Assessing the financial viability of mechanisation at a poultry processing plant

Abstract

Mechanisation is the process where replaces human labour in production processes. The process of mechanisation is being speeded up by the fourth industrial revolution and many companies are starting to mechanise their production lines, not to lose their competitive advantage over their competitors. The purpose of this study was to determine, whether it would be financially viable for a specific poultry processing plant to invest in mechanisation. The research was completed in a case study format, where the different costs associated with mechanisation and the company's current labour-intensive process were compared to each other. This was done to determine what process would be more financially viable for the company. The results of the study were that it would not be financially viable for the company to invest in mechanisation currently because it would be more expensive on a monthlyand yearly basis than their current process. The recommendation was made that the study should also be done if they increase their production capacity, for which the machines and equipment that they will be investing in, will already have the production capacity.