ETHIOPIAN TEXTILE INDUSTRY

DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE

GINNING AND SPINNING TECHNOLOGY

DIRECTORATE

GINNING FACTORIES’ GAP ANALYSIS REPORT

Prepared by: - Gizachew Zelek,

Solomon Addis & Sileshi Getnet

Addis Ababa
Jan – 2015
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

List of Tables....................................................................................................................................................2
Executive Summary .........................................................................................................................................3
I. Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................5
II. Methodology .........................................................................................................................................7
III. Objective............................................................................................................................................7
IV. The Scope of the Study ......................................................................................................................8
CHAPTER ONE .............................................................................................................................................8
1. Overview of Ethiopian Ginning sub sector ....................................................................................8
1.1. History of ginning factory in Ethiopia ............................................................................................8
2. Installed Capacity ..........................................................................................................................9
3. Production Capacity ......................................................................................................................9
4. Raw Material Supply................................................................................................................... 10
5. Geographical location................................................................................................................. 10
CHAPTER TWO.............................................................................................................................................. 11
2. Benchmarking the Competitiveness of the Ginning Industry..................................................... 11
2.1. Technology Type and Status ....................................................................................................... 11
2.2. Infrastructural layout.................................................................................................................. 14
2.3. Production and Productivity ....................................................................................................... 15
2.3.1. Ginning Out Turn (GOT) .................................................................................................... 16
2.3.2. Cotton seed /oil .................................................................................................................. 16
2.4. Seed and lint cotton quality management ................................................................................. 17
2.4.1. Major causes of quality deterioration ........................................................................................ 17
2.4.2. Access to cotton testing lab ........................................................................................................ 19
2.5. Maintenance............................................................................................................................... 20
2.6. Labor productivity and Skill ........................................................................................................ 20
2.7. Waste management ................................................................................................................... 21
CHAPTER THREE...................................................................................................................................... 21
3. Issues and Challenges of ginning industry ................................................................................. 21
4. Conclusion and Recommendation.................................................................................................0
4.1. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................0
4.2. Recommendation ......................................................................................................................0

1
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

List of Tables
Table: - 1 the region wise distributions of ginning units

Table: - 2 the installed capacity of Ethiopian ginning

Table:-3 the production capacity of Ethiopian ginning industries one bale average wt. = 227
kg

Table -4 the annual production of raw cotton and ginning capacity utilization
Table:-5 Geographical location of cotton Ginning

Table: - 6 Technology of Ethiopian ginning industries and their status

Table: - 7 shows the machinery sequence of ginning factory

Table: - 8 The Existing situation of ginning factories’ Infrastructures verses the standards

Table: 9 Access to cotton testing lab

Table: -10 Quality checking practice of ginning factory compared with standard practice

Table -11 availability of cyclone in existing ginning factories

Table: - 12 Detail of Benchmarking standards, gap identified and comments to fulfill the
gaps regarding Quality parameters of cotton, Ginning Production, maintenance, and it’s
Human Resource

Table 13: - Detail comments to fulfill the gaps against the standards

2
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Executive Summary

Ginning factories are placed at pivotal position in the cotton value chain. They are the major
clients of the cotton growers and provide raw material to the textile and clothing industry and
the oil mills, so thousands of people in Ethiopia have their source of revenue dependent upon
performance of this sector. However, this sector has tremendous potential for improvement
and value enhancement as the ginning factories lack trained staff, poor infrastructure and
continue to use outdated technology. Improvement in the knowledge and skills of the people
associated with the ginning sector will not only benefit the sector, but will also create value
enhancement in both forward and backward linkages.
Keeping in view the importance of the ginning sector, in the cotton value chain, a study was
conducted with the objective of determining gaps in quality, production, Maintenance,
techniques, skill of man power and work methods against the international standards within
the ginning sub-sector. This study found several issues related with determined gaps of
quality parameter of seed cotton, production, maintenance, work methods of the ginners.
Most of the ginners faced shortage of seed cotton, obsolete technology (cost of production
and maintenance increase, quality of lint and seed deteriorate, working condition harsh etc),
spare parts and power interruption as the top most problem.
The ginners pointed out that seed cotton usually contained high concentration of trash and
other contaminant. Contamination of cotton has adversely affected the performance of higher
value added sectors along the cotton value chain, more particularly the export of cotton
products. Local buyer acting as agent of middleman purchased cotton from different farmers
and mix this different varieties and transports to ginning factories which have high
contribution in quality problems. In most ginning factories, seed cotton is stocked in open
places where it is fully exposed to sun light, dust, dew and other contaminations till ginned.
The seed cotton produced was also usually packed in jute/polypropylene bags and
transported to the ginning factories through open trucks. These jute/polypropylene bags are
used more than two years and proved that it is the source of contamination in the lint cotton.
Furthermore, small scale farmers did not bother to keep cotton of different varieties
separately, eventually; individualistic characteristics of different cotton varieties are lost.
Thus farmers need proper skills in picking, stocking, packing and transporting cotton and

3
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

ginning factories need proper storage, feeding, processing of seed cotton, packing and
transporting. According to survey most of ginning factories were stop their post cleaner to
increase their ginning out turn (GOT) which is wrong practice. There is no any recorded data
of GOT, lint loss and trash value of cotton occurs during the process of ginning. However,
the ginners orally told us that their GOT is 37%, 38% and 39% and trash from 5-12% and
invisible loss is not known. There was no evidence of any study on the productivity of human
resource in the ginning sector of Ethiopia. Low productivity was attributed to lack of skills,
knowledge and attitude of the workers. Secondly, the culture of management was also
responsible for this phenomenon.
In the study, the identified major problems related with their production chain are: - the
quality of cotton (As discussed earlier, cotton contains high amount of trashes and dust), lack
of spare parts (saw- gin saws), lack of skilled manpower and no accurate practice of technical
and production data recording, shortage of seed cotton that makes them idle, lack of
programmed maintenance, using outdated Technology and poor work practice, poor bale
management and packing system and infrastructural layout. Problem of the quality of cotton
was attributed to the poor knowledge, skills and attitudes of the farmers, traders and ginners.
Lack of skills of the labour, programmed maintenance and recorded data were due to the
non-availability of any proper arrangements for their training schedule and lack of skill
respectively. The problem of lack of spare parts inside country is due to obsolete
technologies of the existing machineries.
Value addition at the ginning stage will not only lead to improvement in the livelihood of all
those who are associated with ginning industry, but will also have yield benefits in both
forward and backward linkages. Improvement in quality of the lint cotton would mean
provision of higher quality raw material to the textile and clothing industry, which will
translate into increasing competitiveness of the higher value added textile and clothing
products. As a result, the industry will create more job opportunities and higher income for
those associated with industry. But the market does not give premium price for good quality
cotton, so the farmers, merchants and ginners do not afford additional cost for improving
quality.
Ginning sector improvement in term of skill and technology can create improvement of lint
cotton quality and cotton products, job opportunities, and offer active involvement of cotton

4
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

producers. The aim of the study is to determine gaps including production management,
maintenance management, quality management, human resources management and
infrastructure layout of ginning factories in Ethiopia.

