DAIRY PLANT DESIGN AND LAYOUT

Lesson 19. ARRANGEMENTS OF DIFFERENT SECTIONS

Module 4. Design aspects of dairy plant

Lesson 19
ARRANGEMENT OF DIFFERENT SECTIONS

19.1 Introduction

Arrangement of different sections of dairy means siting of various sections in relation to each other in dairy building. Arrangement of different sections in dairy must be done in such a manner that main rooms are planned and sited in relation to each other first. The product sections can then be grouped around them. Utility sections are placed near the areas where services are needed. Garages with facilities for washing and lubrication will be placed adjacent to workshop. Offices will have separate apartments. Overall layout of the dairy plant should be of functional design and should give hygienic outlook. Arrangement of different sections in the dairy plant has effect on energy conservation and product losses. Arrangement of different sections should be based on the future expansion required in the dairy plant.

19.2 Arrangement of Primary and Secondary Rooms

Primary rooms mean milk reception and milk treatment (milk processing) rooms. Reception and milk treatment rooms should be connected with each other. The laboratory is mainly mean for testing incoming milk and should, therefore, be located adjacent to milk reception dock. Cold store should be placed adjacent to bottle/ pouch filling room. Secondary rooms mean rooms not directly connected with milk, e.g., dry stores accessory room etc. Secondary rooms are attached to their main requirement sections. For instance, boiler accessories room will be sited adjacent to boiler room.

19.3 Arrangement Concept of Various Sections of Dairy in General

An arrangement concept of various sections of dairying in general Fig. 19.1. It will be noticed that product sections are placed around milk storage and treatment room (main rooms). Product storage is next to product sections from where they are sent to dispatch dock. Laboratory has been placed near milk reception and refrigeration machinery room near the product storage. Utility sections near the area where services are needed. This is only a concept diagram.

Fig. 19.1 Arrangement concept of various sections of dairy in general

19.4 Planning and Arrangement of Small Milk Plant

Small plants are usually on ground floor, i.e., one level and arrangement should be like Fig.19.2. for a small plant for market milk. The milk storage tanks can conveniently be placed in milk processing room because hardly one or two items are manufactured in small capacity units. Laboratory is connected with milk reception room. Next to storage is placed dispatch dock. Service sections and office areas have not been shown in this block diagram.

Fig. 19.2 Room arrangement of small milk plant

Where the market milk is to be standardized, the plant may incorporate a butter section to utilize cream. This butter section can be arranged as shown in Fig. 19.3 in such a way that the cold rooms for butter and bottled milk are next to each other. By doing this, there is saving in respect of thermal insulation and cooling capacity. Also the products loading are then done through the same bay. In this room arrangement for market milk and butter making plant cold stores can be placed just before dispatch dock. This is the arrangement of processing sections only. Other sections can be linked suitably to complete the dairy unit.

Fig. 19.3 Room arrangement of small milk plant for market milk and butter

In all cases while arranging the rooms, flow of the product should be kept in view, and all pipe lines should be as short as possible so that economy is achieved. Flow should be in order and accordingly the placement of the rooms. Future extension can not be neglected. So while siting the rooms, at least one wall should be made in such a manner so as to allow for future extension in one or the other direction.

19.5 Medium-Sized Dairy Plant

Medium-sized dairy plant ranging capacity from 20,000 litres to 80,000 litres of milk handling per day will require that each room should be planned separately and then all rooms be arranged as per requirement with forward flow of product in view. The market milk section may include milk in glass bottles, in 20 or 40 litre cans, polyethylene or tetrapacks or paper cartons and other non-returnable containers. A bottling section should be planned as shown in Fig. 19.4. From this type of set up it will be noticed that empty bottle side and dispatch side are free so that trucks can drive upto dirty bottle reception dock (empty bottle side) and dispatch dock easily and thus there will be no rush of vehicles. This separation of dairy bottle reception dock and despatch dock is essential in medium and large size dairy plants. Left side has been kept free for future extension. If non-returnable containers are used, this will completely dispense the bottline line. This means, there will be saving in floor space. Basement if available can be used for storage purposes.

Fig. 19.4 Basic plan for milk bottling section

Medium size butter sections are often simple to plan and place. The various space required within the section for production of butter are laid out as shown in Fig. 19.5. This is only a concept. Other sections are suitably linked and placed within main building. Tanks for the storage and treatment of cream are often placed in butter making room when one person is there to supervise the section. Where butter is discharged from the churn or other butter making equipment directly to the packaging machine by a chute, the rooms must be on two levels. Cold store for butter should be placed near dispatch dock, if possible.

