Loss in the Factory can be Reduced by Attention to Detail

Taranaki Daily News, 30 September 1940, Page 26 (Supplement)

Loss in the Factory can be Reduced by Attention to Detail

There seems little hope of reducing certain manufacturing costs in dairy factories, at any rate while New Zealand is at war. Imported commodities are scarcer and therefore dearer, and in other respects the factory manager has to be up and doing if he wishes to keep down his operating costs. There are some directions in which economies could be effected. They are not always apparently important, but regarded as portion of the total charges on the dairy industry leakages can become matters of some importance. Take, for example, the cleansing materials used in dairy factories and in well kept dairy sheds on the farms. Anyone associated with dairying is well aware that the chief agents for cleansing are boiling water and soda. There are many effective powders sold for use in the cleaning of dairy equipment, and these have been studied during the past year by Dr. F. H. McDowall of the Dairy Research Institute. He reports that "in the main these have been found to consist of one or more of the following substances: sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate (soda ash), caustic soda. sodium metasilicate, trisodium phosphate, and soap. The prepared mixtures are thus made up of the raw alkaline materials well known to commerce. "It has been shown that a considerable reduction in costs could be effected at the factory by purchase of the raw alkalis instead of the prepared mixtures. It is considered that the factory workers have been greatly handicapped ,in the efffcient use of the cleansers by the lack of information on the composition of the mixtures — e.g.. there has been a widespread wastage through the admixture of a cleanser containing caustic soda with a cleanser containing sodium bicarbonate. The sodium carbonate formed as a result Df the chemical action between these two compounds could have been purchased as soda ash at one-third of the price paid for the mixture. In addition, the sale af a cleanser containing a high proportion of caustic soda without any warning tp the user must be regarded as danger3US.

"Several formulae for mixed cleansers are being proposed, and factories are recommended to buy. the raw alkalis and prepare the mixtures in stock solution as required, or, alternatively, to buy the prepared mixtures to a specified composition. "Some attention has been given also to the methods of applying cleansers to the various types of equipment, and to the improvement in the efficiency of canwashing machines." While the preparation of stock solutions from the raw alkalis may not be taken up by all managers, Dr. McDowall's suggestion that the composition of prepared mixtures should be known to purchasers and certified to by the manufacturers has much to commend it. It would prevent the waste in usage referred to in Dr. McDowall's report, and would protect the manufacturer of a first-class cleansing agent from unscrupulous competition. Most important of all the dairy factory would be getting full value for the money spent on cleansing material and thus aid in keeping down the costs of manufacture.

Fced For Lambs. A vital factor in the management of the in-lamb ewe is the quantity and quality of feed required to maintain the ewe's bodily requirements and at the same time build up the bodies of the lambs to be. Recent experiments have shown that during the last five weeks before lambing the ewfe is called upon to provide half the total growth of the Iamb or lambs she is carrying. If the food the ewe receives during this period is inadequate in quantity or quality, she must draw on her own body reserves, which obviously is the cause of much trouble at lambing. Showing an Animal. An exhibitor wishing to make a good job of showing an animal should make a careful study of his animal first with someone else holding it. By doing so he can detect any little peculiarities of the animal and correct them. He will also be getting the same view of the animal as the judge. Some animals have a natural style in the ring, while others have to be trained to show to advantage.