I. Introduction

Ethiopia has a long history of traditional cottage textile industry. Traditionally yarn from
cotton fiber supplied by small hold cotton farmers is home spun using age old spinning drop
wheel. The yarn is then converted into fabrics using handlooms. This traditional cottage
industry continues to grow even today’s making an important contribution to satisfying
people’s requirement for textile and providing large scale employment to rural and urban
households. The introduction of modern integrated textile mills in Ethiopia is a recent
phenomenon initiated by Italian during the Second World War. Dire Dawa Textile Mill was
the first integrated textile mill established by foreign capital in 1930 E.C. This has marked
the starting point of textile sub-sector in Ethiopia. During 1960’s 5 large- scale integrated
textile enterprises were established mainly by private capital. The socialist regime, which
reigned from 1974 to 1991, nationalized private textile and apparel firms and at the same
time established 4 more integrated textile mills (Awasa, Kombolcha, Arbaminch and Adey
Abeba) to expand the sector to satisfy the domestic demand for regular textile and
substituting imported products.

On the pace of these textile factories, the first ginning factory, Tendaho, was established in
1953 E.c at Afar region to provide lint cotton and during 1960’s five ginning factories
(Abacot, Ediget, Yerekesem, Shewa and Gonder) were installed. At the end of 1970’s and
beginning of 1980’s the ginning factories established in Addis Ababa (especially from
Yerekesem and Abacot) were taken to cotton farming areas such as Middle Awash,
Arbaminch, and Abobo. Eventually, due to lack of support and outdated technology the
sector gradually became out of competition and could not meet international market
standards. As the result, the cotton farming, ginning, textile and apparel sectors were
producing below capacity.

5
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

However, in recent few years, since the formulation of the Industry development strategy has
been developed by the Democratic republic of Ethiopian, priority is given to the sector. In
such a case the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute (ETIDI) was established to
give direct support for the sectors. At the same time the foreign currency obtained from the
sector is planned to increase from 23 million USD to 1 billion USD in a growth and
transformation plan (GTP) (2003-2007 E.C) period. The number of ginning factories was
increased from 11 to 21 which have the installed capacity of 1284 ton lint cotton production
per day of which only 49 % of it is achieved. Among these factories 35% were installed
around cotton framings and 65% are in remote areas from farming. To expand and facilitate
the rapid growth of ginning and textile sector the production of domestic cotton as an input is
very essential. For this around 3 million hectare of the potential areas which are suitable for
the production of cotton is identified region wise in the Country. However, from the potential
areas maximum 112 000 hectare is cultivated and 79,000 ton lint cotton was produced in
2003/2004 E.C. This indicates that there is still much work remains on development of
cotton, ginning as well as textile sector to achieve the agricultural led industrial development
principle. In the value chain, increasing of cotton production directly has an effect on
increasing either the number of ginning factories or effectively and efficiently using the
existing once is the most important.
Therefore performance of the textile sector will determine the demand for ginning factories’
lint cotton. The ginning is an important transfer point in the cotton value chain. After picking
of seed cotton by the farmers, it is transported directly or indirectly to the ginning factories
for further processing. Therefore ginning sector acts as bridge between the farmer field and
textile industry. Ginning stage of cotton plays a significant role in determining the quality of
raw material for textile and clothing industry. Process of ginning converts cotton into cotton
lint and seed. Ginning is a seasonal industry like sugar, operating during only certain period
in a year. Ginning process often are also combined with pressing units i.e. pressing cotton
fibers and making a 'bale' ready for transportation to cotton textile industries. There are eight
major cotton growing regions from which the seed cotton is transported to ginning factories
in Ethiopia e.g., Afar, Tigiray, Amahara, SNNPR, Gambella, Benshangul, Oromia and
Somalia.

6
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Table: - 1 the region wise distributions of ginning units

S/N Regions/ states Number of Ginners Status

Working Not working
1 Tigray 1 1 0
2 Afar 4 3 1
3 Addis Ababa 4 3 1
4 Amahara 5 3 2
5 Oromia 5 5 0
6 SNNP 2 2 0
7 Gambella 1 1
8 Somalia 0 0 0
Total 22 18 4

Therefore, this study report consists of three chapters of which chapter one deals about
overview of the Ethiopian ginning factories, chapter two states about the benchmark
competitiveness of ginning factories in Ethiopia and chapter three about the Issues,
challenges and finally includes the conclusion and recommendation.
II. Methodology
At the first stage, Term of reference including detail check list of benchmark standards’, and
structured questionnaire were prepared to collect data from 13 selected ginning factories.
Based upon designed and pre-tested term of reference and questionnaire data, three experts
were engaged in the study. Therefore primary and secondary data were collected from each
factory through observation, interview and questionnaires’. These data were analyzed against
the benchmark standards to identify the gaps and give the final conclusion and
recommendation.

III. Objective

 To determine the gaps in production, quality, maintenance, human resource and

infrastructure of the existing situation of the 13 selected ginning industries and compare it
against international benchmarks.
 To prepare a comprehensive report document for setting up a benchmarking
implementation study in ginning mill based on the gap identified.

7
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

IV. The Scope of the Study

The scope of the study consists of two phases. These are:-

Phase1. To Collect and analyze the data from 13 selected factories in order to clearly
illustrates gaps against the benchmark standards of them in case of raw material storage,
production process and capacity, quality, maintenance, human resource and infrastructures.
Phase2. To provide support for the factories in benchmarking implementation, training, and
consultancy service based on the gaps identified to address the problem.

CHAPTER ONE

1. Overview of Ethiopian Ginning sub sector

1.1. History of ginning factory in Ethiopia

As mentioned in the introduction, the ginning sector existed in Ethiopia during the regime of
emperor H/Silassie starting from 1950’s and at the beginning of 1960’s before that the
traditional separation of seed from lint was done manually. Thus, on the pace of the gradually
establishment of textile industries, cotton ginning industries were established in the country.
In such a way that the first cotton ginning factory, Tendaho, that has 8 gins stands was
established in 1953 E.C. in Afar region, which is today closed. This enterprise was
established to provide lint cotton for Dire Dawa Textile factory. During 1960’s other cotton
ginning factories in Addis Ababa (especially Abacot, Yerekesem, Shewa and Ediget) and in
Amahara region at Gonder Town, Gonder ginning factory were established.
It would be advisable to install the ginning machine at the neighborhood of cotton farms, for
this case, at the end of 1970’s and beginning of 1980’s the ginning factories established in
Addis Ababa (Yerekesem and Abacot) were taken to cotton farming areas such as Middle
Awash, Arbaminch, and Abobo. Later, since the articulated Industrial development strategy
has given priority to the cotton and textile sectors some of the existing outdated ginning
technologies were gradually replaced to increase their production capacity and other modern
technology (3 double roller ginning factories and 10 modern high capacity saw gin) were
established. Therefore, in fact the number of gins operating in Ethiopian has increased from,

8
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

5 in 1982, to 21 in 2007 E.C. and the installed lint production capacity increased from 282
bales to 5656 bales per day.
2. Installed Capacity
Installed capacity is the capacity of the ginning machines that the manufacturer has designed
for production. Therefore the designed seed cotton production capacity of all factories has
been shown as below. But the existing ginning factories are not even using more than 50% of
this capacity due to four major problems such as difficult of obtaining spare part, seed cotton
shortage, working methods and 86 % are old aged technology.

