STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE

(SIWES)

UNDERTAKEN AT

BAGCO PLC, A DIVISION OF FLOUR MILL OF NIGERIA

SURULERE, LAGOS STATE.

JULY,

2022.

BY

OMOKANYE FATAI O.

IN PARTIAL FUFILLEMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD

OF THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (B.SC) DEGREE IN

BIOCHEMISTRY

FACULTY OF SCIENCE

AT

FEDRAL UNIVERSITY OYE EKITI

(FUOYE).

SUPERVISOR

MR GANIYU JEGEDE O.
DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to Almighty God for strength, wisdom and enablement through the
course of my training and also to my parents Mr and Mrs OMOKANYE for their moral and
financial support.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My profound gratitude to my institution FUOYE (SIWES) for the opportunity provided to

undergo this training.

I also want to acknowledge the entire management of FLOUR MILLS OF NIGERIA PLC
(BAGCO DIVISION), BAGCO MORPACK DEPARTMENT for providing the platform required to
undergo this training.

Special thanks also goes to my supervisors Mr Ganiyu Jegede O. and my senior colleagues
for their academic and moral support, love and care and also putting up with my
inadequacies, thank you all for been there for me.
PREFACE

The SIWES introduced by ITF was planned to link professional and classroom work with
industrial operations.

My industrial training with BAGCO PLC,a division of flour mills of Nigeria, BAGCO MORPACK
DEPARTMENT, Lagos state was done with dedication, obedience, co-operation to the
authority and also to my senior colleagues which helped my achievement in this exercise.

ABSTRACT
The Student Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is a program design to give students
practical knowledge of theories and other contents taught in the four cornered walls of a
brick and mortar classroom, as well as industrial exposure/experience that will serve as a
taste of the Labour market for the complete their studies in the university. The SIWES
program goes further to expose and elucidate the techniques and industrial methods used
on handling equipment’s and machineries alike.

This report is a summary of the training I received from BAGCO MORPACK , LAGOS, it
highlights the processes used in polymer manipulation (Blowing. Cutting, Slitting,
Lamination) for production of polymer products for everyday use such Packaging bags,
rain-sheets, food containers, etc.

The report also covers some of the various types of polymer printing applied on polymer
products and finally the report discusses some of the quality control process used in the
organization to make products consumer worthy while maintaining business efficiency
TABLE OF CONTENT
PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

DEDICATION

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER 1. Introduction

1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY (BIOCHEMISTRY)

2. Definition of SIWES and Brief History
3. Bodies Involved in The Management of SIWES
4. Roles of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF)
5. Aim and Objective of SIWES

CHAPTER 2

1. BRIEF HISTORY OF BAGCO MORPACK

2. QUALITY OBJECTIVES OF BAGCO MORPACK
3. VARIOUS DEPARTMENT REPRESENTED IN THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THEIR
FUNCTIONS

CHAPTER 3

 RELEVANCE OF FLEXIBLE PACKAGING TO BIOCHEMISTRY

CHAPTER 4. FLEXIBLE PACKAGE PROCESS

1. IMPORTANCE OF FLEXIBLE PACKAGING

2. RAW MATERIALS USED IN FLEXIBLE PACKAGING
3. CYLINDER PROCESS
 MATERIAL USED IN CYLINDER
 FAULT IN CYLINDER PROCESS DURING PRINTING PRODUCTION
4. INK PROCESS
 RAW MATERIAL FOR INK PROCESS
 PROCEDURE IN INK PROCESS
 FAULTS IN INK PROCESS DURING PRINTING PRODUCTION
5. ROTOGRAVURE PRINTING PROCESS
 MATERIAL TYPE USE IN ROTOGRAVURE PRINTING
 MACHINE COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS
 TYPES OF ROTOGRAVURE PRINTING
 FAULTS IN ROTOGRAVURE PRINTING
 TECHNICAL CHALLENGES IN ROTOGRAVURE PRINTING
6. LAMINATION PROCESS
 LAMINATING MACHINES COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS
 TYPE OF LAMINATION PROCESS
 LAMINATING PROCEDURES
  FAULT IN LAMINATION PROCESS
7. SLITTING PROCESS
 SLITTING MACHINE COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS
 PROCEDURES IN SLITTING PROCESS
 FAULTS IN SLITTING PROCESS
8. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF BLOWN FILM PROCESS
 PROCEDURES IN BLOWN FILM EXTRUSION PROCESS
 FAULTS IN BLOWN FILM PROCESS
9. USES/IMPORTANCE OF BLOWN FILM

CHAPTER 5 CIU Department

1. Opex
 Functions of Opex
2. Analysis carried out by the opex officer
I. Volume of tons produce daily weekly and monthly
II. Scrap Analysis
III. Downtime Analysis
IV. RCA – Root cause Analysis (Using 5 why’s tools)
V. Analysis on customer complaints and market returns
VI. OEE, PPE & CUI
VII. 5’s
 What 5’s stands for
 Benefit of 5’s

CHAPTER 6. RECYCLING PROCESS

 TYPE OF FILM THAT IS RECYCLED IN MORPACK

 CAUSES OF PURGE
 MACHINE COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS

CHAPTER 7. QA DEPARTMENT

1. DUTIES OF QA
2. LABORATORY TESTS/ANALYSIS CARRIED OUT ON FLEXIBLE PACKAGES AND FILMS
 DURING PRINTING PROCESS
 DURING LAMINATION PROCESS
 DURING SLITTING
 DURING BLOWN FILM EXTRUSION PROCESS

CHAPTER 8: WATER TREATMENT

1. INTRODUCTION
2. SOURCE OF WATER IN BAGCO
3. WATER TREATMENT PROCESS
 4. BACKWASHING
5. STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION
6. LABORATORY ANALYSIS CARRIED OUT ON WATER SAMPLE IN BAGCO
 HARDNESS
 TEST FOR IRON
 TEST FOR MANGANESE
 PH
 MICROBIAL ANALYSIS

CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 10: RECOMMENDATION

 CHAPTER 1
1.0. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY (BIOCHEMISTRY)

Biochemistry called biological chemistry is study of chemical processes relating to

living organisms give rise to complexity of life. Biochemistry deals with structures,
functions and interactions of biological macro molecules such as proteins, nucleic
acids, carbohydrates and lipids which provide structure of cells and functions.

The term "biochemistry" itself derived from a combination of biology and chemistry.
In 1877 Felix Hoppe-Seyler used as synonym for physiological chemistry argued for
set up of institutes dedicated to field of study. The German chemist Carl Neuberg
coined the word in 1903 some credited to Franz Hofmeister. It is believed that
materials have essential property or substance in non-living matter and only living
beings produce molecules of life.

Some of job skills and abilities needs to attain to be successful in field of work include
science, mathematics, reading comprehension, writing and critical thinking. These
skills are critical in nature of experimental techniques are used to convey orally and
written in research.

Biochemistry has applications in four major industrial areas includes health care
(medical), crop production and agriculture, non-food (industrial) uses of crops and
other products (e.g. biodegradable plastics, vegetable oil, biofuels, and
environmental uses).
Industrial biochemistry – biological resources for industrial processes. Industrial or
white biochemistry uses microorganisms and enzymes to produce goods for industry
including chemicals, plastics, food, agricultural and pharmaceutical products and
energy carriers.
The primary applications of this technology are medicine (production of vaccines and
antibiotics) and agriculture (genetic modification of crops, such as to increase yields).
Biochemistry has many industrial applications such as fermentation, treatment of oil
spills and production of biofuels.

2. DEFINITION OF SIWES AND BRIEF HISTORY

The Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is a skills training program
designed to expose and prepare students of universities and other tertiary
institutions for the Industrial Work situation they are likely to meet after graduation.
The scheme is aimed at bridging the existing gap between theory and practice of
Sciences, Agriculture, Medical Sciences (including Nursing), Engineering and
Technology, Management, and Information and Communication Technology and
other professional educational programs in the Nigerian tertiary institutions. It is also
a planned and structured program based on stated and specific career objectives
which are geared towards developing the occupational competencies of participants
(Mafe, 2009). Consequently, the SIWES program is part of the approved Minimum
Academic Standard in the various degree programs for all Nigerian Universities.
The history of SIWES starts off with the recognition of the shortcomings and
weakness in the formation of SET (Science, Education and Technology) graduates,
particularly with respect to acquisition of relevant production skills (RPSs), the
Industrial Training Fund (which was itself
established in 1971 by decree 47) initiated the Students’ Industrial Work Experience
Scheme (SIWES) in 1973. The scheme was designed to expose students to the
industrial environment and enable them develop occupational competencies so that
they can readily contribute their quota to national economic and technological
development after graduation. Consequently, SIWES is a planned and structured
program based on stated and specific career objectives which are geared toward
developing the occupational competencies of participants. It is therefore, not in
doubt that SIWES is a veritable means or tool for National Economic Development.
The main thrust of ITF programs and services is to stimulate human performance,
improve productivity, and induce value-added production in industry and commerce.
Through its SIWES and Vocational and Apprentice Training Programs, the Fund also
builds capacity for graduates and youth self-employment, in the context of Small-
Scale Industrialization, in the economy. The Industrial Training Fund is a grade ‘A’
parasternal operating under the aegis of the Federal
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. It has been operating for 42 years as a
specialist agency that promotes and encourages the acquisition of industrial and
commercial skills required for national economic development

3. BODIES INVOLVED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF SIWES.

The bodies involved in the management of SIWES are:

 Federal government
 Industrial Training Fund
While other supervising agencies include:
 National University Commission (NUC)
 National Board for Technical Education (NBTE)
 National Council for Colleges of Education (NCCE). The functions of these
agencies are as follows;
 To ensure adequate funding of the scheme.
 To establish and accredit SIWES in the approved institutions.
 To formulate policies and guidelines for the participating bodies to follow.
 To supervise the students participating and sign their required documents.
 To ensure payment of allowance for the students etc
4.0. ROLES OF THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING FUND (ITF).

