Salvador, Jomilyne S.

Sec-8

TF/1:30-3:00

1. Briefly discuss salt production, from brine production to finished round cans.

 They produce salt by introducing water into salt caves to get a salt solution, and they allow
the salt solution to bring to the surface for processing. Then they will boil the salt solution
to remove the liquid so they can get crystal salt. After that, they will dry the salt to remove
moisture to have the final product of salt. The cans are produced by gluing two sheets of
chipboard and rolled into a continuous tube. The tube is then cut into long sections and
then cut again into can-size pieces. The finished pieces are moved on conveyor to where
the various parts can be assembled into cans and glued.

2. Briefly describe quality assurance efforts in round can production

 They will do a visual inspection to check the quality of assembly, cans weight is it
correctly filed or not, cans aligned labels and cans metal quality.

3. What are some of the possible reasons why the company continues to use the old
processing equipment instead of buying new, more modern equipment?

 One of the reasons is that maybe, acquiring modern equipment costs more than
maintaining the working capacity of the old equipment. Or I think one of the major
reasons is that if they will purchase new modern equipment, there will be a big
adjustment they will encounter. First, adjustment in their production process, they will
study again what are the techniques the company needs to learn in order to achieve the
output it usually produces. They can’t also sacrifice the quality of their product that the
company was known for. Risk and uncertainty can come across their way. The ease of
the production process that the company has live through since 1950 can’t be replaced
by new and not-so-much tested equipment compared to the vintage equipment which
is tried and tested already.

4. Where would you place salt production in the product-process spectrum?

 I think salt production belongs in the assembly line process spectrum because of its fixed
applications. Assembly line is a process in which parts are added to a product in
sequential manner to create the finished product. They are designed for the sequential
organization of workers, tools or machines, and parts. Just like in the salt production
process wherein methods are in order. Salt are first dig out below the surface, and then
will undergo brine method. The salt are then move by conveyors to the production
areas (in round cans). Workers perform simple and repetitive tasks.
5. Determine the approximate number of tons of salt produced annually. Hint: one ton = 2000
pounds, and one pound = 16 ounces.

 (3,800,000 cans per year) x (26 ounces of salt per can) = 98,800,000 ounces per year.
(98,800,000 ounces per year) / (16 ounces per pound) = 6,175,000 pounds per year.
(6,175,000 pounds per year) / (2000) = 3,087.5 tons of salt per year

6. What improvements can you suggest for the plant?

 Reduce the cost of quality by using SPC (Statistical Process Control)

 Buy new machines to enhance the production.