Table :- 2 The installed capacity of Ethiopian ginning

Seed cotton Installed Lint cotton Installed
Number of Ginning production capacity in production capacity in ton
S/n
factories ton per day of Ginning per day of Ginning
Factories Factories
1 Saw ginning 2776 1027
2 Roller ginning 694 257

3. Production Capacity
Lint Cotton is a major input for the textile industry. The demand for the product is therefore
derived from the demand for textile products. Thus, Cotton ginning is the process of
separating cotton seed from the lint so that the lint will be baled and goes to textile industries
for further processing whereas the cotton seed is milled by oil mills to produce edible oil and
also used for further seed preparation. Cotton ginning, therefore, requires the unprocessed
raw cotton, and then is applied on the cotton ginner in order to produce baled cotton and
cottonseed. During the survey time only three ginning factories are running and other are
stopped due to shortage of seed cotton. And the yearly production capacity of the factories
are depends on the availability of cotton production in the country i.e. when the production of
cotton is high the factories use their maximum capacity to gin it and would be idle when no
cotton production or less production.

9
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Table :-3 The production capacity of Ethiopian ginning industries one bale average
wt. = 227 kg
Number of bale can Current Number of bale
Number and type of be produced at can be produced in kg per
S/n
Ginning factories Installed production day
capacity in kg per day
1 Saw ginning 4525 2016
2 Roller ginning 1131 504

4. Raw Material Supply

Cotton is produced by private commercial farms, small scale farms and peasant farms.
Cotton produced by the private commercial farms and small scale farms is ginned and used
in commercial textile manufacturing, while that produced by peasant farms is mostly used
by the hand loom industry. The production of cotton by the private commercial and small
scale is undertaken by currently active 16 ginning factories, namely, Hiwot, Loyal Tiret
Textile, Des, Haji Nur Hussein, Ture, Omo valley, Shoa, Dorry Kebede, Geberselam,
Agricot,Studio3D, Else, Awash, Lucy International, Middle Awash and Arbaminch private
Ginning factories.
Table -4 the annual production of raw cotton and ginning capacity utilization
Description Unit Yearly cotton production and ginned cotton
2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07
Raw cotton 123,900 148,870 214,730 121,620 94,590 -
Lint cotton Ton 45,845 55,081 79,452 45,000 34,000 -
Ginning capacity 59,540 97,502 96,304 96,304 96,340 133,067
Utilization (%) 77 56 83 47 35 -

The capacity utilization difference from year to year is due to raw material production
difference, three ginning factories out of function and some new ginning are added to the
sector.

5. Geographical location
In terms of geographical location, the ginning mills are spread over seven regions in the
country as shown below. The geographical distribution of ginning factories is not economical
especially factories that are far away from farm areas exposes the cotton producers for extra
transport cost.

10
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Table :-5 Geographical location of cotton Ginning

S/n Region Number of Ginning Mills
1 Tigray 1
2 Afar 4
3 Amahara 5
4 Oromia 5
5 Gambella 1
6 SNNPR 2
7 Addis Ababa 4

* Ginneries located at Addis Ababa and Oromia region are not strategically near to the cotton
farming areas where as the ginneries located in the other regions are relatively in strategic area
to the cotton farms.

CHAPTER TWO

2. Benchmarking the Competitiveness of the Ginning Industry

Benchmarking is the process of improving performance by continuously identifying,
understanding, and adapting outstanding practices and processes found inside and outside an
organization.

2.1. Technology Type and Status

2.1.1. Technology Type

The total ginning Technologies coverage amount in the world today is:-
1) Saw Ginning (about 55%)
2) Double Roller Ginning (about 35%)
3) Rotobar or Rotary Knife Roller Gin (about 5%) and
4) Single Roller (about 5%) being used in the world are having their own considerations and
the competitiveness of the cotton is affected by use of particular technology, hence needs to
be examined and the most suitable technology needs to be adopted to achieve cost
effectiveness.
The detail technology required for the ginning & pressing operations are cotton ginning machinery,
pre cleaner, lint cleaner, seed cotton conveyor system, lint conveyor system, Hydraulic cotton baling
press, conveyor for seed, electrical infrastructure, Humidifier and weigh bridge etc. The other
optional machinery required is the foreign fibre detectors/removers, spark detectors and fire detector.

11
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

In Ethiopia both saw and roller ginning Technology systems are present. The Saw gins which
are available in the county are old technology and less productive as compared to latest
technology saw gin and the number of gin stands in a factory is from one to maximum four
which are not economical. The number of roller gin is relatively better in number which is
from 18 to 80 double rollers. Out of these two types of technologies, 86 % (18) of the
industries are saw type and the remaining 14% (3) is roller ginning technology industry
(second handle machineries). The detail type of technology is show in table below.

Table: - 6 Technology of Ethiopian ginning industries and their status

s.no Ginnery name Machinery Made from Number Year of Status
type of gins Establishment
1 Tendaho Saw gin 8 1953 Closed & 4
gins taken to
Abobo
2 Ediget Saw gin 2 1963 Not working
3 Shewa Saw gin 1 1963 Working
4 Gonder Saw gin 2 1964 Closed
5 Arbaminch Saw gin 2 1982 working
6 Ababo Saw gin- 3 1982 Working
7 Middle Awash Saw gin -USA continental 2 1982 working
8 Omo valley Saw gin-USA Lummus 4 1987 Working
9 Des ginning Saw-gin - 4 1990 working
China
10 Hiwot Saw gin- USA Continental 2 1990 Working
11 Geberselam Saw gin- USA Lummus 1 1998 Working
12 Agricot Saw gin- USA Continental 2 1998 Working
13 Lucy International Saw gin Lummus 2 1998 Working
14 Haji Nur Hussein Saw gin- China China 1 1999 Working
15 Haji Turie Saw gin-China China 1 2001 Working
16 Studio 3D Saw gin- USA Lummus 2 2002 Working
17 Awash(Mohammed Saw gin- USA Lummus 2 2003 Working
Amiru)
18 Dorry(Lucy) Roller-India Jadhao 24 2002 Working
19 Hegayino Roller Bajaji 2 2003
20 Else Addis Roller-Turkey 80 2003 Working
21 Loyal tiret Roller-India Bajaj 18 2007 Working
22 Abdulkadir Saw gin- China 3 New, under
Assembly

12
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

2.1.2. Technology Level

The machineries used in the ginning process needs to be upgraded to keep pace with
technology and meet international quality standards at an economical cost and also needs
periodical retooling to produce better quality lint cotton with minimum cost.
Most existing Ethiopian ginning factories are old technology and damage quality of cotton
during the process of ginning, lacks moisture control system, results in excessive heating of
the seed cotton, and is inefficient in trash removal. Ginning factories are not only old
machinery but also practicing outdated methods of ginning practice. Most of the ginning
mills do not use lint cleaners installed in their factories. The two bottleneck in the ginning
practice are no uniform feeding and unable to control pressure instruments for bale press.
Lint cleaners are installed in only 54% of the factories and feed control, dryer and humidifier
(moisturizer) are installed in none of the ginning factories.
Table: - 7 shows the machinery sequence of ginning factory
Rock and
Feed Tower pre Extractor Lint Moisturiz
Factory green-ball Gin stand Bale press
control drier cleaner feeder cleaner e
trap
Omo valley     
Ture      
G/selam      
Dorry Kebede    
Agricot     Not funl. 
3D-studio     Not funl. 
ELSE     
Mohamed     Modified 
Amiru
Lucy Intr’l     Modified 
Middle Awash     Not funl 
Haji Nur     
Hussein
Des     
Loyal tiret     
As it is seen from the table most ginning factories have not some important machinery which
is vital for processing good quality lint.