This agency is dedicated to performing the following roles:

 Formulate policies and guidelines on SIWES for distribution to all the

SIWES participating bodies
 Provide logistic material needed to administer the scheme
 Organize orientation programs for students prior to attachment
 Provide information on companies for attachment and assist in industrial
placement of students
 Supervise students on Industrial attachment
 Accept and process Master and Placement lists from institutions and
supervising agencies
 Vet and process students’ logbooks

5.0. AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF SIWES

The Industrial Training Fund’s policy Document No. 1 of 1973 which

established SIWES outlined the aims and objectives of the scheme. The aims
and objectives of the scheme are as follows:
1. It provides an avenue for students in institutions of higher learning to
acquire industrial skills and experience during their course of study.
2. It exposes Students to work methods and techniques in handling
equipment and machinery that may not be available in their institutions.
3. It. makes the transition from school to the world of work easier and
enhance students’ contact for later job placements and a chance to
evaluate companies for which they might wish to work.
4. It provides students with the opportunities to apply their educational
knowledge in real work and industrial situations, there by bridging the gap
between theory and practice.
5. The program teaches the students on how to interact effectively with other
workers and supervisors under various conditions in the organization.

CHAPTER 2
 1. BRIEF HISTORY ON BAGCO MORPACK

BAGCO Division of FMN Plc is a provider of Total Packaging Solutions and consists of
three plants: Bagco Lagos, Bagco North and Bagco Morpack. We are Africa’s largest
and leading commercial manufacturer of premium bags sustained through state of
the art machinery.
Bagco was established in Lagos during 1972 to produce bags for her parent company
(Flour Mill Nigeria, Plc), but today, it has diversified its productions to include the full
range of products of woven polypropylene sacks for the rapid industrialization of the
country.
Arising from this base, Northern Bag Manufacturing Company Limited (BAGCO
North) was established in Kano during 1990 to further increase the capacity of sack
production and improves distribution.
In Additions, Bagco Morpack (Nigeria) Limited (Morpack) was established in Lagos
during 2007, this is another fast growing new platform division, is successfully
manufacturing printed & laminated flexible film to provide flexible packaging for
foods, confectioneries, and detergents.

2. QUALITY OBJECTIVES OF BAGCO MORPACK

 To aspire to achieve 100% customer satisfaction on the quality of our

products.
 To ensure the establishment and development of a competent and well-
motivated work force
 To ensure the effective use and maintenance of suitable production
infrastructure
 To operate within the relevant statutory, regulatory and specified
consumers’ requirements.

3. VARIOUS DEPARTMENT REPRESENTED IN THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THEIR

FUNCTIONS

We’ve different departments here in Bagco Morpack which are;

1. Health and Safety Environment HSE DEPARTMENT:

A department, within a company that is responsible for the observance and

protection of occupational health and safety rules and regulations along with
environmental protection.The practical aspects of protecting the environment
and maintaining health and safety at occupation. In simple terms it is what
organizations must do to make sure that their activities do not cause harm to
anyone
 2. MORPACK PLANT: A brief explanation on the processes that takes place in
both plants ( flexible and blown film plant).

3. BAGCO PLANT: Bagco plant is where sack bags are been made.

4. HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT:

HR management refers to how organizations strategically allocate their most

valuable resources – “their employees” – to areas of the company where they
will be the most productive.
It’s the heart of every organisation which deals with personnel management
i.e hiring, training & development, employees appraisal, compensation and
benefits for staffs, creating (safety, health and wellness programme).
Essentially, the purpose of HRM is to maximize the productivity of an
organization by optimizing the effectiveness of its employees

5. COMPLIANCE AND IMPROVEMENTS UNIT (CIU):

It consists of the two departments, which are:

 QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA):

The core purpose of Quality Assurance is to prevent mistakes and defects in the
development and production of both manufactured products.

 SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT UNIT (OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE):

Operational excellence is a mindset that embraces certain principles and tools to

create a culture of excellence within an organization.

CHAPTER 3
RELEVANCE OF FLEXIBLE PACKAGING TO BIOCHEMISTRY
One of the most important reasons why flexible packaging is growing in acceptance
is that it preserves food well. Due to airtight packaging that protects food from
environmental elements such as sunlight, temperature and moisture, flexible
packaging can increase the shelf life of perishable products.

Flexible packaging made up of films and polymers, is used in a variety of industries

such as: medical devices, pharmaceutical, food/drink, cosmetics and industrial
sectors. Using these materials can present challenges, such as qualifying alternative
suppliers, dealing with recycled raw material streams, changing regulatory climate
and managing manufacturing and customer demands. A combination of standardized
testing and custom approaches can help balance these priorities.

Testing performed on flexible packaging must consider film properties and chemistry.
Evaluation of permeations properties, for example, helps understand the steady
state and kinetic permeation properties in single layer or engineered multilayer films
using a variety of probe gases, chemicals and water. These evaluations look at:
oxygen transmission, water vapor transmission, probe gases and liquid/vapor
permeation and migration. Correlating these properties to the chemical make-up
and film structure help tailor the packaging solution for the end-use.

Film composition analysis methods can determine bulk composition, multilayer

chemical and thickness analysis, surface treatment and chemistry and polymer
molecular weight.

Package design and construction play a significant role in determining the shelf life of
a food product. The right selection of packaging materials and technologies
maintains product quality and freshness during distribution and storage. Materials
that have traditionally been used in food packaging include glass, metals (aluminum,
foils and laminates, tinplate, and tin-free steel), paper and paperboards, and plastics.
Moreover, a wider variety of plastics have been introduced in both rigid and flexible
forms. Today's food packages often combine several materials to exploit each
material's functional or aesthetic properties. As research to improve food packaging
continues, advances in the field may affect the environmental impact of packaging.

CHAPTER 4
FLEXIBLE PACKAGE PROCESS
 1. IMPORTANCE OF FLEXIBLE PACKAGING

Before we dive in, what is flexible packaging? Flexible packaging is non-rigid

packaging for example, a bag or pouch — that is used to protect a variety of
different products. Unlike a rigid package like a box or glass jar, flexible packaging is
“flexible” in nature and can easily change shape.

IMPORTANCE

 360° Branding

Flexible packaging allows for high-quality and high-impact graphics on every inch, so
you can have 360-degree branding instead of being limited to the size of a label. And
when you choose to partner with a manufacturer that specializes in digitally printed
flexible packaging, you can be sure you’re getting precise, photo-quality graphics and
images.

 Extended Shelf Life

Flexible packaging works to extend the shelf life of the food inside through multiple
ways. With high-barrier films and airtight seals, highly perishable products are kept
safe from oxygen and moisture. Resealable bags also work to keep oxygen out,
keeping food fresh for longer.

 Eco-Friendly Packaging

When it comes to environmental impact, rigid packaging just can’t measure up.
Flexible reduces waste at every stage of its lifecycle. When transporting packaging,
flexible packaging weighs considerably less than rigid packaging, which means you
can ship more in each truckload, making fewer runs, using less gas and reducing CO2
emissions.

 Barrier properties

The materials used for flexible packaging may require protection of the product
inside the packs, such as moisture, oils or greases, chemicals, detergents, etc. or to
protect the product from external influences, such as atmospheric impurities, light,
UV rays, gas, oxygen, moisture, puncturing are tearing. It is important that the
elements are not able to migrate into or out of the package.
2. RAW MATERIALS USED IN FLEXIBLE PACKAGING
Flexible packaging uses quite a wide range of materials that include polymer films,
paper, metallic foil, cellulosic and bioplastic films. Many factors influence the
selection of the materials (substrates) that best suit the product to be packed such as
layer role in the package construction, mechanical strength, barrier, printing, heat
resistance, sealing parameters, visual appearance, recyclability, cost etc.

Here are described some main characteristic of the most frequently used materials in
flexible packaging production.

 Polymer films

Wide variety of polymer films can be converted into many shapes, sizes, with many
different performance characteristics. Plastics are very flexible, durable, and cost-
effective compared to other materials which is the main reason why they are now
dominated the market of FP.

The following polymer films are most commonly used in the manufacture of flexible
packaging in our company:

 BOPE (Biaxially-oriented polyethylene)

BOPE films offer high stiffness, excellent tensile strength and puncture resistance,
excellent heat-seal strength, high gloss and transparency and good moisture barrier.
These films are easy to produce with low cost. We can find BOPE films in applications
such as shopping bags, for perishable goods like packages of food items,
pharmaceuticals, liquids, spices, pesticides, industry goods, cosmetics, laundry
detergents etc.

