Advantages og good plant layout

Advantages of good plant layout

6. Machinery and equipments: Requirement of machinery and equipments for a Fruit Processing unit depends upon the capacity of the unit and category to which it belongs. Depending upon the requirement of operation, the unit should have following machineries (Table 5.2).

Table 5.2: Machinery and equipment required for different categories of processing units on the basis of unit operations.

Sr.No

Unit Operation

Categories of Unit

Cottage scale

Small scale

Large scale

1.

Washing of

Raw material and Bottles

· One rectangular tank  with false bottom capacity 100 Lts.

· One tank of 200 Lts capacity.

· Bottle brush and buckets

· Rectangular tanks- 2

· One tank with water taps capacity 200 Lts.

· Bottle washing machine

· Bottle sterilizing tank

· Trolleys for holding and conveying bottle

· 3 rectangular tanks.

· 2 tanks with water tap, 450-500 Lts capacity.

· Bottle washing machine

· Bottle sterilizing tank

· Trolleys for holding and conveying bottle.

2.

Preparation of Fruit and Vegetables

· Tables with aluminium or stainless steel (SS) top area 1.86 m2.

· Stainless steel (SS) peeling, slicing, trimming and coring knives.

· Stainless steel (SS) pricking forks for preserves.

· Vessels for blanching.

· Polythene barrels tank with covers for curing.

· Stainless steel (SS) trays 5 No’s.

· Tables with aluminum or stainless steel top area. 4.65 m2

· Stainless steel peeling, slicing, trimming and coring knives.

· Stainless steel (SS) pricking forks for preserves.

· Vessels for blanching

· Polythene barrels tanks for curing with covers.

· Stainless steel (SS) trays 10 No’s.

·  Tables with aluminum or stainless steel top area 10 m2

· Peeling, coring, cutting equipment/ machinery.

· Stainless steel (SS) pricking forks, pricking machine for preserves.

· Blanching tank with steam.

· Polythene barrels/ tanks for curing with covers.

· Stainless steel (SS) trays at least 20 (No’s)

3

Juice/pulp extraction

· Juice extractor/ basket  press/ fruit grater

· Stainless steel/ aluminium sieve

· Tanks/barrels (45-50 Lts capacity)

· Buckets

· Juice extractor/ Rosing machine for citrus fruits

· Basket/Hydraulic press, Pulper

· Tanks/barrels (200 Lts capacity)

· Buckets

· Power driven juice extractor, fruit mill/ grater heavy duty

· Hydraulic press, pulper heavy duty

· Storage tanks heavy duty 250 lts capacity

· Buckets

4.

Heating/Boiling

· Diesel Bhatti/LPG

· Heating pan/vessels.

· Ladles (SS/wooden)

· Thermometer

· Refractometer

· Sensitive Balance

· Boiler

· Steam jacketed kettle

· Ladles(SS/wooden)

· Thermometer

· Refractometer

· Sensitive Balance

· Boiler heavy duty.

· Steam jacketed kettle.

· Ladles(SS/wooden)

· Thermometer

· Refractometer

· Sensitive Balance

5.

Filling/ Bottle Sealing

· Mugs/funnel

· Crown corking machine

· Rolled on (RO)/ Pilfer Proof (PP) cap sealing machine

· Weighing balance

· Mugs/Funnel

· Bottle filling machine, automatic crown corking machine

· Rolled on (RO)/ Pilfer Proof (PP) cap sealing (Heavy duty machine).

· Weighing balance

· Bottle filling machine (vacuum operated)

· Automatic crown corking(Heavy duty)

· Rolled on (RO)/Pilfer Proof (PP) cap sealing (Heavy duty machine)

· Weighing balance

6.

Exhausting, Sealing and Processing

· Can reformer

· Flanger

· Coding machine

· Double seamer

· Sterilization tanks

· Cooling tank pressure cooker/ retort for vegetable processing.

· Can reformer

· Flanger

· Coding machine

· Exhaust box

· Double seamer

· Semi-automatic retort

· Cooling tank

· Incubator

· Can sterilizer

· Can reformer

· Flanger

· Coding machine

· Exhaust box

· Double seamer

· Can sterilizer

· Retort

· Cooling tank

· Incubator




7. Product selection: Selection of products to be prepared depends upon the market potential and capacity of the processing unit. For the small scale and cottage scale unit manufacturing of single item is not appropriate for viability of the unit. Efforts should be made to regulate the production in such a way that the processing unit runs throughout the year for minimum 200 days of working. While for large scale processing plant handling of single commodity can be practiced since they have assured supply of raw material and assured market for the products. The varieties of products which can be prepared keeping in new the availability of raw material in a processing unit are given in Table 5.3 and 5.4.

Table 5.3: List of different products prepared from fruits and vegetables.

Products

Fruit and Vegetables

Juice/Beverage/ready to serve drinks

Apple, mango, litchi, kinnow, guava pineapple, grapes, bael juice, based carbonated drink

Squash /Appetizer/cordial

Plum, apricot, litchi, mango, lemon, lime, ginger, pineapple, guava, bael.

Jam/chutney/jelly

Apple, mixed fruit jam, mango, guava, mixed fruit chutney, dry fruit chutney, ginger, pineapple.

Canned products

Peach, pear, pineapple, mango slices/orange segments, mushroom, potato, peas, okra.

Preserve and candies

Aonla, bael, apple, carrot, and petha (ash gourd), ginger, citrus peel candy.(Ash guard)

Pickle

Mango, mushroom, galgal, kagzi lime, mixed vegetable pickle, garlic/ginger.

Sauce/ketchup

Tomato ketchup mixed vegetable sauce and continental sauce.