Gins typically use two types of lint cleaners, air jet and saw. The air-jet lint cleaners are
directly behind the gin stand and use centrifugal force to remove trash from the lint as it
makes a sharp turn in the duct work. Most of the Ethiopian lint cleaners are saw type. In saw
type lint cleaner, a condenser removes the fiber from the conveying air stream and forms it
into a batt. The batt is fed to a saw cylinder which normally rotates at approximately 1,000
revolutions per minute. The saws carry cotton over grid bars, which, aided by centrifugal

13
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

force, remove immature seeds (motes) and foreign matter. The cleaned lint is removed from
the saw by a rotating brush which also provides air to convey it to the next machine. The
importance of Lint cleaners is to improve the grade of cotton by removing foreign matter if
the cotton has the necessary color and preparation characteristics. Lint cleaners may also
blend light spotted cotton so that it becomes a white grade. These lint cleaners are by-passed
in most ginning factories in the country.

2.2. Infrastructural layout

The standard ginning factories has roofed, cemented, adequate and well ventilated seed
cotton and bale storage warehouses, separate Ginning house, cyclones, cotton seed and waste
storage rooms. From the table below 92 % of the ginning factory has good feeding room,
31% of the ginneries have good seed cotton and seed storage, 38 % has good gin house and
bale store and 23% has good cyclone room. Therefore the infrastructure of the existing
ginning factories needs improvement and change as show in the table.

In all ginning factors of Ethiopia the feeding system is manual. In feeding room workers are
assigned to feed the seed cotton but not for contaminant sorting. The feeding system are
through pipe or holes underground.

In most of the cotton Ginning Factories in in Ethiopia, the cotton is stored in open area with
surroundings full of dust and other contaminants such as dry leaf bits, plastic materials and
other materials thrown up by human beings or blown by winds. The storage should be done
in fully covered concrete godowns having neat and clean surroundings. Else Addis have
since realized the need for making covered paved warehouses which will save cotton from
contaminations rains and dew etc.

At present majority of the cotton Ginning Factories are handling raw cotton as well as lint
cotton and cotton seeds manually. The clean conditions in the Ginning Factories haven much
to be desired, the cleaning of gin house is not done properly, dirty cotton lint, oil and grease
stains, nut bolts, metal pieces, broken wooden pieces, broom pieces, wire, raw cotton and
seed entangled in gin or other places etc. find its way to lint. The majority of the Ginning
Factories are not having efficient / adequate supervision which leads to negligence or
carelessness on the part of the laborers working in Ginning & Pressing. Factories and
consequential increase in the presence of foreign materials such as human hair, cloth pieces,
jute threads, wood pieces, pieces of cigarettes, tobacco pouches, dusts and stone extra

14
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Some factories have no cyclone due to these absence the waste generated from the factories
disturb the surroundings.

Table: - 8 The Existing situation of ginning factories’ Infrastructures verses the standards
s.no Ginnery name Feeding Seed store Gin house Bale store Cotton Cyclone
room house seed store
good poor good poor good poor good poor good poor good poor
1 Omo valley      
2 Haji Turie      
3 Geberselam      
4 Dorry(Lucy)      
5 Agricot      
6 Studio 3D    
7 Else Addis      
8 Awash(Mohammed     
Amiru)
9 Lucy international    
10 Middle awash      
11 Haji Nur Hussein      
12 Des      
13 Loyal tiret     
% 92 8 31 69 38 62 38 62 31 69 23 77

2.3. Production and Productivity

Cotton is ginned to produce cotton lint, seed, and waste cotton. Seed is used to produce oil
and plantation while cotton lint is used for the manufacturing of textile and clothing products.
Ginning factories in Ethiopia have low productivity because of unskilled man power,
outdated technology, and shortage of raw cotton, lack of Spare part, workshop, infrastructure,
power interruption and layout, Waste controlling system, poor maintenance practice and
work method. The cotton value chain production process and ginning position diagram

15
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Production of cotton requires several inputs like land, labour, seed, water, fertilizer,
pesticides, finances, etc. Second transfer point in the cotton value chain is the ginning.
2.3.1. Ginning Out Turn (GOT)
Ginning out-turn is a useful indicator of the performance of ginning factories. It can be
described as the percentage of lint obtained from seed cotton. Ginning factories with high
ginning out-turn values are preferable; because they yield more lint thus most of the ginning
factories in the country are not using lint cleaner to increase or maintain their GOT which is
bad practice. And most of them have no systematic recorded ginning out turn whereas the
average ginning out turn of the country is estimated to 37%.
2.3.2. Cotton seed /oil
The cotton seed share in ginning mill is 2/3 of the seed cotton. Most of the ginning factories
or the seed cotton owners sell the cotton seed to Oil mills but only two factories Middle
awash which have delinter machine and Hiwot with sulphuric acid to prepare seed for
plantation.
The trash percentage is ranges from 5% to 12% which is at higher side.

16
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

2.4. Seed and lint cotton quality management

Quality Cotton is the best raw material that has cleanliness and meets the needs and
expectations of customers (Textile industries and End-users). It is Fitness for Use or Fitness
for purpose or user based or Customer satisfaction or Meeting specification.
The quality of cotton fiber depends upon a variety of factors ranging from seeds and sowing
season to picking and other agro-climatic conditions of growth, in addition to post harvest
technology employed. The work practices at ginning, storage and transportation before and
after ginning also influence the quality of cotton. Hence the quality of bale cotton is not the
same even if the variety is same.
The existing ginning factory quality management system is poor and almost all ginning
factories are not performing auditing of cotton quality before and after ginning. The workers
of the ginning factory have low awareness about quality of cotton and even some of the
workers have good awareness about quality they don’t care about quality because the market
does not give premium for better quality.

In the existing situation harvesting method, packing method, grade mixing, storage,
transportation and ginning practice attribute quality deterioration.

