Cripps remarked on Sunday last, to be “consciously planned for better living conditions,” the immense national importance of allotments must not be ignored as it was in the “reconstruction” after 1918. Nor do I feel we should regard the British Restaurant as a temporary war‐time expedient. There will doubtless be a certain amount of agitation after the war directed towards their abolition.

Under this title an interesting article by Thurman B. Rice, M.D., was published in the July issue of the Monthly Bulletin of the Indiana State Board of Health. Dr. Rice tells us that it is customary in the U.S.A. for the Boards of Health to require certificates of health from all food handlers, and that a conscientious examiner would even refuse to issue a certificate if the applicant had eczematous hands or open sores on the hands or face. This seems a most excellent precaution and one which might well be studied with due consideration in this country. Unfortunately, certain unscrupulous physicians apparently overcome the inconvenience of giving a thorough examination, and cases are known where 140 blanks, certifying that as many persons were free from all transmissible disease, were signed in two hours—and also where pads of blanks have been signed and the names filled in later by the restaurant manager as employees began to work. After referring to the care and cleanliness required in the preparation of the food itself, Dr. Rice points out that, should a case of food poisoning occur, the health authorities should be informed immediately and all suspected foods should be interned and kept in a condition which will guarantee as little change as possible—usually refrigeration at a very low temperature. The layman, on hearing of a case of food poisoning, is very prone to suspect those articles of food consumed at the last previous meal—while the significant article may have been eaten a day, or more, before—or, in the case of typhoid fever, two weeks before. Dr. Rice continues by telling us that we should always remain in the most jovial of moods at the dining table, and that causes for anger, fear, disgust, or any other unpleasant major emotion should be avoided. Also complaining, nagging criticism and sarcastic remarks at the table are most injurious to the flow of the gastric juice. We refrain from comment upon the effect of the restaurant orchestra, which has at times, we feel sure, been the cause of much “ criticism and sarcastic remarks ”; also the most careful and jovial diner (even after reading Dr. Rice's article) surely cannot fail to stimulate a little “anger” at the waiter who served the latecomers at the adjoining table before his good self? As a means of preventing epidemics from food sources, Dr. Rice recommends cleanliness, character, intelligence and good health in the workers; adequate equipment, alertness and supervision from the management; and the practice of the principles of the modern science and art of epidemiology in the board of health.

In general, demand for functional products is dependent on a range of promotions offered in various retail outlets. To improve promotional sales many retailers collaborate with manufacturers for planning, forecasting and replenishment. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that collaborative forecasting will improve the forecast accuracy if all the partners can relate their demand forecast with underlying demand factors.

In this paper, the author uses a case study approach to study various demand factors of soft drink products of the UK based company which offers frequent promotions in retail outlets. The paper represents the case study findings in a conceptual framework called Reference Demand Model (RDM). Further, the case study findings are validated empirically by means of multiple linear regression analysis using actual sales data of the case company.

Surprisingly, some of the demand factors specified as very important by the case company are not found to be highly significant for actual sales. The paper uses the identified demand factors to suggest levels of collaboration.

Understanding the importance of product specific demand factors through regression models and incorporating the same in managerial decision making will aid managers to identify the necessary information to make accurate demand forecasts.

This approach unveils the presence of three levels of collaboration namely preparatory, progressive and futuristic levels among supply chain partners based on the information exchange. The proposed method will aid decision making on information sharing and collaborative planning among manufacturer and retailers for future promotional sales.

