Food-Processing-Plant-Design-layout

Food Processing Plant Design & layout
Module- 3. Food plant size, utilities and services
Lesson 5. Food plant size and utilities
5.1 Plant size
Plant size / capacity for any food-processing unit refer to the planned rate of production of
the identified product(s). It can be expressed in terms of either volume or weight or
number produced per unit time of the product. The time unit for expressing the plant size
could be taken as hour or a shift or a day or a year. It is always useful to take a decision
about the size/capacity in the beginning of the plant design.
Knowledge of the plant size may help in:
assessing the type and size of the plant and machinery needed
assessing the size and caliber of the work force needed
determining the requirements of total land area and covered space for the plant
deciding the type of layout
assessing the other physical facilities needed
determining the type of sales efforts and distribution system
financial or economic viability calculations
The size/capacity of the plant will depend on a number of factors such as:
raw material availability
market demand
degree and nature of the market competition
economic considerations i.e. acceptable return on investment / profitability
The interaction of each of the above factor with plant size can be assessed on the basis of
information collected as part of the market study. Therefore, a comprehensive market study
is a must.
5.1.1 Raw material availability
There may be adequate or unlimited demand for the product in the market with little or no
competition, but the entrepreneur may not get adequate supplies of the raw material to
produce the product in quantities one wishes. This would limit the size.
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