 BOPET (Biaxially- oriented polyethylene terephthalate)

The BOPET films offer superior stiffness, chemical inertness, good oxygen - barrier
properties, high tensile strength and high heat-resistance. They are popular surface
films in laminations and are used to protect food against oxidation and aroma loss in
products such as coffee packaging and pouches for convenience food.

White POPET is used as lidding material for dairy products such as yogurt while clear
POPET dominate as lidding material for fresh or frozen ready meals.

 BOPP (Biaxially-oriented polypropylene)

BOPP films are easy to produce with low costs. They have good chemical
compatibility and offer superior moisture vapor barrier properties. They are often
metalized for better barrier performance and as such are suitable for hot filling.
BOPP films are used for clear wraps and most snack food, for food pouches and
(gusseted) bags, dairy products and confectionery, for personal care and hygiene
products, pesticides.

 Aluminum foil and metalized substrates

Aluminum foil has the best dead fold properties. It provides an excellent 100%
barrier to all gases, moisture and light. It is a good reflector of radiant heat, usually
supported with plastic and/or paper (in multy-layer structure) because it cracks when
folded. Alone does not provide an acceptable aroma or odder barrier. It is mainly
used for tamper-proof lidding for yogurts, flavored drinks, cosmetics, food stuff,
beverages and powders, for confectionery and ready meals, soups and sauces,
preserved and liquid foods, pharmaceuticals.
3. CYLINDER PROCESS
The kind of printing process carried out here in Morpack is called ROTOGRAVURE
printing where the image or design is LASSER engraved with minutes’ cells capable of
retaining ink on an image carrier on the cylinder.

Materials used in Cylinder

Materials use in comprising Cylinder are

 Metallic base
 Copper
 Chomaline
First layer of a cylinder is made with Metallic base, follow by the copper, which cover
the metal. (engraving is done on the copper) while the outer layer that cover the
copper is Chormo.
If the cylinder is fading off or scratch, it is advisable to send it back to the
manufacturer for re-engraving instead of repairing the whole cylinder.
Cylinder engraving and the engraving is not done here in MORPACK.

Cylinder has four (4) basic components to each printing unit:

1. Image carrier (the engraved cylinder): The image carrier, a cylinder engraved with
the image/Design to be printed or transferred.

2. Ink pan: A large ink pan well positioned beneath the cylinder, use in transferring
ink to the cylinder through ink pump.
 3. Doctor blade: A doctor blade assembly containing a blade which wipes excess ink
from the non-image areas of the image carrier (engraved cylinder).

4. Impression Roller: It is a rubber-covered metal cylinder which holds the

substrate/coating against the engraved image carrier to obtain proper ink transfer on
the printing machine.
Note: Trolley is use to carry the cylinder mounted on the impression roller and the
ink pan from the cylinder section to the printing section.

We have two (2) major type Cylinder Width here in Morpack

1. 1270 mm
2. 1400 mm
While the circumference varies

FAULTS IN CYLINDER PROCESS DURING PRINTING PRODUCTION

Faults Causes Solution

Foaming of ink This can occur by agitation,
dispersing a large volume of gas
into the ink or injecting a gas
into ink
First, try using a hose to
introduce ink to the pan rather
than letting it fall. Next, inspect
the pump for leaks, or adjust the
pump speed to reduce agitation.

Engaging of cylinder
Engaging roughly with the Cylinder should be engage with
cylinder can cause scratch on carefully I.e it should be handle
the engraved area. with care and the engraved area
should be covered when the
cylinder is not in used.

Fading of cylinder With time and wear, some Cylinder should be send back to
engravings will fade away, the engraving unit for re-
especially those on soft metals, engraving
which can lose metal over time
and make an engraving harder
to see over the years.

4. INK PROCESS
Ink is a gel or solution that contain at least one colorant such as a Dye or pigments
and it’s use to color a surface to produce an image, text or design. The most
important part of the ink-making processes is the dye or pigment / base that gives
ink its color.
We have different types of ink. We have the pen ink, printer ink, Edible ink (ink used
write on consumable items like our icing sugar), Uv-ink, e.tc. Here in MORPACK we
make use of Solvent base ink.

RAW MATERIALS FOR INK PROCESS

 Pigment/Base
 Varnish
 Catalyst
 Solvent

PIGMENTS/BASE

Base are often powered substance that are mixed with a liquid or other substance
such as resins in which it is relatively insoluble and used to impact color to coating
materials. The most common role of the base is to color the ink. Common base used
in the process are: Carbon black (BLACK), Titanuim dioxide (White), Copper
phthalocyanim (Blue), Chlorinated copper, Carotenoids plant (Orange and yellow)
Zinc oxide (White) e.t.c.
Note: All base is gotten from nature

Varnish

A varnish can be clear or tinted, dull or glossy. A gloss varnish reflects more light and
enhances the sharpness and saturation of images. A matte or dull varnish increases
readability by diffusing light reflected from the page. It reduces glare and can make a
text heavy page more readable. Varnish is being sold commercially.

We’ve different type of vanish like the press varnish, UV varnish and so on but here
in MORPACK, we only make use of two type of varnish which is the ROTOPROB/ANTI-
STICK and ROTOPLAST VARNISH.

ANTI-STICK VARNISH: ANTI-STICK VARNISH is a transparent nitrocellulose varnish

used to create non-adhesives areas on the film and it require the use of catalyst. It’s
mainly used on BOPP (Biaxially oriented polypropylene)

ROTOPLAST: These are varnish that uses the PET (polyethylene terapthate) materials,
it doesn’t require the use of catalyst during mixing.
Note: Rotoplast is more sticken than Rotoprob.
Both Varnish are of 2 categories;
• Mixing Varnish (M.V): It is used in blending the colors together
• Reducing Varnish (R.V): It is used in reducing the Strength of the colors .
 Solvent

Solvent is what adheres the ink to the material. Solvent creates a chemical bond
between the ink and the material that it’s being printed on and also dissolve the
components used in the ink formation. Solvents can also be cured by air or more
commonly heat. It is more popular for solvent inks to be cured by heat because it
can be quicker than letting the solvents evaporate.
Common solvents used in inks are a variety of organic compounds, such as
hydrocarbons (such as aliphatic solvents like naphtha; paraffin hydrocarbons like
pentane, hexane, heptane, isooctane, and mineral oil; and aromatic solvents like
benzene, toluene, and xylene), alcohols (monohydric alcohols like methyl, ethyl).
Ethyl acetate is our major solvent here in MORPACK for all departments.

Catalyst

Catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a reaction without itself being
consumed. In processes of Ink, it prevents the paint from peeling. If the catalyst
content in the ink is increased, the amount and size of agglomerates increase, and
the distance between agglomerates decrease, increasing the viscosity of ink.
Note: Catalyst can only be used in processes of ROTOPROP (Material using BOPP).

PROCEDURES IN INK PROCESS

 Mixture of the solvent, catalyst, Base and varnish in the right proportion
accordingly to the Customer standard represented as the CHROMALIN from
the Quality Assurance (QA)
Note: Only primary color CYMK (Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black) can be achieved
with the Base/Pigment while secondary colors can be achieved with the mixture of
two or more primary colors
Magenta + yellow =Red/orange
Cyan + yellow = Green
Magenta +Cyan + yellow = Grey/Black

 You’ll take the solution/Mixture to the stirring machine. Make sure it stirs very
well to avoid lumps

 Take a sample of the mixture to the K CONTROL COATER (an instrument use
in observing a draw down text to check the difference between the mixture
and the customer sample).
 Draw Down test: Drop little of ink on a film, Place the film on the K control
coater machine, use instrument called K-bar to drag it down. (Speed of the
machine should be at 3) Repeat process till the customer standard is ascertain
  Check the viscosity of the ink mixture using the viscosity cup. Standard
viscosity for MORPACK is 13.5 -+ 5s. Viscosity can be adjusted by adding more
catalyst to increase it or Base to reduce it. Repeat process till standard
viscosity is achieved
 Record the total weight of each component used for the inks formulation of
the job
 Cut the final drawdown sample into 2, and labeled the two accordingly (a)
Pantone No / Ink color(b) Job name for future reference.

FAULTS IN INK PROCESS DURING PRINTING PRODUCTION

Faults Causes Solution

From the supplier If the suppliers are suppling sub- Feedback should be taken to
standard products such as the supplier for adjustment or
Varnish. It will result in Poor change of suppliers should be
coating of print on press line. done.

Faded, Light or dark print Viscosity check should be Information should be pass
carried out whenever they are from the ink station to the
formulating new ink process to printing operator regarding
avoid these issue. their viscosity results.

Cylinder fade off When Cylinder is fading off, it The Cylinder needs to be re-
also contribute to wrong shade engraving to avoid wasting of
in printing. time and resources.

Ink peeling Ink peeling is mostly cause when Add more catalyst (Adhesive)
catalyst was not added enough when having issue of Ink
during ink process peeling.
 5. ROTOGRAVURE PRINTING PROCESS

Rotogravure printing is the kind of printing carried on here in MORPACK.

