Agroindustrial project analysi

156 AGROINDUSTRIAL PROJECT ANALYSIS* Communications layouts. These diagrams show the locationand kind of communications device needed throughout thefacility.* Manpower layouts. These indicate the number and skill levelof personnel needed at each stage of the production processand are useful in identifying areas in which labor intensitycan be increased.a Physical layouts. These charts fit the functional layouts to theactual conditions at the site and are thus based on geodetic,geological, hydrological, soil, mechanical, and other surveys. 46PRODUCTION SCHEDULING. Production scheduling needs to be examinedbecause it is complicated by the raw material's seasonality.The processor should design a master schedule that programs datesand quantities of raw material procurement, processing volume andduration, and inventory levels. From this the analyst can explorethe possibilities of reducing investment in equipment capacity byoperating multiple shifts, extending the processing period by multiplecrop inputs or semiprocessing of raw materials, minimizingfluctuations in product flow, and attaining adequate quantities oflabor and supplies. For example, the production schedule of a milkprocessingplant might show a strong seasonal variation in capacityuse because of the drop in milk production from the lack of cattleforage in a dry season. This variation might stimulate the processorto use soy for protein feed in the off-season and to produce soybasedmilk as another of its products to maintain output. In effect,the production schedule becomes the working document for analyzingmany of the issues examined in the previous sections.Quality controlDeveloping countries' agroindustries frequently lack systematicquality-control procedures. As a result, their product quality iserratic, can cause consumer dissatisfaction, and, sometimes, can behazardous for consumption.Product quality is influenced by many factors, beginning with thegenetic material (seed or breed) used on the farm and with the46. Also see Economic Development Foundation, Manual on Plant Layoutand Material Handling (Tokyo: Asian Productivity Organization, 1971); andSiegmar Frey, Plant Layout (Munich: Hansen, 1975).