Labor Efficiency in Very Small Processing Units 



Data obtained for these plants were in considerably less detail and not 

 standardized to the same degree as that obtained for larger size groups. 

 Many of the labor figures were related to sub-operations, such as killing 

 and picking or drawing, occurring within the plant, rather than to the 

 broader operations within and without the plant. Some of the problems 

 encountered in trying to compare these data are that they may include 

 various proportions of time for such functions as waiting on customers, 

 when retail selling occurs on the premises; work methods may be significant- 

 ly different, at least when compared to medium and large plants; and, the 

 data are less inclusive than for small plants, even though methodology is 

 similar. 



One example of this was the almost complete omission of unloading and 

 feeding from the very small plant data related to the dressing operation. 

 Maintenance was also generally excluded. Particularly in poultry and egg 

 stores, dressing and drawing individual birds to order was widely practiced, 

 as distinguished from the types of operations in small, medium, or large 

 processing plants. Many very small plants, particularly poultry and egg 

 stores, used a walk-in cooler, freezer, or a cabinet refrigerator and wrapped 

 without ice, as compared to ice or water cooling and ice-packing in boxes. 

 There was little or no singeing or washing (prior to cooling, where immersion 

 in water is used). Pinning was eliminated by some units using higher temp- 

 eratures in scalding, longer buffing (even though abrasion was increased) or 

 other modifications such as dipping in Avax or rolling in sawdust. In some 

 plants, time devoted to cleanup was insufficient to achieve even a reasonable 

 semblance of sanitation. By shortcutting, many very small plants improved 

 their competitive position vis-a-vis output per man-hour, but this can con- 

 tinue only so long as buyer acceptance is not impaired or formal sanitation 

 requirements are not enforced. 



Utilization of Plant Capacity 



Using data on annual volume and on the number of birds or pounds 

 handled per hour under typical operation, estimates of the relative utiliza- 

 tion of plant capacity were derived. Herein, these estimates are expressed 

 as percentages. Basic to their derivation are certain assumptions or standards 

 applied equally to each plant: 



1. A 40-hour work week, 52 weeks. The annual operating hour figure 

 of 2,040 also makes allowance for 5-6 paid holidays. It is also assumed that 

 vacations will be taken in rotation, not en masse, since regular and con- 

 tinuous plant operation is usually desirable. 



2. That the assembly and distribution functions are flexible enough, on 

 the one hand, to supply any quantity required and, on the other, to 

 readily dispose of the plant output. All functions are assumed to be geared 

 to the normal "line speed" (or, for plants without lines, to normal output 

 per hour in the dressing and/or eviscerating operation). 



3. No attempt is made to adjust individual plant layouts or practices 

 toward maximum efficiency. Ratios derived herein merely reflect the degree 

 of utilization under the present arrangements. 



4. A similar distribution of market classes is assumed to prevail at 

 capacity as now prevails with present operations for each unit. 



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