Rotogravure (or gravure for short) is a type of intaglio printing process, which
involves engraving the image onto an image carrier. In gravure printing, the image is
engraved onto a cylinder because, like offset printing and flexography, it uses a
rotary printing press.
Gravure is an industrial printing process capable of consistent high quality printing.
Since the Gravure printing process requires the creation of one cylinder for each
color of the final image, it is expensive for short runs and best suited for high volume
printing

 Advantages

Although the rotogravure printing process is not the most popular printing process
used in flexible-packaging manufacturing, it does have the ability to print on thin film
such as polyester, polypropylene, nylon, and polyethylene, which come in a wide
range of thicknesses, commonly 10 to 30 micrometers.
Other appreciated features include:

printing cylinders that can last through large-volume runs without the image
degrading
good quality image reproduction
low per-unit costs running high volume production

 Disadvantages

Shortcomings of the gravure printing process include: high start-up costs: hundreds
of thousands of copies needed to make it profitable
rasterized lines and texts
long lead time for cylinder preparation, which is offsite as the techniques used are so
specialized

Materials Types Use in Rotogravure Printing in Morpack

Materials uses in rotogravure printing are as follow:

• PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)
• BOPP (Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene)
• LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene)
• Fin mat BOPP
• Paper
The most commonly used materials in Morpack are PET and BOPP with different
micron depending on customer specification, while Fin mat and LDPE are
occasionally used for special jobs.
 Machines' Components and Technical Functions

In Morpack, currently we have two (3) Rotogravure printing machines

 Cerutti
 Rotomec
 Windmoller & Holscher

These three machines do the same job, slight differences spotted was that
i. The maximum line speed for Cerutti is lower (400m/min) to that of Rotomec
(450m/min) and Windmoller (500m/min)
ii. Rotomec & Windmoller is shaft-less while in Cerutti, the shaft has to been fixed
inside the cylinder.
iii. Rotomec and Windmoller has 9 printing units, While Cerutti has 10 printing units.

In printing Process, there are 3 sections

 Unwinder Process
 Printing Unit
 Rewinder Process.

Unwinder Units

This is where the raw material is being mounted on the machine before it’s been
printed on
This process component comprises of the following:

 Mandrel: Mandrel is a shaft, mounted inside the material. It used to support a

partly machined workpiece while it is being finished.

 Cutting Group: The cutting group/blade device is design to cut material when
interchanging from one job to another. This device is at the un-wind and re-
wind.

 Web Guide: These devices are used in aligning the flexible material roll-to-roll
converting machines. As the name suggests, the device guides the material to
the desired position and give it more tension o balanced.
A web guiding system is required for proper alignment of the material.

We have 3 Component of web Guide:

(1) Sensor(s): The sensor is the vision to the system used to sense the actual/current
position of the web material.

(2) Controller: Is the brain to the guiding system. The controller processes the sensor
information and determines the required corrective action for the guide mechanism
in order to guide the material to the required position

(3) Guide Mechanism: is to physically steer the web material to the desired location.

 Dancing Roller: A dancing roller system is essentially a preloaded idler arm. Its
force and positioning is derived from web tension during web unwind or
rewind processes, thus their design is critical to high quality functionality of a
web handling process. Dancing roller keep tension constant.

 NIP Roller: The purpose of the nip roller is to provide enough traction to pull
the web tension through the process machinery.

 Tension Roller: Tension roller helps in balancing the weight of the material.

Printing Units

Each print unit comprises:

 Printing cylinder: This is the image carrier, a cylinder engraved with the
image/Design to be printed or transferred.
 Doctor blade: the device that removes ink from the non-engraved portions of
the printing cylinder and excess ink from the engraved sections.

 Impression roller / Sleeve: a rubber covered sleeve mounted on a steel

mandrel. Its primary purpose is to press the material against the printing
cylinder.

 Inking Fountain: consisting of an ink pan, ink reservoir, and ink pump with its
dedicated hose set.

 Dryer: Air chamber or device that is to dry or polymerize inks by means of hot
air; before the next downstream color is applied on the web. Dryer capacities
are determined based on the required printing speed, ink type, and ink lay
down volume.

 Chiller: A chiller cools process fluids, typically water or water/glycol mix.

These process remove heat from rollers and other component parts and ink.
The fluid absorbs the heat from the printing process and is then recirculated
through the chiller to cool again and again.
  Air Suction: it is a machine pump used to maintain an airway by removing
odor / smell that can affect the mouth, throat, or lungs.

 Printing Cursor: it is a user interfaces, an indicator used to show the current

position of colors. If it is in orderly, according to specification and aligned
properly.

Rewinder Units

This is where the printed material is being collected via the core in a rotatory manner
in the machine
All processes in Unwinder also apply to Rewinder process.

TYPES OF ROTOGRAVURE PRINTING

There are two (2) types of printing in Morpack:

1. Surface Printing
2. Internal/Reverse Printing
 Surface Printing

These are types of printing that does not requires lamination. After printing it goes
straight to Slitting (conversion).
In Surface printing, White color always comes first before any color in color
arrangement.

 Internal/Reverse Printing

These are types of printing that requires lamination. After printing, it goes strength
to lamination.
In Internal/Reverse Printing, Black or any strong color always comes first before any
color in color arrangement.

In Printing Process, before printing on any materials, the treated side must be
known. It is always specified by the manufacturer, if not there’s a marker called
treated marker (QA) that is used to detected the treated side. Printing must be done
on the treated side.
Also, since we have 2 major materials used in printing (PET and BOPP), the micron
must be known before printing. The micron is determined/specified by the
customers.

Faults in Rotogravure Printing

 Faults Causes Solution

Overlapping/Misalignment The overlapping occurs when a The cylinder or sleeve must be

text/Image field is not extending over mounted in the right location and
or does not cover part of the text it direction.
contains, causing the text/image to The web guide should be check at
automatically scroll below or above some interval.
the first word or not centralized.
If the impression roller is not engage
properly on the cylinder as perfect as
possible, If the shaft is wrongly set, if
the web guide is not aligning properly.
All this can cause overlapping
Faded print This happen when the print or design If the cylinder is fading off, send it
is not sharp enough or light. back to the manufacture for re-
It can occur when Bad Ink, expired ink engraving.
or the ink mixed with water, If the Make sure the impression roller is
cylinder id fading off, If the Varnish engage to the cylinder properly.
used in ink process is bad and if the ink
Be sure of the ink viscosity from
viscosity is low ink process before inputting
viscosity reference on the
machine.
Change or prepare another ink for
printing production if detected
that the ink is bad.
Ink peeling Peeling is usually caused by poor Call the maintenance/engineer to
adhesion at the beginning of the print. work on the dryer.
It is caused by one or more reasons: Return the bad ink and gives feed
If the ink is not drying properly from back to the suppliers.
the dryer. Regularly check the ink viscosity.
If the ink is bad from the
manufactures.
If the Ink Viscosity is not properly
check, or error form Ink process to
printing operator.
Blade line This is when we observe a thin line on Best thing to do is to change the
surface of the printing, it is usually blade
cause by the blade. Either the blade is
blunt or damage.

Ink scum The symptoms occur when ink
randomly appears on non-image plate
areas.
You will have scum problems if the ink
form roll settings to the printing plate
are not set correctly. Too much or too
little pressure to the plate will cause
scum
Dot Skip Random, generally minute, spots of
unprinted areas showing through
a printed area.
Engraving dots that have not printed.
Rough printing surface,Lack of
impression to the substrate,Ink drying
too fast,Ink does not get applied to the
cylinder causes Dot Skip
LINES or RAILROADS Continuous lines showing in the un-
printed areas
Scratches on cylinder,Damaged doctor
blade, Particles logged under the
doctor blade,Cylinder not uniform or
chrome deposits uneven causes
lines/railroads
Color variation Variation in printing occurs as a result
of changes to the ink as it is applied to
your printing surface
The ink form roll settings must be
set correctly
Pressure to the plate must be
average
Use primer coat if possible
Check impression to the substrate
Use slower solvents
. Check ink applicator
Polish or remake cylinder,Replace
doctor blade, Filter the ink,Remove
burr and polish cylinder
Adopt a single set of procedures
for all operators
Always use measured amounts
Equalize or calibrate the flow rates
Clean and inspect the equipment
between presses
Use similar ink strengths
  Technical Challenges in Rotogravure Printing

There are various types of technical challenges encounter in printing process. Few of
them are listed below:

• Gear box motor: The purpose of a gearbox is to increase or reduce speed. Each
gearbox type works in simultaneously with a motor to achieve the desired speed-
torque output.

• Ink Pump Motor: A pumping system, such as for supplying ink in a printing
machine, is disclosed in which the duration of the pump discharge is substantially
longer than the duration of the intake to the pump.

6. LAMINATION PROCESS

Lamination is the process where two or more flexible packaging webs are joined
together through a bonding agent. Common web materials include the different
types of films such as PE, PET, PP…etc., aluminum foil, Bopp, Metallize Bopp, White
Bopp, e.tc.
Raw materials use in lamination process includes: The laminating Film, The printed
Film and The Adhesive.
We’ve 3 major type of Adhesive
 Wet Adhesive: where the bonding agent is still in a liquid state when the webs
are joined together. It is commonly used to produce a paper-aluminum foil
laminate that is widely used in flexible packaging
 Dry Adhesive: where the bonding agent, dissolved into a liquid (water or a
solvent), is applied to one of the webs, before being evaporated in the drying
oven. The adhesive coated web is laminated to the other under strong
pressure and using heated rollers, which improves the bond strength of the
laminate
 Wax Adhesive: where the bonding agent is a wax or hot melt and is applied in
a molten state onto one of the two substrates. This process allows the
production of paper-paper or paper-aluminum foil laminates that are widely
used for the packaging of biscuits and bakery products
 Solvent less adhesive: where the adhesives used do not contain solvents.
Solvent less adhesive generally indicates a specific type of adhesive composed
by two components reacting with each other and consequently not requiring
drying.
In Morpack, the laminating machine use are Solvent less, but they rarely run on
solvent base (once in a blue mood). Adhesive use is:

• Resin /NGO/Adhesive/Glue and Hardener/OH

Operator must be aware of the treated side of the matarial. If the bar code is
missing, they made use of the DYNE PEN. The treated side can be anywhere
depending on the manufacturer of the material.
Lamination is done on the printed side.
Here in MORPACK we have 5 lamination machine with zero or no difference.

