Sample Automated Factory Set-Up Proposal
Automated Factory for the Mixing and Packaging of Bio-Plant and Pro-Plant 100% Organic, Liquid, Microbial Bio-fertilizers. Note: Some of the actual figures and the name of the country where this proposal has been used have been removed for reasons of confidentiality. This proposal will give interested investors an idea of how the factory could help the country to phase out chemical agriculture. 1. Purpose Overall Purpose: The overall purpose of the factory is to enable a country to phase out 100% chemical farming, and to change to bio-chemical farming and then to 100% organic farming, with all the economic, social, agricultural, health, and environmental benefits, which this entails. By moving away from 100% chemical farming, farmers (and countries) will be able to increase their crop yields above what chemicals can achieve while lowering their costs and restoring the fertility of the soil. In addition, farmers will hardly be affected by fluctuations in the world price of oil as the bio-fertilizers are 100% organic and chemical-free. 2. The Location We are interested in (name of country) for the location, not just because of the potential market in the country for the bio-fertilizers, but also because it would serve emerging markets in other countries in the region. Because we are offering a bio-fertilizer Credit Fund to the governments of some of these neighbouring countries, we expect to create a large customer base for the factory in the coming 12 months. As an indication of the interest in the Credit Fund, discussions are being finalized now with the governments of (names of countries) for the purchase of US$XXX million of the bio-fertilizers over the next 5 years using the Credit Fund proposal. 3. Type of Factory While there are two possible kinds of factories that could be set up, namely a bio-fertilizer production factory and a repackaging factory, only the repackaging factory would work, as explained below. In the case of a repackaging factory, we would make the bio-fertilizers in Bangkok in large quantities, and send them over in 200-litre or 1,000 litre containers. The price would be cheaper than the price for one-litre bottles at US$X.XX per litre. At the factory the bio-fertilizers would be poured into bottles or other sizes of containers, and then sold to the farmers in (name of country) and other countries in the region. The label can be adapted to the country. The advantage of a repackaging factory is that the cost of the factory is very low. If labour costs are low, you can even start off with a hand-bottling factory, which is cheap, simple, and quick to build. Nothing fancy is needed at all. The most complex item will be a fork lift truck. But once the volume reaches 15 containers per month, you would probably need an automated bottling machine, which is made in Bangkok. If local labour is cheap, a hand-bottling factory could provide 30 containers a month with double shifts. A hand-bottling factory would be much cheaper. There are two reasons why the repackaging factory would be the option to choose: a) Expertise The bio-fertilizers are made with advanced bio-technology processes. If the factory were a production factory the person in charge of the factory would have to have very deep knowledge of bio-technology and microbiology, and their application to bio-fertilizer. In comparison it is very simple to operate a Urea or NPK factory. Furthermore, without the required depth of knowledge, the quality of the bio-fertilizers in a production type of factory would always fall short. Besides, the company President, does not want to give away the secret of his production method as it took him years of research to create the advanced processes. b) The Cost A hand-bottling or automated bottling factory would be much cheaper than a production factory. The laboratory in a production factory alone would cost at least US$500,000, and in the case of a full lab, which could be used to serve an analysis purpose for the whole of Africa, up to US$20 million. In the case of a repackaging factory, many of the items needed can probably be obtained locally and do not have to be sent from Thailand. This will keep the costs down. Automated bottling machines are made in Thailand. The factory building has to be open-air because of the temperature needed by the micro-organisms, and does not need to be expensive. The bio-fertilizers will be of great benefit to the farmers, the environment, and the people in (name of country) and beyond, and will be a very profitable operation. In addition, it will enable (name of country) to change over from 100% chemical farming to bio-chemical farming and then to 100% organic farming over 3-5 years. 4. Area of Land Needed for the Factory The size depends on the forecast capacity of the factory. The demand will increase when farmers see the effects, so it is advisable to choose a large area of land that allows for future expansion. A building of 1,000 – 2,000 sq. meters capacity will cater for 10-20 containers/month. A 20-foot container contains 640 cases x 20 litres, with 4 litres per hectare at the low local rate of consumption. A building of 5,000 – 10,000 sq. meters capacity will cater for 50-100 containers/month. We recommend that the factory is built to cater for at least 50 containers per month while having extra land for future expansion. 5. Production Equipment Needed 30 large tanks (plastic) able to hold 6 tonnes each. These are where the bio-fertilizers will be poured into and mixed. 30 three-horse power mixers to mix the bio-fertilizer in the tanks; one per tank. A control mixer to mix the bio-fertilizers when they are poured into each container from the 200-litre drums of bio-fertilizer. Bottling and labeling machinery. The machinery shown on the quotation will cater for 100 containers per month. Plastic bottles and packaging material. A laboratory. The factory can start to operate without this being operational at the beginning. This would serve quality control when the production…