Improved Designs for Commercial Egg Grading and Packing Plants

Excerpts from the report Summary: Typical egg grading and packing plants in various parts of the country, ranging in size from 40,000 cases to 200,000 cases a year, were studied and evaluated to determine some of their problems and possible solutions for them. The types of problems studied were (1) those encountered by plant operators with respect to plant sites, buildings, equipment, and handling methods during normal operations; (2) those involved in the operations necessary to handle the eggs from the rapidly increasing number of large commercial poultry flocks; and (3) those that could be expected when converting from manual to mechanized grading, frequently recommended for large, uniform lots of fine-quality eggs. Study of the problems resulted in the development of guidelines for improved facilities for egg grading and packing plants. Application of the guidelines, coupled with recent experience with new and improved equipment, plus the application of industrial engineering layout principles, resulted in the development of a set of improved designs for egg grading and packing plants operating under assumed conditions. These designs were developed so as to provide for (1) expansion in production by gradual stages (from 62,500 cases a year to 275,000 cases), (2) minimum plant shutdown time and maximum operating efficiency at any expansion stage, and (3) efficient layouts with full consideration for maintaining product quality, service facilities for employees, and management control. The improved layouts are designed to serve as guides to plant operators in developing long-range building programs.