Laminating Machine’s Components and Technical Function

The following are the component and function in laminating machines starting from
the Unwinder to Winder.

 Unwinder
We have 2 winders unit at laminating process, Unwinder A and Unwinder B. This is
where the printed material and laminating material are mounted.

 World Mixer
It is the adhesive control Unit. It controls on the % ratio within the components to
prevent curing problems. One of the major problem in Laminating is Adhesive
control. The mixer contains 2 components (A & B), where the adhesive/ Glue and
Hardener is being pour. It has a hole for passage of the glue to be transfer to the
metering roller. In-between the hole, there is a filter to remove dirt.

 Metering Roller
Metering roller is a heated roller uses in to melt glue extruded onto lamination film.
The rollers are 2 and it is easily Interchange-able for different web widths. From
metering roller, the adhesive/glue is passed to the transport roller. “Filler gauge” is
the instrument used in measuring the gap between the 2 metering rollers.

 Transport Roller
This roller passes the glue to the coating roller.

 Coating RollerCoating roller at laminating process ensure uniformity, evenly

distributed of glue and smoothness on the laminating film.

 Laminating Roller

This is the point where the two (2) materials (printed and laminating film) joined
together. It is joined together at some degree temperature (35-55°c).
At the top of this roller, we have NIP roller which gives tension/pressure to the
laminating roller.

 Chiller Roller
The primary aim of the chiller roller is to cool the temperature/heat coming from the
laminating roller before the downstream (Winder).
 Winder
This is the where we have the output (Printed + laminating materials).
At Winder, we have lay on roller at the top, which function is primarily used to
control roll hardness. They do this by measuring the amount of air that is entrained
into the building roll, pressing harder to squeeze out the air, thus producing a harder
finished roll. It keeps the laminate film.

 Web Guide
This helps/guide the material to glue in the useful area and protect from
misalignment.

 Corona light
Corona light function is to removed dirt from the materials.

Types of Laminating Process

We’ve three different type of laminating process which are:

 Single lamination: This is the technique/process of applying a laminating
material in single layer. Lamination is done on the printed side and on the
treated side of laminating materials.
 Double lamination: This is the technique/process of applying laminating
material double layers. Same process applies as single lamination. After first
lamination is done, we allow the printed laminate material to cure for some
hours depending on the job (24 – 36 hours) before allying the second layer.
It’s mostly done for seasoning film where metallize pet is first used to
laminate followed by LDPE
 Triple Lamination: This is the process of applying laminating material in three
layers. After the second layer same process (double) applies for triples
lamination.

Laminating Procedures

 Mix the Adhesive (Hardner and Resin) in the right proportion according to the
QA specification
 Mounting of the printed material and laminated material on Unwinder A and
B respectively
 Put on the machine
 Adhesive is being transfer from the mixer via Mixer pump to the transfer roller
 The transfer roller transfer glue to the coating roller
 Coating roller transfer glue to the laminating material
 The laminating material carrying the glue pass through the bio roller where it
combines with the printing material
 Both the printing material, laminating material and the glue pass through the
frigo system which function is to dry up the glue at a particular temperature
  Laminating film pass through the chiller roller for cooling of the temperature
from the frigo system
 From the chiller roller to the corona which function is to remove dirt from the
material then to the Rewinder

Faults in Lamination Process

Faults Causes Remedy

Glue Splash This occur when the glue is out
context
Spec link This occur when there are bubbles
in between the films or on the
impression roller, if there’s
insufficient tension, air can get
trapped between the film and the
print. Also over-speeding of
machine contributes to
Uneven glue distribution This is when the glue is not evenly
distributed across the film. The
glue on LMP (Lines, Middle and
photo mark) are not evenly
distributed.
Low/High Glue Content This occur when the adhesive is
not glue enough on the laminate
film. Sometimes, it’s because of
the ink composition and the way
inks bond to the adhesive. The
denser the ink coverage, the
harder it is to get the film to stick.
Possible solution is to close
the metering gap a bit.
. The correct tension depends
on the film (the thicker the
film, the more tension it
needs).
Reducing the speed of the
machine is also a solution
Possible solution is to put
more pressure/tension on the
transport roller. It can also be
adjusted from the metering
handle.
It is advisable to always leave
time for the print to dry
before laminating. Another
solution is to release the
metering roller gap for more
glue to be apply.

Technical challenge also includes:

 Bearing Issues (Rollers)
 Air pressure
 Core holder (not functioning properly)
 World mixer (Something one of the glue not dispersing)
 Metering roller not heating.
 Corona not working
 Frigo system not working e.tc.

7. SLITTING PROCESS
Slitting is a metal manufacturing process wherein a coil of material, such as
aluminum or steel, is slit into the lengths and widths specified by the end application.
As the material runs through the machine, the steel rolls are moved through
extremely sharp circular blades, making the cuts. In order to make the slice,
substantial compressive forces must be applied – and when the forces exceed the
tensile strength of the material, it slices. The end product is long strips of material
cut to the buyer’s specifications.

A steel slitting machine is comprised of three major parts – the uncoiler, the slitter,
and the recoiler. In order to ensure that the quality of the process is optimized, each
element must be precisely aligned during setup.

We have 7 slitting machine in Morpack KAMPE I & II, BIMEC 1 to 5. All the machine
has no or little difference and they all both run on different speed.

Slitting Machine Components and functions

 Unwinder
This is where the printed or laminate materials is mounted. The operators
load the roll from floor lever up to the operating position, At the unwinder,
the machines have a system that works with two arms. The arms are designed
in a way that it closed to grab the roll and opened to leave the roll with the
help of some button. Once the arms have grabbed the roll, they can lift it up
to the operation position to start process.

 Sensor Roller
The sensor roller is for the web tension reading during the web processing.
The roller has high precision in detecting the web tension. It also helps in
balancing the material on the roller.

 Web Sensor
Without the web sensor, the slitting machine cannot work, if by pass it can
result to unequal/irregular slitting.
After setting the web sensor, it automatically guides the materials. The sensor
is used to monitor the web position for lateral tracking, and transmit signal to
the controller. They are typically positioned just before a critical stage on a
slitting machine.
Web sensor provides accurate edge alignment for unwinding rolls of material
at the beginnings stage.
Web sensor can be placed on either Edge or line depending on the job type.

 Dancer Roller
A dancer roller function is monitored by a sensor that detects and controls the
drive's movement of material. When tension increases or decreases in a web,
 the dancer roll changes position that activate the sensor. By maintaining
control of a web's speed, dancer roller keeps tension constant.

 Contact Roller / Nip Roller

The purpose of the nip roller is to provide enough traction to pull the web
through the process machinery.

 Blade Shaft
Blade shaft have a design meant to slit a wide range of materials in various
sizes. It has a beveled edge for optimal cutting power. It helps in slitting the
materials accurately.

 Blade Hanger/ Holder

Blades hanger are the assemblies or mountings of blades for slitting the
materials. The holder is arranged to pivot about the slit line of contact for
accurate alignment. Number of blade hanger to be used is determined by the
job (Number of slit line + 1).

 Middle Roller
Middle roller sometime called Direction roller is to divide the slitting in
different direction (desired by the operators).

 Clapping Roller
Function of the clapping roller is to guide the materials from falling apart after
slitting. It is always two (2), One at the top while the other at the bottom.

 Lay-on Roller
Lay-on roller is a nip, typically non-driven, that remains in contact with a
winding package throughout the roll build. They are primarily used to control
roll hardness after slitting. They do this by metering the amount of air that is
entrained into the building roll – pressing harder to squeeze out the air, thus
producing a harder finished roll, or pressing lightly to let more air become
trapped between the wound layers to yield a softer roll.

 Counter Sensor
A Counter Sensor is a device that counts the number of objects/tracks or the
number of operations of the material. It automatically stops the machine
when it reaches the set number by the operator.
Counters Sensor outperform operators when it comes to counting accurately.

 Laser Light
It a device that signal light in positioning/setting the core on the shaft for
proper alignment.

 Control Arm
 It is control by the operators to supports the shaft for relaxation.

Procedures in slitting Process

 Mount the Material on the unwinder

 Set the sensor and blade on the material according to the width and size
requested by the customer
 Pass the material through the dancing roller for the sensor to monitor the
material
 From the dancing roller to the nip roller so the material will come in contact
with the blade
 From the Nip roller to the middle roller to the clapping roller then to the Lay
on roller where it’s been rewinded to the core with the diameter approved by
QA.