Fig. 19.5 Space layout within room for butter making

Layout of cheese section which includes cottage cheese will require cold store and daily distribution. For this, cold store would be placed close to milk store as shown in Fig. 19.6.

Fig. 19.6 Cheese section for several varieties

The processing of cheese will involve cheese making, pressing, treatment and storage. Cheese rooms vary in number, size temperature, humidity etc. For different types of cheese placing of one after the other on one level would naturally make the area of the building very large, particularly in those cases where the cheese has to be stored for a considerable length of time, thus requiring very large storage rooms. In large cheese making plants, it is advisable to have a vertical arrangement if possible from production and technical standpoints. For certain types of cheese, curd can be produced on an upper floor, an then conveyed to the room below, where pressing and other processing take place. From here, the cheese can be conveyed horizontally or down to the basement where it can be stored or further treated. Where space is available, curding, pressing and other processing are carried out on one level with storage rooms underneath. When very large storage rooms are needed, these must be sited on a suitable number of floors by the side of cheese making premises.

19.6 Large-Sized Dairy

For large-sized dairy plants, the best solution is to have both milk treatment and tank storage on the first floor. The actual design depends very much on planning of reception room. If there are more than two weighing-in units with necessary conveyors and can washers, the layout suggested may be as shown in Fig. 19.7 (Multiple Line Reception). This type of layout makes a rectangular form of the milk reception room, thus making it easier to place within the structure of the building.

Fig. 19.7 Multiple line reception layout

In a multiproduct plant, the suggested layout of rooms may be as shown in Fig. 19.8. In this case when product sections are grouped around primary rooms, there will be difficulty in future extension of primary rooms. In such situation, it is advisable to have primary rooms sufficiently large enough in the beginning, so that, when question of future extension is there, it is only in respect of capacity of the equipment. If any of the product, sections, such as milk powder section is very large, this can be housed in a separate building, and pipelines connection can then be taken overhead. Such arrangement is advantageous if extensive changes in operation are expected in the future.

Fig. 19.8 Multiproduct plant layout

In a nutshell, the principles of dairy layout should be following, various working sections be placed around milk treatment and tank room, no matters whether plant is built on one, two or more levels.

19.7 Arrangement of Bottling Section, Pre-Pack/Tetrapack Milk Filling

Arrangement of bottling section is clearly described in Fig. 19.9. In this case, dirty bottle reception and dispatch of milk is on the same side. In this arrangement, comeback type bottle washer has been used. Bottles after filling find straight route for dispatch through cold store as dispatch dock ((not shown) is next to cold store. This arrangement is available for small dairies. Bottle washer and crate washer can be placed in a separate room while milk filling machine in the processing room near cold store.

Fig. 19.9 Arrangement of bottling section using come back type washer

An alternate arrangement (Fig.19.10) where crates travel straight and position of dirty bottle reception dock and dispatch dock are just opposite to each other (docks are not shown in the diagram). This arrangement utilizes straight through bottle washer.

Fig. 19.10 Arrangement of bottling section using straight through bottle washer

The arrangement of Pre-pack/Tetrapack filling machine (Fig.19.11) where crate handling is done by hand trolleys. Here passage is not blocked by conveyors. Coled store is on the right side of the crate reception.

Fig. 19.11 Arrangement of pre-pack/tetra pack filling machine

The crates carrying milk pouches (Fig.19.12) travel straight to cold store. This arrangement using conveyor saves labour and is efficient and economical though initial expenses are more. This has to be planned in relation to other sections, in such a way that passage is not blocked for carrying out other operations.

Fig. 19.12 Arrangement of prepack/tetrapack filling machine crate handling by coveyor

19.8 Layout and Arrangement of Milk Treatment, Processing and Product Rooms

In large dairy planning for milk treatment, processing and products rooms has to be done carefully. For large dairy, primary rooms, i.e., milk reception, milk storage (tank room), treatment room (processing room) have to be centrally located. These rooms are planned and sited first in relation to Reception Dock and Milk Testing Laboratory. Product sections when grouped around them will have easy approach. These sections may be interconnected, but they must have direct approach to milk processing room. Butter section may be connected with ghee making section. It is advantageous to interconnect similar nature product which may have same bay for dispatch. If stores and cold stores are planned on one and the same side of the dairy building, the loading of end product can be done easily. This will save unnecessary travel of men and material. Plant will be efficient if material handling is minimized. The route should be as short as possible.

