Optimization of total transportation cost

In this research work, the study used transportation problem techniques to determine minimum cost of transportation of Gimbiya Furniture Factory using online software, Modified Distribution Method (MODI). The observation made was that if Gimbiya furniture factory, Birnin Kebbi could apply this model to their transportation schedule, it will help to minimize transportation cost at the factory to ₦1,125,000.00 as obtained from North west corner method, since it was the least among the two methods, North west corner method and Least corner method. This transportation model willbe useful for making strategic decision by the logistic managers of Gimbiya furniture factory, in making optimum allocation of the production from the company in Kebbi to various customers (key distributions) at a minimum transportation cost. Keywords: North West corner, Least corner, Transportation problem, minimum transportation.

PRODUCTION OF SPECIAL PRODUCTS AT IVANOVO FURNITURE FACTORY (PLANT NO. 43) DURING WORLD WAR II

The article is devoted to the study of Ivanovo furniture factory, which during World War II operated under the provisional name «plant No. 43» of the People’s Commissariat of the forest industry. Fulfi lling the orders of the State Defence Committee of the USSR, it produced landing and sanitary aerial vehicles, special caps for 45 mm shells, cases for anti-tank mines and other special products for the active army. The article refl ects the problems of the development of these types of products by the combine, the organisation of production cooperation for the production of individual components and devices for aerial vehicles, as well as metal fi ttings for special closures and cases for anti-tank mines. Important attention is paid to the specifics of the search for solutions to resolve them, including through appeals to Joseph Stalin, the Chairman of the State Defence Committee. These actions were based on maximum mobilisation of local production resources and on the development of various forms of socialist competition. They were so successful that in August and September 1944, the factory’s labour team twice became the winner of the all-Union socialist competition among the enterprises of the forest industry with the award of the Red Banner of the GKO of the State Defence Committee. In the end, all this worked for the defence of the country and brought the defeat of the enemy closer. The article is based on the materials of the state archive of Ivanovo Region, the Russian state archive of socio-political history, the State archive of the Russian Federation, and the local periodical press. It summarises new information on the topic under study, most of the archival documents are introduced into scientific circulation for the fi rst time, which allows researchers and the public to expand their understanding of the contribution of residents of the region to achieving victory over Nazi Germany and its allies. The results of this research may be of interest to specialists in the fi eld of regional economy and the history of World War II.

Działalność Towarzystwa Polska Sztuka Stosowana (1901-1913) – próby nawiązania współpracy między producentami, projektantami i odbiorcami

Active between 1901–1903, the Polish Applied Art Society (the TPSS), sought to achieve three essential aims: ‘to spread admiration for Polish applied art, to facilitate its development and to introduce it to the industry’. This article presents the activities of the TPSS, whose aim was to establish cooperation with manufacturers and workshops as well as to acquire commissions from institutions and private individuals. Under this cooperation, the TPSS opened competitions, provided designs or employed artists as artistic directors. The Society succeeded in establishing cooperation with a number of printing and publishing houses; it also finalised an agreement with Antonina Sikorska’s kilim workshop, Czernichów. What is more, by employing TPSS members as artistic directors, it exerted influence on ceramics manufacturing in J. Niedźwiecki & Co. Faience Factory in Dębniki and on that of stained glass in Stanisław Gabriel Żeleński’s Stained Glass and Mosaic Works in Krakow. The TPSS was also commissioned to design interiors and furniture by private individuals and by institutions. However, no cooperation was established with any furniture factory. Contrary to its plans, the Society did not succeed in directly influencing furniture manufacturing; its activities had the features of exclusive artistic craft. This is also how they were received by the audience. Summing up and closing its activities, the Society set a goal for Polish applied art, which would be to create two types of businesses – ones which would manufacture things ‘of quality, in design, material, and workmanship’ and others for ‘machine manufacturing’ and producing cheap objects without, however, ‘lowering standards of taste and workmanship