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Application of sound engineering principles, exhaustive costing and profitability analysis only will not be enough for successful operation. The success and profitability of the plant is largely dependent on so many factors. These factors are:

1. Plant location

2. Availability of raw materials 3. Marketing areas

4. Maintenance

5. Availability of utilities: water, fuel, power, etc. 6. Availability of cheap labour

7. Personal safety measures 8. Control and instrumentation 9. Storage facilities

10. Pollution control 11. Quality control

6.1.1 PLANT LOCATION

The geographical location of the plant has a strong influence on the success or failure of the plant. In other words, it has a crucial effect on the profitability of the plant, and the scope of future expansion. Therefore, a plant should be located where minimum cost of production, as well as distribution could be obtained, amongst other factors.

6.1.2 CHOICE OF LOCATION

In order to make the design project realistic, the aspect of site selection must be given some consideration. There are a number of considerations concerning the choice of site locations for a toilet soap plant within the country. Some of these are general considerations whilst others relate directly to the process and its requirements. The following list contains a few of the important considerations.

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a. Designation as a heavy industrial development area.

b. Prior existence of similar chemical plants and location of other industrial centers

c. Existing roads and services and also appropriate terrain, sub surface, drainage etc.

d. Suitable access for transportation for transportation of raw materials and chemicals and for construction of a chemical plant.

e. Availability of a local workforce and distance from local communities.

f. Environmental discharge regulation and cost of land and services etc

g. Climatic condition

h. Proximity to both the raw materials supply and the market for the product chemical.

i. Political and strategic considerations. j. Location community considerations.

k. Proximity to major transportation networks e.g. roads, railways.

l. Availability of suitable land etc.

The importance of the geographical location of the plant cannot be over emphasized. The locations considered for the sitting of the toilet soap plant are Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, Tema in the Greater-Accra Region and Takoradi in the Wetern Region. After detailed analysis of the various locations appropriate for sitting the toilet soap plant has been done, the location of the toilet soap plant will be Takoradi in the Western Region of Ghana.

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Availability of Raw Material

The main raw materials for the toilet soap plant are tallow and Sodium hydroxide. Looking at the probable site location, Takoradi in the Western Region was selected as the most probable for this plant since it is the capital of the Western region. Takoradi and some of its surrounding towns produce a high level of animal fat which is obtained at the abattoir and thus imply a good availability of tallow in that area. It being a coastal town, NaOH can easily be imported from overseas for the purpose of soap production and thus if the plant is sited in Takoradi , raw materials will not be a problem.

Availability of Suitable land

The suitability of land is judged based on some factors including: drainage, load bearing characteristics and flatness. The sites must therefore be evaluated to determine the need for any special foundations, and Takoradi qualifies because it has all this positive characteristics.

Transportation Facilities

The fact that Takoradi is a regional capital assures any investor of good transportation facilities. The town’s proximity to the port serves as a good means of easily transporting the sodium hydroxide by sea. Also the ease of moving the raw materials from the sites is assured. The region has a good railway and road network to transport some of the product; toilet soap, to some local customers.

Utilities

There exists a power line network connecting, Takoradi to the national source of hydroelectric power. With respect to the current trend of power outages, we envisage that the by the time the project is completed and ready to commence, this problem would have capsized. But if the worse happens, the plant would have to resort to the Thermal Plant or any other cheaper form of energy available. Moreover because some units will run on gaseous fuel (natural gas) it is a good site because of the West-African Gas pipeline project which is expected to be operational by the commencement of this

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project. Water is also needed for the various processes involved in the production, as well as other non-production related purposes such as drinking, washing and sanitary purposes among others. Takoradi has a good source of water supply which is of good quality to our plant. All the major towns in and around the regional capital have their buildings well laid out with defined access routes and well planned layouts.

Availability of labour

Generally, skilled labour must be brought in for the construction of the plant. However, there must be adequate labour (skill and unskilled) in the locality for the operation of the plant. The availability of cheap labour in developing countries including Ghana and therefore, favours this possible plant location.

Takoradi having attained metropolitan status and the region’s jubilee field (crude oil) sector in particular and agriculture in general attracts migrants to Takoradi. The migrant population shows that males are attracted to the town than females. With the advent of the toilet soap plant in that area, the youth will be employed on the plant site in various forms of casual work. Unemployment among the youth like any other densely populated area is high. Thus labour, especially unskilled labour will not be a problem. Skilled labour can also be brought in for special purposes.

Market Areas

The local consumption and export needs are the primary focus for production, since future expansion would seek to explore opportunities in the West African Region as well as other parts of the world. Because transportation cost takes up a significant fraction of the sales price, it is one of the reasons why our plant will be situated close to the primary market and closer to the seaport and habour which is also in this town Takoradi.

Moreover the major market for the highly manufactured toilet soap is the foreign market. Since a higher percentage of the product would be exported out of the country. With the plant site being Takoradi which has a Sea Port renders the site very suitable. The local market can also be served with adequate supply of toilet soap by the means of good road and rail networks in the region and across the other regional and district capitals.

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Climate

This is considered a very important factor when choosing a location for the plant. Generally, adverse climate conditions at a plant site will increase cost. Ghana has two major seasons (dry and rainy seasons) which is common to all the possible plant location. This factor thus favours the possible plant location.

Political and strategic considerations

Sometimes, the choice of location provides certain benefits from the government in terms of capital grants, tax concessions and other inducements. For this factor however, since government benefits of this sort are spread around Ghana, the possible location is also favoured by this factor.

Local community consideration

It is important to locate the plant in a safe community and where it is accepted. The community should also be able to provide adequate facilities for plant personnel such as schools, banks, housing, and recreational and cultural facilities. Since Takoradi is the regional capital; schools, banks, housing and other recreational facilities are present with more to be created upon the establishment of the plant thus making it a favourable location.

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CHAPTER 7