2.4.1. Major causes of quality deterioration

Ginning is handled differently in different parts of the world. In places like the United States,
the cotton remains the property of the farmer unless it is purchased by a merchant, most
ginners usually playing the role of service provider. However, in countries like India and
Pakistan, ginning is an operational industry known for its production and employment role in

17
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

the agro-sector of the country’s economy. In Ethiopian, where most of ginneries are owned
by private and provide service, so many ginners prefer to focus on higher
quantities/production/ rather than better quality. Generally, profit maximization leads to less
concern about quality, depending on market behavior.

 Seed cotton packaging: - All farmers, merchants and even ginneries have their own farm
uses jute and pp. bags for transporting seed cotton to ginning factories which has high
contribution for contamination of lint cotton.
 Lot mixing: - cotton merchants buy seed cotton from different farmers and process
cottons having different quality (seed cotton with different color, fineness and staple
length) together which leads to poor quality.
 Seed cotton transportation to ginneries:-During transporting of seed cotton bags are not
properly packed and most trucks are opened (not covered). In this situation seed cotton
dropped on the road and dust and smokes of the truck are deteriorate color and grade of
the cotton by increasing its trash content.
 Storage and bale packing: - Most of the ginning factories have no adequate storage and
even some has enough storage which is not clean and the floor is not cemented. In most
ginning factories, the seed cotton is accumulated outside in soil, uncovered and dusty
ground in which dusts and contaminants are simply mixed with seed cotton and also
colors of cotton is deteriorated due to moisture in air and sunlight.
 Ginning practice: -
A). Most of the ginning machineries are very old and most of them are not containing
the essential machineries such as, lint cleaner, dryer and moisturizer. Important quality
parameters (staple length and strength) of cotton are damaged and impossible to
produce clean and good quality lint cotton.
B). There is lack of skilled man power and workers of the factory are not conscious of
the quality of cotton.
C). the market does not give premium price for good quality cotton, so the merchants
and farmers does not afford additional ginning cost for improving quality of lint cotton.
Best Practices to bridge the gaps

18
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Seed cotton packing:- Jute and pp. bag should not be used for packaging of seed cotton
because if a thread of jute or pp. bag is mixed with seed cotton it will multiplied on ginning
process and make a difficulty during spinning process and affect end product quality. So the
seed cotton should packed by cotton made bags.
Lot mixing: - To avoid grade/lot mixing awareness should be created to merchants and
farmers about categorizing of cotton in lots through workshops, trainings and other
mechanisms by concerned body.
Seed cotton transportation to ginneries: - seed cotton should be transported with covered
and clean truck and also the bags should be properly packed.
Storage: - The seed cotton should be stored in cemented, covered & clean floor and
conditioned, so all factories should have cemented, clean and adequately conditioned store.
Ginning practice: - The old parts of the ginning machineries retooled or changed and the
necessary machineries such as, lint cleaner, dryer and moisturizer should be full field to
perform the ginning process without damaging the important parameters of the lint cotton.
The market should give premium for good quality cotton and price should be based on
quality, so that all the stack holders (Farmers and Ginneries) will conscious about cotton
quality.
2.4.2. Access to cotton testing lab
Except 15.4% (Omo valley and Middle Awash) the remaining 84.6% of the factories have no
testing lab rooms and equipment. Even those who have labs are not equipped with necessary
instruments only they have fineness tester, moisture tester and color board.
Table: 9 Access to cotton testing lab

Access of Number of % Remark

lab factories
No 11 84.6
Yes 2 15.4 The labs are not fully equipped.
Total 13 100

19
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Table: -10 Quality checking practice of ginning factory compared with standard practice
Factory 2.5 % Fineness Matu Moisture Trash Color Neps GOT Seed % Contam
S.L
rity content (%) / gm (%) ination
(%)

Omo vally hand No No By No No No check check No

staple moisture
meter
Ture No No No No No No No check check No
G/selam No No No No No No No check check No
Doryykebede No No No No No No No check check No
Agricot No No No No No No check check No
3D-studio No No No No No No check check No
ELSE No No No No No No check check No
Mohamed Amiru No No No No No No check check No
Lucy Intr’l No No No No No No check check No
Middle Awash hand Fineness No No No No check check No
staple taster
Haji NurHussien No No No No No No check check No
Des No No No No No No check check No
Loyal tiret No No No No No check check No

2.5. Maintenance
The ginning factories under this investigation have no scheduled maintenance program
except the routine cleaning shift wise during processing and overhauling of off- season
maintenance schedule and all of them only performs on consumable preventive maintenance
such as greasing, oiling and belt change. Since there is no saw grinding machine in all
ginneries, the ginning saws are not reused. These indicate that there is less maintenance skill
in performing preventive and scheduled program which needs to be improved. The factories
should have workshop, spare parts stock management, scheduled maintenance program and
maintenance audit to have health machinery operation and to produce quality lint cotton.
2.6. Labor productivity and Skill
The major problem of all ginning factories is low labor productivity since untrained and
unskilled labors are employed to the factories. Skill of the workers should be improved by
training and the factories should employ skilled man power (engineers and technical school
graduates) to improve ginning practice. The major constrain of the availability of skilled man
power in the sub sector is the lack of formal training in TVET as well as in higher
educational institutions. So focus has to be given by learning institution to provide formal
training on the ginning technology to improve ginning productivity and work practices.

20
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

2.7. Waste management

Cyclone is A centrifugal air pollution control device for separating solid particles from an
airstream.
In 46% of the ginning factories under this study, the waste from ginning machines and dusts
removals through pipes from the ginning room are discharged to the outside open areas so
that there are large waste accumulations which are out of control that pollute the surrounding
environment and working conditions. Whereas the remaining 54% have proper waste
management system. The waste disposed is used for animal feeding, fertilizer and some are
unutilized. Table -11 availability of cyclone in existing ginning factories
Access of Number of factories % Remark
cyclone
No 6 46
Yes 7 54 Some factories have installed
inside ginning house.
Total 13 100

CHAPTER THREE
3. Issues and Challenges of ginning industry
There are several challenges that ginning industry are currently facing. These are identified
during the survey of 13 ginning industries as listed below:
 High trash content of seed cotton was brought to ginning factories especially by trader.
 Ginning provides foundation to the whole textile sector in the country by supplying the
lint cotton but this sector has been seriously neglected by the researchers and learning
institutions.
 Ginning sector seriously lacks in technology and skills for classification of the cotton
lint.
 There are quite inadequate regulations for the ginning process.
 Ginneries rely on old machinery and outdated methods of ginning.
 Ginning sector lacks any standards for ensuring the health and safety of the people
working in the ginning factories. Ginning workers remain exposed to cotton dust, which

21
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

may cause respiratory symptoms and there is a positive relationship between the
exposure to cotton dust and symptoms of cough.
 Low ginning outturn
 Ginners and cotton traders mostly concern on quantity than quality.
 Low capacity Utilization.
 Poor maintenance practice.
 Lack of spare parts and workshop.
 Lack of skilled manpower.
 Different lot seed cotton mixed and delivered to ginners especially by traders.
 Almost all ginners are serves providers.
 Most factories infrastructures are not follow best arrangement and not full fill all
facilities and managed by non-technical people.
 Lack of quality standard and price premium for lint cotton.
 Almost all ginneries have no properly conditioned raw material (seed cotton) and
finished goods (lint cotton) storage facilities.
 High Contamination problem