Faults in Slitting Process

 Rough winding
 Misalignment: occur when the material is not aligning correctly on the sensor.
It can be resolved by checking the sensor frequently and aligning the material
correctly
 Printing Fault and laminating Fault: The slitting line operator must make sure
he removes all fault that escape from printing and laminating on the material

8. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF BLOWN FILM PROCESS

Extrusion is the process of applying a thin bonded film of a plastics material to a

continuous non-plastics substrate such as paper, board or foil. The process is similar
to chill roll film extrusion. A high melt temperature is employed with a downwardly
directed slit die to produce a low viscosity melt web that adheres to the substrate. If
necessary, the substrate may be given a pre-treatment to improve adhesion. The
web is directed against the surface of the substrate immediately before its entry into
the nip between a pressure roll and a chill roll. The coating thickness is determined
by the extrusion rate and the line speed of the substrate. The chill roll controls the
surface finish of the coating. Extrusion coatings are typically applied in thin layers,
ranging down to 0.005 mm.
The blown film process is used to produce a wide variety of products, ranging from
simple monolayer films for bags to very complex multilayer structures used in food
packaging.
Blown film is a major processing technique for producing a biaxial melt drawn film.
This technique uses air pressure to produce a transverse direction draw and a higher
speed haul-off roll speed to provide a machine direction draw. Several billion pounds
of polymer, mostly polyethylene, are processed annually by this technique. Other
polymers that can be processed by blown film extrusion are polypropylene (PP),
polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), ethylene
vinyl alcohol (EVOH), polyamide (PA), and polyurethane (PU). But here in Morpack
we use majorly Polyethylene (PE) and Rework (recycling material)
 LDPE (Low density polyethylene): Properties are Semi-rigid, translucent, very
tough, weatherproof, good chemical resistance, low water absorption, easily
processed by most methods, low cost.
 LLDPE (Linear low density polyethylene): It allows using lower thickness than
comparable LDPE. It majorly used in plastic wrap, stretch wrap, pouches, toys,
covers, lids, pipes, buckets and containers, covering of cables and mainly
flexible tubing.
 HDPE (High density polyethylene): It has a high strength-to-density ratio,
HDPE is used in the production of plastic bottles, it is corrosion-resistant
piping, geo membranes and plastic lumber. It has the following properties:
Stiffness, strength, toughness, resistance to chemicals and moisture,
permeability to gas, ease of processing, and ease of forming.
Markets that blown film extrusion serves are as follows: industrial films and bags,
agricultural and construction films, barrier films, stretch films, PVC cling films,
laminating films, can liners, high barrier small tube systems. But here in Morpack we
only produce stretch film, Laminating film and shrink film

The components of a coextruded blown film line are:

 resin feed system

 extruders
 Coextrusion die
 air ring
 internal pressure control for adjusting bubble diameter
 collapsing frame
 take-up or haul-off roll which set the MD draw
 treatment system
 winder.

The design features that are important in producing quality film at a

competitive price are:

 an efficient and properly sized resin handling and feed system

 an efficient screw design that gives quality melt with:
 low and uniform temperature
 stable pressure
 at high rate
 an optimized die that provides good layer control and thickness uniformity.
The die must also be designed for ease of maintenance and durability
 air rings that provide excellent cooling control and uniformity
 automated web handling systems for improved efficiency and reduced
changeover times
 modular design features for product changeovers
 integrated control systems that are intuitive, operator friendly, and keep the
process parameters on target.

Procedures in Blown Film Extrusion Process

 The formulation materials are pour into the day-bin (A, B & C).
 From the day-bin to Hopper, which temporary store the material.
 From the Hopper to Extruder barrel (A, B & C) for melting the granules to
become molten.
 The extrusion of plastic melt is done via an annular slit die, generally vertically,
for the formation of a thin walled tube.
 The introduction of air takes place through a hole present in the die's center
for blowing up the tube just like a balloon.
 The cooling of the hot film is done by the high-speed air ring that blows onto
it.
 This air ring is mounted on the top of die. Then following procedures take
place:
 The tube of the film continues its movement upwards (constantly colling) till is
passed via nip rolls. Here, the tube is flattened for the creation of “lay-flat”
tube of film. Also known as collapsed tube, this lay-flat tube goes back to the
extrusion tower via rollers.
 On the higher output lines, exchange of air (which is available in the bubble)
takes place. This is called IBS (Internal Bubble Cooling).
 Then the lay-flat film is kept as it is or its edges are slit off for producing 2 flat
film sheets & wound up onto the reels. If kept as it is, the film's tube is created
into bags by the process of sealing all across the film's width along with cutting
or perforating. This process is carried out at a later stage or in line with the
process of blown film.

Faults in Blown Film Process

 Faults Causes Remedy

Bubble dent Bubble dent is when air Operator should always check and
particles is trapped in the change the filter frequently
bubble it’s caused when the
filter in the USB is dirty
Edge trim Edge trim is the part of the It’s an unavoidable scrap but can be
film been cut off at the nip reduce by reducing the edge to be cut
roller to avoid rough edge off to a lesser meter

Web brake Web break is when the film Web should be monitored often and
break during the process or there should be an adequate and
due to unplanned cut in the reliable power supply
power supply

Cut core When the film is not align to Operator must make sure the material
the core currently aligns to the core correctly

Extruder failure When one of the extruder is Operator should call on the
being faulty Maintenance team
Corona fault When the corona used in Operator should always check the
treating the film become faulty corona and should always call on the
technically or if the material is maintenance team when it develop a
not align to the corona technical fault
properly

Shaft fault When the shaft receiving the Operator should always pump shaft
film is not being pump very well with Air gun before usage
properly
Spec change When operator have to It’s unavoidable but can be reduced
change the type of job he’s
doing initially

1. Uses / Importance of Blown Film

It’s used for:

 industrial films and bags

 agricultural and construction films

 barrier films
 stretch films

 PVC cling films

 laminating films

 can liners

 high barrier small tube systems.

CHAPTER 5

CIU DEPARTMENT
 A company’s business changes over time, as do the environments in which it
operates, the nature of its customers, the laws that govern its actions, and the
standards of its chapter 5 Guiding Principles of Enforcement industry. In addition,
compliance programs that do not just exist on paper but are followed in practice will
inevitably uncover compliance weaknesses and require enhancements.

1. OPEX (OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE)

Operational excellence is a mindset that embraces certain principles and tools to

create a culture of excellence within an organization. Operational excellence
means every employee can see, deliver, and improve the flow of value to a
customer.
Operational excellence pushes to improve measurements in key performance
metrics. These metrics may be gathered by algorithms, machine learning or other
applications of artificial intelligence (AI). Rather than just trying to boost
momentary statistics, operational excellence attempts to make sustainable
improvements.

In order to measure operational excellence effectively, your organization must be

fully committed to relevant and achievable goals against which your success can
be measured. Your real-world results must be correlated with your goal setting,
or you won't have an accurate picture of your actual achievements.

To achieve operational excellence, manufacturing teams must continually and

quickly pinpoint quality issues to identify where the defect occurred in the
production schedule.

FUNCTIONS OF OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN PROCESS PLANT

1. To Improve productivity
2. To increase revenue
3. Enable long-term growth
4. Boost maintenance efficiency and costs
1. Decrease shutdown
2. Make production more consistent
3. Focused Improvement
4. Quality management
5. Safety Health Environment

2. ANALYSIS CARRIED OUT BY THE OPEX OFFICER

I. VOLUME OF TONS PRODUCE DAILY WEEKLY AND MONTHLY

 The OPEX officer always collect the input and output data from each section in
the plant to analyze the volume produce each day in other to meet up with
the company target. The Opex officer already had a friendly and
understanding template to input data in other to get a result for a week,
months or even years.

II. SCRAP ANALYSIS

The Opex officer also analyze the scrap generated in the film. The scrap
analysis pinpoint where the company generate scrap the most for solution to
be provided for reoccurrence except for unavoidable scrap where the scrap
can only be reduced.

Major Scrap generated from the flexible packaging in different sections are;

Printing section: Ink adjustment, Reel off, Dent and Set up etc.

Lamination section: uneven glue ratio, glue splash etc.

Slitting section: edge trim (they’re unavoidable scrap)

While for Blown film they are: Edge-trim (they’re unavoidable scrap) and set
up

III. DOWNTIME ANALYSIS

Downtime analysis is an essential part of plant operations management as it

provides a powerful tool which enables a better understanding of the
underlying issues that affect plant availability and rate loss.

IV. ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS (RCA)

 Root cause analysis (RCA) is a systematic process for identifying “root causes” of
problems or events and an approach for responding to them. RCA is based on the
basic idea that effective management requires more than merely “putting out fires”
for problems that develop, but finding a way to prevent them. There are a large
number of techniques and strategies that we can use for root cause analysis, which
are; THE 5 WHYS, FISHBONE DIAGRAM, Pareto Chart, Scatter Plot Diagram. Here in
Morpack we mainly use the 5 whys technique.
 THE 5 WHYS
5 whys is an iterative interrogative technique used to explore the cause-and-
effect relationships underlying a particular problem. The primary goal of the
technique is to determine the root cause of a defect or problem by repeating the
question "Why?" five times. The answer to the fifth why should reveal the root cause
of the problem
An example of a problem is: The vehicle will not start.