19.9 Service Sections

Siting of auxiliary services mean proper placing of service sections providing auxiliary services such as steam, refrigeration and electricity to the dairy plant. In small and medium capacity plant, it is practicable to provide these rooms within the main building. But in large plants, it is better to group these rooms in a separate building. The arrangement of rooms where secondary equipment such as boiler, compressor, evaporators, condensers and workshop equipments are installed should be such, so as to allow easy supervision. Equipment, such as brine pumps, chilled water pumps, hot water circulating units and control should be located in a separate or beneath the floor away from processing section.

19.10 Office Layouts and Their Linking With Dairy Plants

A dairy factory will not have only technical, dairy professionals, operators, skilled and unskilled workers, but will also have staff personnel not directly concerned with plant, but very much associated with dairy. This staff looks after all activities of dairy such as administration, milk procurement, processing, dispatch, distribution, sales and marketing of products, establishment, finance and accounts, H.R.D., security (watch and ward) and management in general.

This staff requires office accommodation comprising number of rooms properly linked. For employee comforts and convenience, staff canteen, toilets, reception lounge have also to be provided. Size of office varies with the capacity of the plant. A small dairy may have small office as number of activities will be less. Medium size dairy plant will have bigger office as compared with small dairy. In this number of activities will be more and plant may be manufacturing more products. Accordingly, staff will increase. A large dairy will still have large office with large number of staff employed. Before deciding number of rooms in office and space requirement, it is essential to know the activities, number of departments and persons who can handle the work, as number of persons employed will determine the area and room needed by them.

A small dairy may have sections or departments viz milk procurement, milk processing, milk dispatch and distribution, sales and marketing, advertising, sanitary control and hygiene, security (watch and ward), establishment, finance and accounts, dairy technology and dairy engineering.

Medium dairy will have all above departments, but there may be addition of two or more sections, such as labour welfare department (office), human resource development (H.R.D. section), personnel department etc. Large number of employee and labour justifies the existence and importance of additional sections mentioned above.

In small dairy office, there will be one Manager who will be assisted by various Sectional Heads with suitable designations. Each Sectional Incharge will have 2 or 3 Assistants/Clerks and one Peon or Attendant. All staff will be housed in a separate building or block which will be suitably linked with dairy, except for security office which will be located near the entrance or gate of the factory. Officer Incharge of a particular section will have his room next to his working section for easy approach and supervisory reasons. For instance, Accounts Officers’ room will be immediately next to Accounts Department or Section.

Medium-sized dairy plant may have one General Manager, one Deputy General Manager, one Manager, three Deputy Managers, six Assistant Managers, twelve Sectional Heads with suitable designations and three Assistants or Clerks with two Peons or Attendants in each section.

Accommodation for all these staff members has to be provided and carefully planned keeping logic in mind. Sufficient space has to be provided for walk ways, passages, corridors and reception lounge with visitor’s waiting room.

Large dairy plant will have big office layout with large number of employees at different levels to manage various department. Staff pattern in large dairy organizations is somewhat different from other two small and medium size dairy plants. Here above General Manager, there is Managing Director, Board of Directors presided over by Chairman of the company. While deciding accommodation and room layout for office of this magnitude, it is essential to make provision for Chairman’s office, Board Room (Conference Room), Guest Room / Guest House etc. It is a good practice to work out detail staff required at all levels in the factory including office and plant works. The organization chart may be drawn, which will give clear picture of staff position. Accordingly, office layout can be prepared. Refer Part B of the book chapter titled ‘Office Layouts’.

19.11 Missing-View Problems

Missing view problems on room arrangement for different sections of dairy building are given in Figs. 19.13 and 19.14. It is required to study the layouts carefully and then add missing sections linking them logically, keeping in view planning and principles of dairy layout. Utility sections, offices, workshops and garages etc. are not shown in these diagrams. These missing sections are to be linked suitably in such a manner that a complete room arrangement layout of dairy is presented. Reception and dispatch docks can also be shown in the layout alongwith approaching roads around the plant. Fig. 4.13 shows small dairy plant manufacturing three products, namely Milk (in bottles), Butter and Cheese. Fig. 19.14 shows layout of condensing an drying section of medium size dairy plant. Fig. 19.15 shows arrangement concept of various sections in dairy in general, while Fig. 19.16 shows arrangement of various sections of dairy in general

Fig. 19.13 Small plant for three products



Fig. 19.14 Condensing and drying section