When designing a food factory, it is necessary to consider the storage requirements for raw materials, finished goods, and occasionally WIP. The nature of these facilities depends on a number of factors:
• The characteristics of the raw materials/intermediate or finished products to be stored
• The quantities of material to be stored and the turnover rates
• Storage requirements (e.g., ambient, chilled, frozen, modified atmosphere)
• The method and frequency of delivery or shipment
• The method of conveyance within the factory
Major ingredients are often stored in bulk. Examples include powders such as sugar and flour, which are typically held in bulk storage silos having a capacity of 20 t or more to facilitate the delivery of complete tanker loads. Liquids such as edible oils and milk are usually stored on-site in large (up to 150,000 l) vertical stainless steel tanks. In either case, appropriate environmental control (e.g., of temperature and humidity) and conditions (e.g., air quality and flow, modified atmosphere) can be provided so as to maintain or develop the desired quality. Smaller quantities of minor ingredients are delivered and stored by the pallet load in a variety of packaging formats: sacks, drums, cases, large bags, etc. Certain ingredients (and products) need to be chilled or frozen during storage and shipping and, under these circumstances, suitable facilities also need to be provided.
Depending on requirements and costs, operation of the food warehouse can range from manual to fully automatic. In the former, fork lift trucks are used to move the pallets. In the latter, referred to as automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), high-speed stacker cranes are directed by computer to a specific location where they off-load or remove the pallet. Bar codes on the pallets are used to identify its contents and storage location.
Specifying raw materials and finished goods storage requirements is far from simple. The first step is to estimate the floor areas required on the basis of the following information, which needs to be compiled for each item stored: (1) description of the item, (2) details of the unit loads (type, capacity, size, weight), (3) quantity of unit loads stored (maximum, average, planned), and (4) storage space requirements (method, space standard, area, ceiling height required). In (4), the term space standard is the volume requirement per unit load stored. This includes the allocated space for aisles and honeycombing (wasted space that results when a partial row or stack cannot be used as this would cause blockage).
It is then necessary to design the storage layout for the warehouse(s). This is best achieved through the use of a scaled layout that includes all fixed obstacles such as columns, posts, stairs,
θ
illustrations of (1) a 90 dock and (2) a finger dock
doors, elevators, and plant services. Floor loading is a particularly important consideration in multistory facilities. As indicated by Tomkins et al. (1996b), the design should:
• Utilize the space effectively
• Provide efficient materials handling
• Minimize storage cost while providing the required level of service
• Provide maximum flexibility
• Facilitate good housekeeping
These requirements depend on a number of factors, some of which are of an operational nature.
For example, the decision has to be taken as to whether dedicated or randomized storage should be employed. The former is intuitively preferable but the latter normally requires less storage slots.
According to Wallin (1997), warehouses are typically of low-cost construction. A racking system may act as the frame of the building, which can be either brick lined or just clad. Goods can normally be stored to a height of 18 in. below the trusses or sprinklers for ceiling heights of 15 ft or less or 36 in. below if the ceiling height is greater than 15 ft. A typical warehouse is 3–4 racks high, but some high-bay stores are 6–8 racks high. The height is limited by the stability of the racking system and the added costs of wind bracing and foundations. The modular construction of racking systems allows for their expansion in any horizontal direction or, if height permits, in a vertical direction as well.
Sufficiently wide aisles should be planned to permit due access to the stored goods and ease of materials handling. These should run parallel to the main spine of the building and lead to doors.
Most goods should be stored along these aisles.
6.7 Conclusion
In this chapter, we have considered how the principles of Industrial and Operations Management can impact on the design of food factories. Specifically, the following topics were considered: factory location, design capacity, and allowance for future growth, equipment layout, the impact of lean manufacturing principles, and warehousing requirements.
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