Dried products

Raisin, dried apricot, triphala, dried date palm.

Instant powder

Instant chutney powder, potato powder, mushroom powder.

Products from medicinal herbs

Brahmi syrup, Rhododendron squash

Alcoholic products

Apple cider, plum wine, fruit wines, peach wine, jack fruit wine, peach wine, jackfruit wine


Table 5.4: Consolidated list of fruit and vegetable products for year-round working of processing unit

S. No.

Period

Fruit/Vegetable

Products

1.

January-April

Citrus fruits like galgal (Hill lemon), kagji lime, oranges, kinnow, guava, papaya, anola, harar and bahera.

Vegetables like carrot, cauliflower, turnip, tomato, peas etc

Squash, cordial, pickle, candy, marmalade, carbonated drinks.

Jelly, toffee, dried products, canned products, Pickle, preserves (Murrabba), candy, candy, tuty-fruity jam drink ketchup, sauce, canned puree, paste, brined vegetable slices.

2.

May-August

Mango, stone fruit like peach, apricot, plum, pineapple, litchi.

Tomato, green chilies, olive and brahmi leaves.

Squash, nectar, mango bars/leather (papad),canned peach, canned pear, jam, dried apricot, pickle, tomato puree, ketchup, brahmi syrup, apple juice, pickle in oil and brined raw mango slices.

3.

September - December

Galgal, kagzi lime, apple, guava

Garlic, ginger, tomato and mushroom

Pickle, candy, squash, cordial, canned mushroom, dried mushroom, chutney, juice, paste, squash, puree, dried ginger (sonth) and ketchup.



8. Viability of a processing unit: Following factors are taken into consideration for making the processing unit a viable enterprise.
  • Establishing unit at proper location
  • Start with a small capacity and venture into large scale production only after getting experience and good response for the product
  • Purchase raw material in bulk as possible
  • During harvesting season of fruit and vegetables prepare semi-finished products like pulps, raw juices and slices in bulk keeping in view the demand of finished products for the year
  • Explore the possibility of contract farming to get assured the supply of quality raw material
  • Working days of processing unit should be increased to atleast 200 in a year.
  • Utilize the unit to its maximum installed capacity
  • Efforts should be made to utilize each and every part of the fruit and vegetable for minimizing the waste and utilizing it to prepare value added products
  • Use most appropriate technology to minimize the cost of production
  • Explore new markets for the products and maintain quality of products throughout the production
  • Keep in contact with research and development institutions and look for new technologies and products

9. Guidelines for the establishment of Fruit processing unit:
The objective for establishment of fruit processing unit in fruits and vegetable growing areas is to provide processing services to the local growers by utilizing the locally available raw material. The detail about different types of units, machineries & equipments required for the establishment of processing unit along with the approximate expenditure is given in Table 5.5 to 5.7 and discussed as under:

Approximate dimensions for a fruit processing unit:
  • Processing hall: 15×10 = 150 m2
  • In plant quality control (QC) laboratory: 5×4 = 20 m2
  • Raw material store: 4×4 = 16 m2
  • Finished products store: 4×4 = 16 m2
  • Office: 4×3= 12 m2
  • Managers room: 3×3= 9 m2
  • Boiler room: 3×3= 9 m2
  • Wash rooms: 3×3= 9 m2
Total area = 241 m2 or say 250 m2

Categories:
1. Large Scale: Factories with floor area of 279- 372 m2 with capacity to process products about 250 MT/annum or 2 MT/day. Minimum availability of potable water should be 4.5 kilolitres per day. The factory should have well equipped inplant quality control laboratory of 19 m2 area with adequate analysis facilities.

2. Small Scale: Factories with minimum manufacturing area of 186 m2 (excluding store & office) with capacity to process products 50- 250 MT/annum or up to 2 MT/day. Minimum availability of potable water should be 1.13 kilolitres per day. The factory should have well equipped laboratory with adequate analysis facilities.


3. Cottage Scale: Factories with minimum manufacturing area of 23 m2 to 93 m2 including store and office with capacity to process about 10-50 MT products/annum. Minimum availability of potable water should be 0.45 kilolitres per day. The factory should have well equipped laboratory with adequate analysis facilities.


4. Home Scale: Factories with capacity to process up to 10-50 MT products/annum.


Important points to manage a fruit and vegetable processing unit
  • Assure a raw material temporary storage (cold room for sensible raw material).
  • Plan the equipment to operate during working shifts (about 7-9 hours per day), for 5 working days per week.
  • Plan to operate the processing centre for a maximum number of working days per year).
  • Proper investment on buildings and equipment for making unit able to process as many species of fruits and vegetables by using different preservation methods like dehydration, concentration, sugar preservation etc.
  • Utilize the available raw materials during crop season by additional manufacturing semi-processed products for later conversion into finished products during the off-season.
  • Raw material quality is a major element with positive impact on finished product quality.
  • Initial and continuous personnel training and motivation is also an important factor in the success or failure of a processing centre.
The main priorities for marketing should be:
  • Finished product quality should confirm specifications and standards set for different products by the national and/or international organizations.
  • Continuous and reliable supply of finished products to the domestic and export markets throughout the year.
  • Manufacturing and transport costs should be as low as possible.
  • Plan to use as much as possible of the raw materials supplied / received to the processing centre.
  • Be sure that an export specialized staff/organization will help with specific export advice to export successfully the processed products.
Thus a viable fruit processing unit can be established by taking into account various factors like selection of site, on the basis of available factories, making right selection of the product in view of demand and availability of raw material and making appropriate combination of finished products.


Last modified: Wednesday, 7 March 2012, 4:56 AM