22
Table: - 12 Detail of Benchmarking standards, gap identified and comments to fulfill the gaps regarding Quality parameters of
cotton, Ginning Production, maintenance, and it’s Human Resource.
Parameters Standards Existing situation Remark
Staple length millimeters
Extra-long staple 34 & above Almost all ginning factories have Since there is no any instrumental
Long staple 28 up to 34 no equipment to check quality checking of seed cotton quality
Medium staple 24 up to 28 parameters of lint and seed parameters, fiber rupture, trash and
Short staple Less than 24 cotton. Except Omo valley moisture content before, on processing
Strength grams/Tex which has fineness tester. and auditing practice after process in
Weak Below 23 Almost in all factories hand and order to adjust processing machine
Medium 23-25 visual quality checking are setting and maintenance. It is impossible
Average 26-28 practiced which gives subjective to know whether the process is affecting
Strong 29-30 result. the quality of output (lint cotton) or not
Very Strong Above 31 hence, difficult to produce good quality
Micronaire lint cotton.
(µg/inch) The factories must be have skilled cotton
Very Coarse 5.5 and above The ginning factories should have
Coarse 4.8 – 5.4 skilled cotton classifiers and quality
Medium 3.7 – 4.7 checking rooms with at least low cost
Fine 3.0 – 3.6 laboratory equipment’s (such trash
Color Code analyzer, fineness tester, hygrometer
White 11,21,31,41,51,61,71 etc.). And also it is better to create
Light spotted 12,22,32,42,52,62,72,82 awareness on basic quality concept,
advantage of auditing cotton quality
Spotted 13,23,43,53,63,73, 83
before and after ginning process.
In other way producers and ginners can
Tinged 24,34,44,54,64,74,84
use ETIDI and other textile factories
Yellow 25,35, 85 which have well equipped laboratories.
Trash content %
Trash amount 1–7%
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Parameters Standards Existing situation Remark

Classification Honey dew
content %
Very low sickness 0-2
low stickiness 3 – 16
medium sticky 17- 32
high sickness 33 – 53
Contamination Existence
Non fibrous Contamination 2.5 High amount (by visual Since there is on checking mechanism
contaminant gms/bale for export & checking) for contamination, it is impossible to
10 gms for local allowed know the amount of contaminants in the
Fibrous It should be free from High poly propylene treads in lint and difficult to take a corrective
contaminants synthetic materials. the lint. action. So the amount of contaminants
on the lint cotton should be checked.
It is better to Create awareness for the
factory workers, seed cotton pickers and
cotton producers about the effect
contaminants on the next textile value
chain.

1
Table process parameters

Parameter’s International best practices Existing situation Recommendation

Production
No record and Hp Since the factory has no humidification
plant the room temperature and RH% is the
Temperature & RH%
27 -30 D C surrounding atmosphere. It is advisable to
of ginning section
use psychro-meter for recording
temperature and RH% for process control.
Moisture content in No checking Storing highly moisture of the seed cotton
seed Cotton during for Long period can fade its color, lose
storage Below 10 % strength and vice versa. So it should be
checked.

cotton seed Feeding  Manual/ Automatic Manual feeding For uniform flow of material automatic feeding
system  First in first out (FIFO) First in first out is preferable.
(FIFO)
Almost all of the Adequate storage should be available in the
factories seed cotton factory to avoid mixing of contaminants,
Storage facility & Store should be covered
storage is not enough dusts, over drying, deterioration of cotton
systems of storage of /roofed/ cemented and clean.
and good except color, etc.
seed cotton
ELSE. Training on seed cotton handling and
kaizen to the factories.
9 kg The lint cotton in kg per saw /hrs. is less
Lint cotton kg /saw/ hrs. 10 - 21 than the standard. It needs improvement.

30 The lint cotton in kg per gin stand /hrs. is

Lint cotton kg/Double
40 -70 less than the standard. It needs more
roller stand/hrs.
improvement
Trash, seeds, waste and It depends on variety and The result is imagination because there is
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Parameter’s International best practices Existing situation Recommendation

invisible waste % harvesting mechanism (but 63% no actual data that show the exact amount.
mostly 58 to 63 %) It is advised to organize its data of
Seed cotton cleaning No means of incoming and outgoing cotton fiber, trash,
Cleaning efficiency of efficiency 55-83% checking seed weight, to know the exact value.
ginning Lint cleaning Cleaning and realization is measured by
13 -62% improvement of lint grade.
37 to 42%( depends upon
Lint Cotton realization
trash% in seed cotton & trash 37%
%
removed from lint cotton)
Actual 60 ton/shift, The production efficiency of the factory is
Bales production / shift
13-15 bales 18% This shows that there is a lot to
(8 hrs.)
improve.
No checking It is required to check moisture of bale so
Bale moisture content 6 to 7% that the factory’s has to practice by using
hygrometer at least.
Bale Dimension
Bale length On some factories the bale size is very big
No uniform due to tying wire is only 5. So that the
Bale height dimension L= 135, factory is advised to decrease the bale size
H=70 and w= 53 to load even on trucks as many bale as
Bale width
possible.

Bale pressing
Hydraulic The bale press is Hydraulic pressing of
Bale press type &
Pneumatic/hydraulic double box up packing type and down
system of pressing
packing
Jute cloth and weight It jute cloth is used for bale packing which
Average Wt of bale &
Avr. 218kg ranges from 90 kg to very harm for color variation during dying
type of packing by jute
By cotton cloth cover 227 kg so that the factory is advised to stop it and
or cotton cover
use 100% cotton cloth.

1
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Parameter’s International best practices Existing situation Recommendation

Completely covered Only It is required to cover the bale all the six
with cotton cloth Recommended Square (level) 2/6 -6/6 is covered face to avoid any contaminant mixing and
Wire knots on ball of heads Permanent Bale attract customers.
bale Identification (PBI) tag on
All ties recessed into bale
flat side of bale
specified number of 5 circular wires It is below standard so that the factory is
Rectangular (6 to 10)
ties advised to use minimum 6 ties on a bale.
Storage facility of good There is no well-ventilated room for bale
Descent.
cotton bales/internal store
Good.
condition of stores &
Bales lot wise.
type of storing
Manual system The seed cotton unloading from truck is by
System of
Mechanised forklift or labor but des use forklift and
handling/bales/ seeds
feeding to pipe is by labor.
Bale is arranged by bale is arranged by It better relatively
Best arrangement
forklift forklift
Meeting with all No meeting with The factory is advised to take feedback
harvesters once in a farmers from both customers.
year for giving
feedback to produce Once in a year must
good quality of cotton
looking to the need of
the spinning industry
3 Maintenance
Every shift cleaning by No scheduled but
Routine cleaning of all compressed air opening the shift wise and weekly
ginning machines doors of the individual cleaning
machine
Preventive maintenance Once in15 days No scheduled The factory only performs on consumable

