Illovo Sugar Malawi - New Facility Design

 

The Nchalo sugar mill was being extended to accommodate a new conveyor system take off, bagging and packaging machinery. The existing warehouse required re-engineering and extending to provide additional internal storage capacity and reduce the need for external
storage.

LPC were retained to produce concept designs to consider the storage and handling of the sugar, material flows, access, etc. while meeting international standards for a food warehouse. Budget costs for the re-engineering of the building and fit out were also required to enable the capital requirements to be assessed.

There were two options for the location of the new equipment both of which had implications for the layout and operation of the warehouse.

The product flows and storage requirements were sized by product type. Ancillary areas such as the set down, quarantine and marshalling areas, and despatch requirements were also identified.

The material flows were plotted taking into account the seasonal product on inbound and all year around despatch. The sugar was stored in 1 tonne bags, post pallets and on wood pallets. All three of which were to be blocked stacked, minimising the equipment costs while providing flexibility to manage changes in quantities stored for each product type each. The equipment requirements – overhead crane and forklifts with handling attachments were identified.
Two layouts were produced, one for each option. The concept design for each provided a layout that could support the requirements for visual inspection, product traceability, separation and First in First Out while providing access for cleaning and pest control, maintenance and health and safety. The layout was designed around separate lanes and pallet stacks.

The layouts were designed to allow Illovo to upgrade their processes and procedures to meet the current international standards for food storage.

LPC then provided a budget cost for building work and the fit out, taking into account local labour and material rates.
We were able to show Illovo how the re-engineered warehouse would be laid out, what the options were for expansion and the capital costs for each option.