i-ciiiaininG t^ro. In the plant employing a crew of five, there vas one 

 operator for each of the first three functions, a fourth operator added 

 water to the filled cartons, and the fifth operator performed the last 

 tv70 functions. In some plants inspectors continuously spot checked the 

 packing operations. 



Tlie number of man-hours required to pack and weigh a hundred 

 pounds of shrimp is reflected in the size of the crews used. About 

 tv/elve percent more man-hours were required by a crew of five than by 

 a crew of three, and about eighty percent more than by a crew of two. 



Most plants have well designed conveyor systems for moving the 

 shrimp through the packing and weighing lines. Ttiere were instances where 

 minor adjustments would have made for a more efficient operation. In some 

 plants there appeared to be an over-allocation of manpower; this could 

 have been remedied by combining certain functions. 



k. Freezing: Methods of handling headless shrimp from the 

 paclcing and weighing line to the freezer are more or less standard. The 

 principal differences found depend upon whether the processing plant 

 operates its own freezer or uses the facilities of a public freezer. 



In the former case, the packed cartons of shrimp are placed on 

 pallets or rolling racks which are manuaJLly rolled or tmcked to, and 

 loaded into, the blast freezer. The temperature in the freezer is main- 

 tained at -30° F. to -kO° F. Freezing is usually completed in approxi- 

 mately fifteen hours. If the freezer room is exceptionally large and 

 loaded to capacity, freezing times may vary. 



\7here the facilities of a public freezer are used, the five- 

 pound cartons of shrimp are placed in an open wooden crate as they come 

 off the packing and weighing line. The crates are hand- trucked to an 

 ice bin where crushed ice is shoveled over the filled cartons. Tlie iced 

 crates are then manually loaded on trucks for transporting to the freezer. 



In most processing plants that operate their own freezer the 

 packed and weighed shrimp are loaded directly from the packing line into 

 the freezer. Most of the freezers covered in the svirvey consisted of 

 only one freezing tunnel or room. There are plants, however, where the 

 freezing unit consists of two or more tunnels or rooms of different 

 capacities. 



In one of the plants surveyed, the freezer had a chill room 

 connected with it. Here, shrimp were placed in the chill room and held 

 at -10° F. until the particular production run ^/as completed, then the 

 entire load was placed in one of two blast-freezing rooms. This method 

 of handling eliminates the frequent opening of freezer doors and reduces 

 freezing costs. 



2^8 