2
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

Parameter’s International best practices Existing situation Recommendation

preventive maintenance such as greasing,

oiling and belt change. Grinding of saw is
impossible.
Off season maintenance Overhauling Overhauling is yearly done before the new
During off season
schedule year seed cotton ginning process.
Breakdown records if Once per week
any & nature of
Separate Break down record
breakdown & its
prevention
Almost all the The factory has workshop but not properly
Work shop Standard workshop factories have no use it.
workshop
With Recommended From foreign and Saws are imported from china and
Spare part source
transport and price local consume able items are from local.
There is poor spare Kaizen is required.
Spare part store Well arrange time saving
part store
4
Human Resource Training
Job description of each No job description There is no job description for workers
employee working in Necessary therefore the factory is advised to do it.
ginning
Training of gin No training is given The factory is advised to give on job
On job training by gin by factory training for newly employed employees.
personnel of basic gin
supervisor
machinery operations
Training of ginning Once training is given Training on Quality , kaizen, maintenance
management personnel to the factory by ESA concept, material handling ,and ginning
regarding fiber quality, Technology
Once in a year in ETIDI
physical properties of
fiber, safety matters ,
technology etc

3
2. Infrastructural layout of Ginning & Pressing
Table 13: - Detail comments to fulfill the gaps against the standards
‘S/N Parameters Standards
1 Transportation of  covered truck
cotton seed to  Clean the hand cart/bullock cart/ tractor
ginneries trolley before loading seed cotton
 Different varieties must be segregated
while transporting cotton from the field
to the ginning factory
 Cotton should be kept protected from
cotton pieces, hair, rope, toffee
wrappers, plastics etc at any spot of
transportation
 During transportation Cotton should be
properly packed
 Cotton is transported with 100% cotton
bags and covered.
 Not Transporting with worn out jute
bags
2  cotton Seed  Stack seed cotton on clean, paved and
storage house preferably roofed platforms or in well-
and its floor ventilated ware house with area 400-
2000sq.m
 Storage space for cotton should clean
and dry. if cemented floor is not
Gaps identified
No their own trucks.
No proper packing of seed
cotton, high contamination
during packaging and
transportation.
Packing with old jute bags.
The store floor is not fully
cemented, ventilated, cleaned
and well arranged.
The siner workers have
uniforms and caps.
Comments to bridge the gaps
Transportation of cotton seed to the
ginning factory is by pp.bags and jute
bags that are used more than a year.
These bags are stayed in the ginning
factor till the next season seed cotton
harvesting is coming which is very
bad practice. So it is bad practice that
has to be Improved.
Mostly open trucks are used for
transportation from farm to ginning
that simply exposes the seed cotton to
any adulterous things.
The seed cotton delivered to the
factory is by trucks of other people.
for most
The cemented floor and roofed houses
are used but the cleaning habit of the
factories should have to be improved
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

‘S/N Parameters Standards Gaps identified Comments to bridge the gaps

available ,cover the surface The factory cleaning habit is

 Keeping factory premises clean.
 Provide all workers with white cotton
clothing to wear and caps to cover their
heads so that hair does not contaminate
the cotton.
3  cotton seed  Manual/ Automatic
Feeding system  First in first out (FIFO)
 Manual contaminant sorting while
feeding seed cotton
in bad condition.
Manual feeding and no
contaminant sorting.
First in first out (FIFO)
Poor sorting practice, Since the
feeding system is manual it is suitable
for contaminant sorting but it is not
accustomed to do it while feeding.
Same to FIFO so that it should have
to be done by the factories

4  cotton seed Three stage cotton seed conveyor system
pneumatic comprising
Conveyor  Pneumatic from heap to pre-cleaner or
vehicular cotton seed conveyance
without manual handling
 Pneumatic / Mechanical from pre-
cleaner to Gin Hall
 Pneumatic / Mechanical to each Gin
through sensor control droppers
Note: Two stage system will do if pre-
cleaner is inside the Gin Hall
Pneumatic feed.
Hopper feeding to each
gin stands. Only seed and
trash are transported by
screw conveyor
The transportation of seed cotton
from manual feeding to next machine
(stone catcher) is through pipe which
is pneumatic and always though
machine mechanical and from air
separator or recliner to extractor is by
screw conveyor. The pneumatic
transport has its own disadvantage
when long pipe with many bent
junctions are used which can create
rolling of material and create neps.

5  Pre cleaner Off-line –by pass / On-line cleaner with
 3 - 6 beaters (inclined)
 5 -10 beaters (horizontal)
 pneumatic trash transporting pipe
 Air transporting pipe
4- 7 beaters all inclined
-Air transporting of seed
cotton and trash.
No well disposal of waste since Here
the factory is not using cyclone which
needs improvement. And there is no
adjustment and checking of its
cleaning efficiency so that it is better
to check it

6. Gin stands and Gin  Number of Saw gin or Roller stand 2- 4 saw gin stands and 80 Two saw gin stand which is below
House - 127 saws each standard.

1
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

‘S/N Parameters Standards Gaps identified Comments to bridge the gaps

7. Lint Cleaner  Lint cleaner with 3-6 beaters No lint clear The post cleaner is installed by
modification to clean when the high
trashed used in this factory. And
patented for the modifier since it is a
new investigation

8. Conveyor  Only pneumatic conveyor from gins to Pneumatic transportation from Pneumatic transportation from gin
System for Lint lint cleaner, from lint cleaner to pala gin stands to press box. stands to lint cleaner and then to
halls and from pala halls to press box / condenser and press box
on-line bale press
9. Bale Press  Two / single stage manual loading & Up and down packing circular All factories are integrated ginning
manual tramping press. auto loading and auto and pressing system.
 Two / single stage auto loading & auto tramping press.
tramping press
10 Other  Contamination detector & eliminator Except some mobile The factory must have to check the
Equipment /  HVI / MVI /LVI instruments no any lab quality of material processed
Laboratory  Workshop instruments
 Lab. gin
 Grooving machine
 Nep Counting facility
 Moisture Meter
11 Seed Conveyor  Automatic seed conveyor -screw conveyor There is no safety system so needs
& Platform from gin house to improvement.
- Roofed CC seed platform 8x (40x50)
1000 sq. ft., with direct
collection into transport
containers [or]
- Seed godown 1500 sq.
ft.
12 Factory Layout Cotton seed platform ,Gin house ,Pala house, Eight Many seed cotton store There are three main balance used in
Press house, Bale go down / Roofed bale the ginning factory, gate Weigh
storage Bridge, bale balance and seed
balance. The advantages of all
balances are to measure and give the

2
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

‘S/N Parameters Standards Gaps identified Comments to bridge the gaps

information.

10. Adequate Cotton seed platform ,Gin house ,Pala house, Poor lighting system. The lighting system is used for
Lighting Press house, Bale godown / Roofed bale control of waste in the room and
storage clearly observes the processing
machines during processing. But the
factory use it.

