IV. Preliminary Estimates of Labor Efficiency 

 and Plant Utilization 



Labor Efficiency in Small, Medium, and Large Plants 



On the initial survey data were obtained on numbers and types of em- 

 ployees and number of hours worked. These data represented in most cases 

 "typical" or "average" operations. Hence, in this analysis it is recognized 

 that insofar as each individual plant is concerned any derived ratio repre- 

 sents an unknown point on the individual plant cost curve, and that there 

 may be little or no certainty that it is the true "average" for the unit. Since 

 dollar cost data were not obtained, these preliminary comparisons relate 

 only to volume and hours. The suggested relationships will be tested further 

 in later phases of the study by olDtaining more precise and detailed time 

 and cost data from a limited number of plants of varying size and type 

 and by employing a synthetic method of analysis. 



Data were initially separated into several categories: 



(1) management, (2) assembling, (3) dressing, (4) eviscerating, and 

 (5) distributirig (delivery to the buyer). The management category includes 

 such functions as executive, buying, selling, research, personnel, field, cleri- 

 cal, bookkeeping, accounting, and legal services. The assembling category 

 was confined to the pick-up of poultry by the plant and did not include un- 

 loading. The dressing category included unloading, feeding, hanging, killing, 

 picking, pinning, singeing, washing, weighing, cooling, packing, clean-up 

 and maintenance, and loading-out as applicable. The eviscerating category 

 included drawing, cutting-up, weighing, washing, cooling, packing, freezing, 

 clean-up and maintenance, and loading-out as applicable. The distributing 

 category involved the delivery of the finished product to the buyer, includ- 

 ing any unloading done by the delivery crew, but not the full loading labor 

 prior to hauling. Operating categories included direct supervisory employees. 



Volume intervals in Table 19 were determined by arraying individual 

 observations in ascending magnitude; determining the widest breaks be- 

 tween successive numbers; and computing weighted averages of observations 

 between these breaks. Because of variations in the proportions of various 

 market classes handled, the series on pounds and head count shows slightly 

 different progressions. 



Management 



The allocation of management cost to operating functions for any size of 

 plant poses difficulties. Such an allocation can be made in several v/ays, 

 i.e., proportionate to physical volume, proportionate to dollar volume, or 

 by recorded time sampling. With respect to smaller plants, it is difficult 

 to make an initial separation of the owner's time between managerial and 

 operating duties even on an aggregate basis. 



An allocation of management (other than field men) was made to operat- 

 ing functions on the basis of physical volumes. With this method there 

 was little reason to conclude that management time was other than a fairly 

 constant ratio to operating labor as plant size increased. 



43 