1. Why? – The battery is dead. (First why)

2. Why? – The alternator is not functioning. (Second why)
3. Why? – The alternator belt has broken. (Third why)
4. Why? – The alternator belt was well beyond its useful service life and not
replaced. (Fourth why)
5. Why? – The vehicle was not maintained according to the recommended
service schedule. (Fifth why, a root cause)
The questioning for this example could be taken further to a sixth, seventh, or higher
level, but five iterations of asking why is generally sufficient to get to a root
cause. The key is to encourage the trouble-shooter to avoid assumptions and logic
traps and instead trace the chain of causality in direct increments from the effect
through any layers of abstraction to a root cause that still has some connection to
the original problem. Note that, in this example, the fifth "why" suggests a broken
process or an alterable behavior, which is indicative of reaching the root-cause level.
The last answer points to a process. This is one of the most important aspects in the
five why approach – the real root cause should point toward a process that is not
working well or does not exist. Untrained facilitators will often observe that answers
seem to point towards classical answers such as not enough time, not enough
investments, or not enough resources. These answers may be true, but they are out
of our control. Therefore, instead of asking the question why? ask why did the
process fail?

The Opex officer always make sure he gets to know the root of a problem (maybe a
particular down time or scrap from his analysis) and he make sure he finds or
probably provide a solution to it and he also put down preventive measures in other
not to generate same problem again.

V. ANALYSIS ON CUSTOMER COMPLAINT AND MARKET RETURNS

Complaints management truly is an essential component of customer service and

business success. Not only is it the means to gather valuable customer insight, it also
helps your company progress to improvements that lead to reduced costs, increased
profitability and increased customer satisfaction.

Complaint analysis is used to track, categorize and handle customer complaints.

When a customer makes a complaint, he or she is voicing a concern in relation to
your product or service. For example, if several customers complain about a specific
issue, the Opex officer can use their feedback to improve the product or service. Or,
if the Opex officer is currently working on a solution, yet still receive complaints from
the customer base, He/She can create an email template for support that explains, in
detail, how he/she is going to solve it

The market return is defined as the wealth-weighted sum of all investment returns
back into the company.

VI. OEE, PPE, CUI

 OEE (OVERALL EQUIPMENT EFFECTIVENESS):

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a measure of manufacturing operations

performance and productivity, expressed as a percentage. OEE indicates the degree
to which a manufacturing process is truly productive and serves as a general and
inclusive measurement of how well a company's manufacturing operations are
performing. It is a measure of how available your equipment is, how it performs, and
the kind of quality it produces.

OEE= M.A * M.P * Q.P

Machine Availability (M.A): The percentage of time that a machine or other physical
asset is expected to be available for production.

M.A = Actual Runtime/Production time

Machine Performance (M.P): The percentage of the output compare to the runtime
and machine speed or idle run rate.

M.P = Output/ Ideal Run Rate * Runtime

Quality Product (Q.P): The percentage of defect-free parts compare to it total

output.

Q.P = Good Output/ Total Output

 PPE (PLANT PERFORMANCE EFFICIENCY);

The percentage of time that a machine or other physical asset used for operation i.e.
the operating time. It serves as a general and inclusive measurement of how well a
company's manufacturing machine operate.

It has same formula with the OEE just that its MA formula is been replace by
operating time instead of production time.

M.A= Actual Runtime/Operating time

 CUI (CAPACITY UTILITY INDEX);

Capacity utilization index (CU), an important economic indicator, measures how

engaged different industries are by measuring what percent of their plant capacity
they are operating at for any given month.

It has same formula with the OEE & PPE just that its MA formula is been replace with
total available time.

M.A= Actual Runtime/Total Available time

Example on how to calculate OEE, PPE, & CUI

Total time for production 1440 mins. (both day &night)

No. of loss time 60 mins.

Preventive maintenance loss time 60 mins.

Process loss time 110 mins

Breakdown loss time 30 mins.

Machine input 175100m Machine output 178200

Scrap 6700m idle run rate 400

Solution

MA for OEE = RUNTIME/PRODUCTION TIME

RUNTIME= 1400-(60+60+110+30) = 1180

PRODUCTION TIME= 1400-60(no sales time lost) =1380

MA=1180/1380=0.855

MA for PPE= Runtime/Operating time

OPERATING TIME= 1400-60-60(no sales loss time & pm loss time) =1320

MA= 1180/1320=0.89

MA for CUI= Actual Runtime/Total Available time

MA= 1180/1440=0.819

MP= OUTPUT/RUNTIME*RUN RATE

178200/1180*400= 0.378

QP= GOOD OUTPUT/TOTAL OUTPUT

GOOD OUTPUT= 178200-6700(SCRAP) =171500

QP=171500/178200=0.96

OEE= (0.855*0.378*0.96) % =31%

PPE= (0.89*0.378*0.96) % =32%

CUI= (0.819*0.378*0.96) % =30%

VII. 5’s

5S is a system to reduce waste and optimize productivity through maintaining an

orderly workplace and using visual cues to achieve more consistent operational
results.1 5S programs usually are implemented by small teams working together
to get materials closer to operations – right at workers’ fingertips – and organized
and labeled to facilitate operations with the smallest amount of wasted time and
materials.

5’s stands for:

 Sorting: Remove unnecessary items from each area

 Set location: Organize and identify storage for efficient use
 Sweet and shine: Clean and inspect each area regularly
  Standardize: Incorporate 5S into standard operating procedures
 Sustain: Assign responsibility, track progress, and continue the cycle

BENEFITS OF A 5’s

Key benefits of a 5S program include:

 Creating space within your facility by removing unnecessary tools and

equipment
 Reducing waste from unnecessary motion by organizing the workspace
 Reducing down time and improving quality by consistently maintaining
equipment
 Engaging operators by granting them more responsibility for their work
environment
 Creating a safer work environment by ensuring it is clean and well-maintained

CHAPTER 6

RECYCLING PROCESS
The basic phases in recycling are the collection of waste materials, their processing
or manufacture into new products, and the purchase of those products, which may
then themselves be recycled. Typical materials that are recycled include iron and
steel scrap, aluminum cans, glass bottles, paper, wood, and plastics.

TYPE OF FILM RECYCLED IN MORPACK

The materials reused in recycling serve as substitutes for raw materials.

Table below are types of recycling materials, that can be reuse or sell.

REWORK TYPES REUSE ORS SELL

BAGCO TAPE REUSE IN BAGCO
BOPP PLAIN SELL
BOPP PRINTED SELL
LDPE SHRINK REUSE
LDPE STRETCH REUSE
LDPE LAM REUSE
PET//PE SELL
METALLIC BOPP SELL
COLOR LDPE (GRANULE SELL
BAG)

Note: PET material that have not been laminated on cannot be recycle. It always
affects the machine (block) and everything comes out as purge.

Causes of Purge

During recycling scarp, the machine still generate another scarp called purge, which
is also sellable to other company. We can generate purge If:
• The filter is block. That is if the filter is dirty or damage.
• The extruder temperature is not heating very well / not functioning properly.
• Recycling shrink film, purge is always much due to the structure of the material.

Recycling Machines Component and Functions

In Morpack, the recycling machine use is called NGR 75 (Next Generation Recycling
machine). NGR is a well-known brand with a One-Step technology, which helps to
reduce manpower costs to the minimum, and are reprocessing thermoplastic waste
to high value raw material.

Most Film produces in Morpack are recyclable. NGR recycling machines are built to
recycle the waste generated by blown film processing companies and give the
granules a “second chance “at the end of their product life cycle.

Sorting and grouping plastic materials according to resin type is an important first
step in the recycling process because contamination can render a batch of material
un-reusable. The most frequently recycled resins, including polyethylene
terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC),
must be carefully separated from one another in order to enable further processing.
Contaminants within each type of film must also be removed from the base resin to
ensure stock purity.
component/parts of the machine are:

 Conveyor belt:
it consists of a drive roller powered by a drive motor with a tension roller at the
opposite end moving an endless loop of the belt which rotates around them.
Conveyor belt is used in transporting the bulk materials (film) into the machine. It has
a sensor that detector metal or unwanted materials. When detected, the belt stops
and reverse for evacuation of the unwanted materials.

 Hopper:
Inside the hopper, we have 2 types of blade: Stationary and Rotatory. The stationary
or sometime called ledge blade (top and bottom) assist/compliment the rotatory in
cutting the materials.
After cutting, the film becomes “FLAKES”

 Shredder:
After the hopper, then a hydraulic pusher presses the flakes against a solid
shredder shaft. The low-speed shredder blades can handle bulky parts, NGR said.
The cutter’s power remains uniform even if there are variations in how the
material is fed into the machine.

 Extruder:
The extruder consists of 4 zone. The flakes are melted and homogenized, with the
help of heat generated inside the extruded. The machine provides application-
specific extruder screws.
  Venting Unit:
To reduce the potential for stock contamination most recycled plastic undergoes
separation treatments, venting unit work to remove any attachments or non-
reusable(Unwanted) materials that may be present in a batch of flakes. Most
separation processes can be categorized as “wet”, “fumes”, “liquid”, “Air”. etc.
After The venting, the flakes move underneath the venting unit called Dipping pot

 Filtration Zone:
It separates the flakes for dirt or unwanted substances. E.g. Paper

 Pelletizer unit:
Pelletizing reclaimed film is the final step in most recycling processes. The lower the
speed of the pelletizer, the “Bigger” the pallet and vice-versa. In pelletizing unit, we
have the following:

 Die-plate/Die-head and pelletizer blade/knife

The Die plate has hole. It is responsible for forming the desired shape and acts as
flow resistance. While the pelletizer blade cut the flake to become “PELLET”

 Chill Water: To cool the pallet protecting it from sticking together.