11. Safety Motor guard, Machine guard, Ventilation, Poor safety and regulation There is no safety system so needs
Masks and First aid kit system improvement

12 Weigh Bridge  20 tons weigh bridge available within 30 tone functional. There are three main balance used in
1km the ginning factory, gate Weigh
 20 tons weigh bridge within factory Bridge, bale balance and seed
premises balance. The advantages of all
 30 tons mechanical weigh bridge within balances are to measure and give the
factory premises information.
 30 tons electronic weigh bridge within
factory premises
 30 tons electronic weigh bridge with
display & print out facility within
factory premises
13 Humidifier /  Nozzle system for cotton seed & steam No Nozzle spray for lint. The nozzle spray is used when very
Moisturizer system for lint dry cotton is processed.
 Benson fans for cotton seed and lint
14 Electrical Wiring  In-coming power cable Under ground and well The electric boards must be protected
(underground  Gin house protected
or protected)  Press hall
 Other machinery
15 Fire Fighting  small/ large Units Having/ not having Small units. powder Since fire preventions are small units
System water well extinguisher
 5- 10 hydrants or above + OHT / Sump
Closed 65 KL or OHT / Sump Open 75
KL + standby diesel pump besides

3
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

‘S/N Parameters Standards Gaps identified Comments to bridge the gaps

electric pump

16 Boundary Wall  Partially walled / fenced, Wire fenced all Thin Fenced. Not Well protected by wire fence.
/ fence around, Partly walled & partly fenced all
around , Boundary wall all around,
Boundary wall all-around of height 6
feet or above
17 Machine  Satisfactory Poor The maintenance system must be
maintenance  Good improved
 very good
18 Gin Settings  Proper grooving The setting is try and error. The setting must not be try and error.
 Overlap setting It has to be done with the
 Appropriate seed grid commitment

19 Off-loading of  On cloth / tarpaulin On floor (not cemented) Except cleaning the floor is good
cotton seed  On brick floor
 On cemented floor
20 Engaging labour to  Up to 5 laborers No assignment The labors are assigned but not
remove  6 - 10 e laborers properly monitored
contaminants  Abov10 laborers
21 Covering of cotton  One heap covered Having roofed storage facility Not covering and arrangement of seed
seed heaps  Two heaps covered but no proper handling. cotton in heaps.
 Having roofed storage facility and / or
covering all the heaps.
22 Training of  Trained fitters Not available Training of factory workers about
personnel,  Quality awareness boards quality is required
quality awareness  Gum / Velcro board for hair
boards
23 Segregation in  Only grade-wise Both variety-wise. but Sorting is best identification grade
heaping &  Only variety-wise different varieties are mixed wise
processing (Benefit  Both variety-wise and grade-wise together when traders bring
of for ginning
doubt for job work
units)

4
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

‘S/N Parameters Standards Gaps identified Comments to bridge the gaps

25 Uniforms, caps /  Uniform Glass, working cloth, caps, Working cloth can create suitable
head  Cap / Head covering helmet, for mechanic and working condition. Even workers
covering & shoes  Shoes operator need suitable working condition
beside the cloth. Therefore this has to
be improved.

26 Supervision  Fitter in Gin house No any supervisor One supervisor can be controlling the
 Fitter in Press house whole factory
 Seed cotton off–loading & storage
27 Covering of cotton  Few vehicles with cover  no any vehicles with Needs Improvement
seed in  Many vehicles with cover cover.
incoming vehicle  All vehicles with cover
28 Housekeeping &  Satisfactory poor Training on housekeeping
Cleanliness  Good
 very Good
29 Contaminant Type high impact contaminants  White plastic fabric Contaminants can be manmade or
 White plastic fabric  Hair Natural. But whatever it is, it has to
 White plastic string  Feather be controlled.
 White / transparent plastic film  Coloured cotton fibres
Training on Contaminant types
 Hair  Coloured plastic fibre
 Feather
 Coloured cotton fibres
 Coir fibre
 Coloured plastic fibre
 Others (Specify)

5
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

‘S/N Parameters Standards Gaps identified Comments to bridge the gaps

medium impact contaminants  Oily / grease/ rusty / black

 Oily / rusty / black cotton clumps cotton clumps
 Tar / grease affected cotton clumps  Coloured cotton fabric
 Coloured cotton fabric  Coloured cotton yarn
 Coloured cotton yarn  Jute fabric
 Jute fabric  Jute fibre & yarn
 Jute fibre & yarn
 Coir yarn
 Coloured plastic fabric
 Coloured plastic string
 Coloured plastic film
low impact contaminants All presents Training on Contaminant types
 Sticks / twigs
 Leaves
 Stamp coloured / yellow cotton clumps
 Metal pieces
 Paper
 Sand / stones
 Leather bits
 Wooden pieces
Sources of Seed cotton:- Matema, Pawi(Benshangul,metekel) and from Humera (Tigray)

6
4. Conclusion and Recommendation

4.1. Conclusion
From the above it may be observed that since the improvements in ginning will benefit the entire
supply chain, Ethiopian ginning Industries have to be improved in its productivity, infrastructure,
technology status, spare part stock management, maintenance practice, data recording system ,
material handling, skill of manpower, electrical power consumption, reduction in contamination
and improvement of cotton quality in supply of quality lint cotton to domestic as well as
international textile mills.

4.2. Recommendation
 Using good quality seed which results in better quality lint cotton.
 Establish separate storage of each variety,
 Improve the practices of harvest and post-harvest to produce clean cotton.
 Labor assigned on the task of picking should be properly trained.
 Proper storage and transportation.
 Buyers from different small scale should avoid mixing of different lots.
 Adopt proper cleaning process like using pre and post - cleaning machineries.
 Upgrading machinery of ginning.
 Implement ESA-lint cotton standards in purchasing the cotton.
 Delivering comprehensive program for the capacity building of the management and staff
of the ginning factories in areas like standards of cotton, quality management, management
of the ginning processes.
 Encourage competition among the ginners and ginning professionals by giving awards to
the best performers.
 Premium for the quality of the cotton and discount for poor quality
 Selecting a gin site that is economical for cotton transport. So that ginneries has to be near to the
farm areas.
 Ethiopian Ginning factories Gap Analysis study Report Jan- 2015

 Establish good waste management system inside and outside the ginnery to provide a safe working
environment in and around the ginnery. Be friendly to the environment and utilize all cotton
byproducts wisely.
 Ensuring that farmers are aware of the best variety selection, production, harvesting and storage
practices so that high quality cotton with minimal foreign matter and damage can be delivered to
the gin. If this is done, minimal drying and cleaning will be required, and thus less fiber damage,
higher quality fiber, and greater gin turnout will result
 Developing and implementing a comprehensive ginning maintenance program that is continually
documented and communicated. The maintenance program must include off-season repair, in-
season preventive maintenance, and breakdown repair and documentation.
 Developing contamination prevention program to ensure contaminant free bales. Avoid use of
synthetic materials in and around the ginnery and cotton fields. Or installing contaminant sorters.
 Developing specific job description for each employee, and make sure that it is available in the
appropriate language.
 Using feedback from farmer, marketing, textile and other customers to refine and improve ginning
operations.
 Maintaining uniform flow of cotton through all machines.