HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gregory, M. E. Articles by Roberts, W. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Gregory, M. E. Articles by Roberts, W. M.

Mathematical Techniques for Evaluating Labor Utilization in Dairy Plant Operations¹

Department of Animal Industry, North Carolina State College, Raleigh

ABSTRACT

A comprehensive study of labor utilization was made in a commercial dairy plant. An attempt was made to correlate certain types of plant labor with total volume, e.g., processing variable and fixed and delay time; shipping, and cold storage time; and total time. The labor utilization data on an actual operation can serve as a guide in making comparisons with hypothetical plant studies.

The data collected on labor utilization in a commercial plant study were treated statistically. The standard errors were found for the fixed times. An analysis of covariance was carried out on the labor used in each of the individual products, testing both the variable and fixed times for differences in labor used between days and between weeks and for significance of the regression coefficients. A regression equation was computed for each operation and the standard error of b was given.

The results from the commercial plant study showed that only a few products exhibited significant day-to-day differences in labor used; whereas, weekly differences showed up in about one-third of the products. The regression coefficients were highly significant in most of the products, indicating that the labor used varied with a change in volume.

An illustration was given to demonstrate the use of the equations as a management control on the plant labor used in a commercial dairy plant. The importance of volume in an actual operating dairy plant in effecting a relatively low labor requirement per unit was pointed out. The results from the volume-labor analysis were in agreement with hypothetical plant studies concerning economics of scale that are found in the literature, i.e., as the total volume increases within a plant operation, the amount of labor used per unit will usually decrease.

Also, the use of the mathematical equations was illustrated in some plant situations to show how they might be used for determining the labor used.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director of Research, North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, Raleigh, Paper No. 1213 of the Journal Series.

² Dairy Technology Extension Specialist, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.