Scientists have often been accused of a desire to reduce the human diet to a pill or powder form “to be taken daily with water at meal times.” Whatever truth there might be in the allegation, it is an actual fact that more and more foods are being proved suitable for preservation in dried form. This is partially a logical development of the processes of food preservation, which are largely the concentration of food products for convenience in transport and storage, and partially the results of special war‐time demands. The need for concentrated nourishment is never greater than under conditions of war stress, and the present serious pressure upon Allied shipping facilities has further tended to increase the need for foods that occupy the least possible space. On the average, one pound of fully dehydrated food is the equivalent of fifteen pounds of the same product in its original form. Thirty dozen eggs in the shell, packed and created for shipment, occupy 2¼ cubic feet; dried, the same number take slightly more than one‐half cubic foot. The saving in ships and cargo space is obvious. While the problem of shipping space has been a major factor in the stimulated interest in dehydration, other elements in the existing situation have also had their influence. In Great Britain, under constant threat of invasion, it has been essential to build up reserve stocks of food throughout the country, often under storage conditions that are far from ideal. The serious shortage of tin has restricted the use of ordinary canning methods to foods which cannot, at the present stage of research, be preserved in any other form. A further stimulus has been given by the necessity of providing concentrated foods for paratroops and commando units, which must be entirely self‐sufficient when in action. Special rations are prepared which provide meals for two or three days, yet weigh only a few pounds. Drying is the oldest known form of food preservation, in fact it may be termed the natural method of preservation. Nature herself uses it. On the average, seeds, grains and nuts contain less than 10 per cent. of moisture, regardless of the amount which may be present at earlier stages of growth. The very existence of vegetable life from year to year is in the final analysis dependent upon this lack of moisture which inhibits the growth of bacteria and moulds. Perhaps by some accident, perhaps by imitation of the natural process, man early began to preserve food by drying, either in the sun or by artificial heat. Robinson Crusoe's raisins and the dried apples of our pioneer ancestors leap at once to the mind. Dried fruits and fish, jerked and smoked meats are all preserved by the removal of some part of their original water content. Sometimes this is the sole process, sometimes it is combined with other methods, as salting or pickling. In recent years, however, the preservation of foods by canning, refrigeration, and latterly by quick‐freezing has largely replaced the earlier method. Natural or artificial drying methods have in the past permitted the storage of food and the retention of a part of its nutritive value at the expense of flavour and colour. Everyone knows the difference between the flavour and texture of sweet corn in the milky stage and that which has ripened further, i.e., begun to dry out. In the case of such products we have largely come to prefer the dried flavour, even where we can know the so‐called fresh flavour. Some artificially dried or semi‐dried foods have, in fact, retained their place in the modern diet in direct competition with the fresh form, not as substitutes, but as independent food products in their own right. Such fruits as dates, figs, prunes and raisins are perhaps the best examples. No one expects raisins to take the place of grapes or prunes to have the same flavour as plums. These so‐called dried fruits are, however, really only semi‐hydrated. They retain from 20 to 25 per cent. of their moisture; only enough has been removed to ensure their keeping qualities. While they are a concentrated product, the process has not been carried to the point of complete transformation into the solid form. Jerked or dried meat and such products as pemmican are also among the oldest forms of preserved food, and jerked beef is still extensively produced in many countries. A more generally known form of meat product is meat extract. There are a number of famous brands, available either as a thick syrupy liquid or in a solid cube. The keeping property is implicit in its low water content, usually about 15 per cent. These extracts are prepared by removal of the fat and albumen, the addition of salt and evaporation in vacuum. One pound is ordinarily obtained from twenty‐five pounds of lean meat. Packing companies in the United States report that experimental methods of producing a true dehydrated meat, one which can be restored to its normal character, have been successful, at least in regard to beef. Pork is apparently too fat for such treatment. If the process works on a commercial scale as successfully as in the experiments, additional savings in shipping space will be realised. It is estimated that one ship could carry as much meat as ten cargo vessels were able to transport during the last war. Among other concentrated foods that go back to antiquity are the milk products, butter and cheese. These belong to the class which has little relation in either flavour or texture to the original from which they are made. Cheese is a product of fermentation as well as drying, while butter is additionally protected by salt and by refrigeration in storage and transport. Thus, while the removal of water is an important step in their manufacture, they cannot be considered dried foods. Recent reports from New Zealand indicate that butter is now entering this category. As a result of research which antedates the war, the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute has perfected a method of dehydrating butter. The British Government has contracted to purchase 20,000 tons during 1942 and 1943. A trial shipment of 400 tons was made last year and was well received. According to a report from the Canadian Trade Commissioner in New Zealand, the process was developed originally in order to reach markets not served by refrigerator ships. The dislocation of the shipping facilities between New Zealand and Great Britain has eliminated the usual means of sending butter. The new product, however, can be shipped as general cargo on any ship that may be available. The dried butterfat can be used directly by industrial food manufacturers and its conversion into table butter is simply adding a matter of water and salt. Not only will it serve a valuable war‐time purpose of providing Great Britain with needed fats, but it will also relieve the position of dairy farmers in New Zealand. After the war it is considered possible that the original purpose of marketing in countries without refrigerator service may continue to absorb available supplies.