VEGETABLE AND FRUIT DEHYDRATION 



173 



Table 18. — Approximate labor requirements x per shift for various vegetables in a 

 dehydration plant handling 50 tons per day, unprepared basis (dehydrator 

 labor based on use of truck-and-tray tunnel driers) 



Job 



Feeding to preparation line 



O perating autoclave, sizer, and/ 



or peeler 



Sorting and trimming 



Spreading on blancher belt 



Placing trays on conveyor 



Spreading on trays 



Loading cars 



Moving cars and operating drier 



Scraping trays 



Final inspecting 



Packaging, crating and ware- 

 bousing 2 



Otber: 



Foreman 



Forewoman 



Helpers, cleanup, tray wash- 

 er, carpenters, mainte- 

 nance 



Total number per shift: 



Men 



Women 



Foreman 



Forewoman. 



Table 

 beets 



Cabbage 



Carrots 



Onions 



Potatoes 



Rutaba- 

 gas and 

 turnips 



1-2 M 



1-2 M 



1-2 M 



1-2 M 



1-2 M 



1-2 M 



3-5 M 







0-1 M 



0-1 M 



0-1 M 



0-1 M 



20-25 F 



5-10 F 



20-25 F 



25-35 F 



30-50 F 



20-25 F 



— 



0-2 F 



0-2 F 



— 



0-2 F 



0-2 F 



1 M 



1 M 



1 M 



1 M 



1 M 



1 M 



1-2 F 



1-2 F 



1-2 F 



1-2 F 



1-2 F 



1-2 F 



2 M 



2 M 



2 M 



2 M 



2 M 



2 M 



2 M 



2 M 



2 M 



2 M 



2 M 



2 M 



2-4 M 



2-4 M 



2-4 M 



2-4 M 



2-4 M 



2-4 M 



2-6 F 



4-8 F 



2-6 F 



4-8 F 



4-8 F 



2-6 F 



/ 3-4 F 

 I 2-3 M 



3-4 F 



3-4 F 



3-4 F 



3-4 F 



3-4 F 



2-3 M 



2-3 M 



2-3 M 



2-3 M 



2-3 M 



1 



1 



1 



1 



1 



1 



1 



— 



1 



1 



1 



1 



4-6 M 



4-6 M 



4-6 M 



4-6 M 



4-6 M 



4-6 M 



17-25 



14-20 



14-21 



14-21 



14-21 



14-21 



26-37 



13-26 



26-39 



33-49 



38-66 



26-39 



1 



1 



1 



1 



1 



1 



1 



— 



1 



1 



1 



1 



Sweet- 

 potatoes 



1-2 M 



0-1 M 



25-35 F 



0-2 F 



1M 



1-2 F 



2M 



2M 



2-4 M 



2-6 F 



3-4 F 



2-3 M 



1 

 1 



M 



14-21 



31-49 



1 



1 



1 M=male; F=female. 



2 Labor requirements for packaging depend upon type of container used. Labor figures shown here are 

 based upon the use of 5-gallon cans, automatic sealing machines, and prefabricated cartons, boxes, or crates. 

 The use of metal foil containers or other types of packages wDl involve a different labor set-up. 



The method of peeling materially affects the number of trimmers 

 needed. Abrasion peeling of potatoes may require as many as 50 

 women per shift in a plant handling 50 tons per day. Lye peeling 

 may reduce that number to between 30 and 40. Flame or radiant- 

 heat peeling, brine peeling, or other peeling methods may also result 

 in a lower labor requirement for trimming. 



The type of dehydrator affects labor requirements. A 50-ton tunnel 

 requires from 10 to 15 employees per shift for loading and stacking 

 trays, moving cars, operating the drier, scraping trays, and washing 

 trays. If a conveyor-type dehydrator is used, and a suitable me- 

 chanical arrangement is available for spreading the product evenly 

 over the conveyor belt, from 2 to 4 employees may be necessary to 

 handle the drying operations in a plant of this size. 



Segregation and Analysis of Processing Costs 



Direct operating charges are much greater than capital charges in 

 a vegetable-dehydration plant, since in many plants the monthly labor, 

 raw material, and packaging costs are more than the original capital 

 outlay for buildings and equipment. The present section deals with 

 the problem of proper segregation and analysis of the various operat- 

 ing charges. Its purpose is to assist operators in developing a system 

 of cost analysis that will indicate accurately the relative importance 

 of various cost factors and the effects of changes in operating 

 procedures. 



A proper segregation and analysis of operating costs is of value to 

 the plant operator as a means of (1) comparing the operating costs 

 for different methods of preparation, drying, and packaging (par- 

 ticularly valuable to prospective dehydrators) ; (2) comparing dif- 



