International Journal of Academic Management Science Research (IJAMSR) ISSN: 2643-900X Vol. 6 Issue 10, October - 2022, Pages: 272-282 www.ijeais.org/ijamsr 272 Linear Programming Utilization and Optimization of Raw Materials in Bread Baking Industry in Nigeria 1 Micah, Nyone Uelee (Ph.D.); 2 Amanawa, Ebiegberi David (Ph.D.); 3 Nwiyii, Blessing Joseph (Ph.D.) 1. Management (Production & Operational Management), Faculty of Business Studies, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt. Micah.nyone12@gmail.com ; 2. Faculty Member / Researcher, Centre for Continuing Education, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt. david.amanawa@iaue.edu.ng ; 3. Management (Organizational Behaviour Option), Faculty of Business Studies, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt. nwiyiiblessing@gmail.com. Abstract: The work aimed at deciding how limited raw materials of a sample bakery in Nigeria would be allocated to obtain optimum raw material usage and maximize profit. The work was anchored on the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. The data for the research project was collected from Bread Mall, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The data consisted of the total amount of raw materials (soybean oil, wheat gluten, sugar, yeast, flour, salt, and butter) available for the daily production of three different sizes of bread (small loaf, big loaf, and family size) and profit contribution per each unit size of bread produced. After the formulated model and figures were fixed, the data analysis was carried out with Microsoft Excel Solver. The best result from the model indicated that only one size of bread should be produced, which a big loaf is. The production quantity should be 71, as it will make a maximum profit of N5, 000.00. The study concludes that linear programming is a veritable tool manufacturing company can use to optimize their available raw materials. Amongst other things, the study recommended that the management of bakeries should learn to implement linear programming techniques to optimize their raw materials. Keyword: Linear Programming, Linear Programming Utilization, Raw Materials, Optimization of Raw Materials. BACKGROUND OF STUDY In many ways, raw material optimization is crucial. It is a major determinant of a product's price and quality. Roughly speaking, the properties of raw materials in the present production method determine around half of the quality of a product. Using proper raw materials is critical for producing high quality at a minimal cost. Operationally, optimization of raw materials refers to the efficient use of raw materials to get the best value for every raw material invested in producing goods. Optimization of the raw material balance provides the best choice for maximising economic gain. In a bread-baking industry, for instance, optimization of raw materials makes the best use of available inventory, taking into account the perishing ability of the products and considering that bread has a different yield when used in different recipes or sold as such. It helps to manage both product portfolio and raw material balance - directly impacting profitability. It might be challenging to determine the optimal use of raw materials when multi-year purchase agreements are a reality and client demand is constantly changing on the other hand. This brought about diverse raw materials optimization techniques in the manufacturing industry. In manufacturing industries, several optimization techniques are available to minimize or optimize the cost of production, such as Inventory Control Tools, Value Stream Mapping, Lean Manufacturing, Cost of Quality, and many more frameworks. It can be possible through raw materials, wedges, inventory, transportation, investment, resources, minimizing waste, minimizing overproduction, and maintenance. Nevertheless, raw materials and wedges cover more than 65% of production costs, which various techniques can minimize. However, the use of Linear Programming in the optimization of raw materials in the bread- baking industry is not very common, especially in this part of the world (Nigeria). Mathematically, linear programming is a method of optimizing operations with some constraints (Larry, 2019). In linear programming, the primary goal is to maximise or reduce the numerical value. Linear programming represents a mathematical modeling technique in which a linear function is maximized or minimized when subjected to various constraints (Jude, 2017). In commercial planning, industrial engineering, and to a lesser extent in the social and physical sciences, this method has aided in directing quantitative judgments. Finding the most significant or least significant value of the linear expression (also known as the objective function) under a set of constraints stated as inequalities is the essence of solving a linear programming issue. Linear programming is a mathematical programming technique that provides the most efficient use of limited resources to achieve a particular goal and the most appropriate choice or distribution among various alternatives (Ekmekci & Tekin, 2017). In this sense, the term “linear” means that all functions in the model are linear , while “programming” means choosing a mode of action or plan. Applications of the method of linear programming were first seriously attempted in the late 1930s by the Soviet mathematician