Labor Issues, Part Deux

Further to last week's blog:

So where can we look to reduce labor costs in today's processing plants? Where are we spending the most money on labor today?

I suppose "today's processing plants" begs a bit of clarification: many of the processing plants I have seen appear to have been designed some time age, using old technology. What with the industry slowdown of the early 2000s, there are not many new processing plants built over the last 5 years. And many of the recent refurbishments of existing lines didn't move them very far toward "modern" in practical terms. So let's not pretend that the industry is generally operating as efficiently as possible today. It takes time to assimilate the changes that technology makes possible.

Of course, I'm not referring to YOUR plant ;-)

I will mention one area today: Sanitation. I see many plants that are very nearly run without people on the floor. People are not inspecting product, people are not running machines. But they are cleaning up. Walking about with hoses and rain suits, spraying down everything that moves and much more.

What could we save with equipment that is self-cleaning? That knows when to start its own wash process, and completes it without intervention? That minimizes not only labor but also cleaning solutions and their disposal costs.

The need to reduce labor costs will drive us toward some fundamental changes in equipment, I think. It will drive us to look for surface materials that resist contamination, to designs that are simpler, smoother and with less cracks and crevices that can trap gunk.

More comprehensive design changes are going to emerge, no doubt!

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