 Centrifuge: It specifically designed for the separation of water from the pallet.

 Blower: It blow the pallet to silo.

 Silo: Temporary storage before bagging.

CHAPTER 7
QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA) DEPARTMENT
Quality assurance are responsible for monitoring, inspecting, and proposing
measures to correct or improve a company's final products and processes in order to
meet established quality standards.

Duties of a Quality Control Inspector

Quality control inspectors oversee order and productivity within their organization,
in addition to product quality. On a daily basis, you can find QC inspectors:

1. Duties of QA

 Monitoring operations to ensure that they meet production standards

 Recommending adjustments to the assembly or production process
 Inspecting, testing, or measuring materials or products being produced
 Measuring products with rulers, calipers, gauges, or micrometers
 Operating electronic inspection equipment and software
 Accepting or rejecting finished items
 Removing all products and materials that fail to meet specifications
 Reporting inspection and testing data such as weights, temperatures,
grades, moisture content, and quantities inspected

In Morpack-Bagco the QA oversee all activities in

 Printing Process (together with the cylinder process and ink process)
 Lamination process
 Slitting process
 Blown film process

2. LABORATORY TEST /ANALYSIS CARRIED OUT ON FLEXIBLE PACKAGING

AND FILM

Different analysis is being carried out during different process in Morpack which are

QA CHECK ON PRINTING PROCESS

The customer will have to present their design to QA on a paper like material called
CHROMALINE. Chromaline consists of the design, color, width and size and type of
material for the job.
The QA will present the chromaline to the cylinder officer for the engraving of exact
design. Same chromaline will be presented to the ink officer too to produce exact
color of ink.
After the engraving of cylinder and ink production, there will be a test run on the
type of film specify by the customer. After the perfection of the test run sample by
the customer, QA will approve the engraved cylinder and ink formulation.
During the process of running the full job, QA will analyze the film to be printed on
by checking it:

 Treated side (it’s always specify with a label from some manufacturers),
 Micron weight and type of material

After been approved by the QA, printing process are carried out on the material.
While printing process is still going on QA CLERK always go to the line to collect
sample per reels to check:

 Optical fault like overlapping, blade line, shade variation, ink scum and the
likes
 The ink content, cause each material type and job has a specific ink content in
Gram for example the ink content for BOPP for Golden penny spaghetti 500g
is 1.8-2.0g

Procedures in checking for ink content

 You’ll place the printed material in the cutting table to cut out sample from
the line, middle and photo area of the printed material using a standard
template(100mm) approve by QA
 Weigh the three sample together and record the weight
 Place the samples into ethyl acetate to wash off the ink. Make sure the ink is
clean very well
 Allow the ethyl acetate to dry off on the material very well
 Weight the three materials together and record weight
 Substrate the weight of the material without ink from the weight of the
material with ink and look for the average to get the ink content for the
individual area of the sample

 Ink peeling: QA will always check for ink peeling using the adhesion tape

 Procedures to check for ink peeling

 Two Sample will be cut out from the printed material, one will be used
immediately with the tape while the other will be inside the oven for at
least 5 mins
 Adhesion tape will be place on the material and been pulled by the officer
to know if the ink will peel with the tape
 The second sample is being removed from the oven, place adhesion tape
on it and see if the ink peels off

 The side been printed on which must be the treated side

If the ink content is of standard, the printing take place on the treated side, no ink
peeling and no optical fault the job will be Pass by QA to the laminating section or
slitting section

QA CHECK ON LAMINATION PROCESS

The laminating film will analyze by the QA by checking the micron, type of
material and treated side before it can be approved for lamination.
During the laminating process the QA will always collect sample per reels to check for
laminating fault except from the technical fault. Laminating fault like:
 Uneven glue distribution
 Spec link
 Glue splash e.t.c.

QA will also check for the glue ration (GSM), each material type and job as a specific
glue ration. For example, all laminated job with CAST is 1.9-2.1g, Plain or white BOPP
1.6-1.8g, PE 1.0-2.0g

Procedures in checking for Glue ratio GSM

 Place the laminated material on the cutting table to cut out sample from the
line, middle and photo area using a metallic template(100mm) approved by
QA
 Weigh the three sample individually and record weight
 Separate the laminating film from the printed film and wash off both glue and
ink from the samples using ethyl acetate individually
 Weigh the three samples individually and record
 You’ve to substrate the new weight from the weight of the material with glue
and ink and record
 The ink content has been known during the test for printing process
 You’ve to substrate the known ink content from the new weight to get your
glue ratio
 Note all this must be done individually for the line, middle and photo sample

The laminating material can be only approved by QA if there’s no laminating fault on

it and the GSM of standard.
QA CHECK ON SLITTING PROCESS

The standard width, size and diameter per coil of the material would have been
given to the operator by the QA manager.
The splitting officer must adhere to the information given to him by the QA officer or
else the job won’t be approved by QA
Quality Assurance will always check for the width, size and diameter of the material
per coil.
QA also check for rough winding in slitting which can be rewinded by the unwinding
machine before the job can be approved.

QA also check for optical printing fault and laminating fault that escape to slitting

QA CHECK ON BLOWN FILM EXTRUSION PROCESS

QA will always formulate the raw material usage for the extrusion process
For example
 Laminating film raw materials are mainly LDPE, LLDPE and COPOLYMER which
are been identify by their bar code
 F800 (LDPE): FE8000 is an additive free grade, produced by a high pressure
tubular process, mainly recommended for light and medium duty film
applications with good optical properties and medium rigidity.
 1001AV (LLDPE): 1001AV is an ethylene 1-butene linear low density
polyethylene resin that offers excellent drawdown and puncture resistance
combined with high gloss and clarity. It is frequently used as a blend partner
with LDPE resins to improve film properties and processability.
 2018MA: 2018MA is an ethylene 1-hexene copolymer. 2018MA have
outstanding tensile, impact strength, and puncture. These superior strength
properties, along with excellent drawability, makes this a very versatile
packaging film resin
 LLDPE and LDPE Is mixed in a ration 55:30:32 for laminating film

After the formulation, QA always collect samples of the materials after each reels
to check

I. Laminating and stretch film: Treated and untreated side, Micron and
width approved by the customer and Extrusion fault except technical
extension fault

II. Shrink Film: Treated and untreated side, Shrink test using silicon gel to
know how the film can adhere to heat, C.O.F (coefficient of friction
experiment)

 C.O.F: The test is carried on with the C.O.F machine by checking for the
friction of the film on film and film on metal
The standard C.O.F for a film to film and film to metal should be between 1.5-
2.0μ

Procedure to check for the micron of Blown film

  Place the material on the cutting table
 Cut out 6 samples across the material using the standardize template(100mm)
 Weigh each sample singly
 Look for the average of the weight and divide by the standard density of each
material for example density of a laminating film is 0.92kg/m3

CHAPTER 8

WATER TREATMENT

1. INTRODUCTION

Water is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical

substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all
known living organisms. It is vital for all known forms of life, even though it provides
neither food, energy, nor organic micronutrients.

The water treatment department in BAGCO produces quality and well treated water
for her sister company GOLDEN PENNY, for the production of food and food products
such as spaghetti, noodles, chin-chin etc. they are also responsible for the water used
in boiler steam engine, the boiler feed requirement are being controlled according to
standard. They also are responsible for the water consumed by the employee.

2. SOURCE OF WATER IN BAGCO

Source water refers to bodies of water (such as rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs,
springs, and ground water) that provide water to public drinking-water supplies and
private wells.

But here in BAGCO, the water is gotten from BOREHOLE. The borehole is about 320ft
in depth, there are 6 boreholes in use for BAGCO water treatment plant, each of
these borehole is powered by 10Hp (7.5kw) submersible pump and with an average
of 8.0L/S output to the surface.

3. WATER TREATMENT PROCESS

This is where the actual treatment of the raw water takes place; it comprises the
addition of chemicals in regulated amount, accompanied with sedimentation and
filtration processes.

The kind of problem the raw water in BAGCO has, is a fundamental high iron content
aside the general acidic nature of rawest borehole water which helps in the choice of
chemicals, the treatment material, and the engineering design of the treatment
plant, other unwanted elemental substances are also present in minute quantities.
Hence, the design of BAGCO water treatment and choice of chemicals engineered
towards effective removal of iron (Fe2+).

From the borehole, water goes into the treatment tank through an aeration tower;
the water is allowed to diffuse which creates enough surface area for atmospheric air
(oxygen) to come in contact with the raw water. The chemical process allows a
mixture of oxygen and water. The supply of oxygen to water aids the process of
oxidation there by creating and enabling environment for dissolved iron solute (Fe2+)
to become oxidized to Fe3+ and been precipitated out of the water as insoluble
solutes of iron (iii) Fe3+. This process is complete and obvious at the addition of
selective chemicals, e.g. caustic soda.

Just at the base of the aeration tower, the chemicals are allowed to come in by
means of dosing pump. The addition of the chemicals with aeration makes the
oxidation process very rapid and obvious as the water changes color from its usual
colorless nature and become brownish indicating that ferric iron (soluble iron) in
water is changing to ferrous iron (insoluble iron) which is brownish in color.

Fe2 + O2 ------ Fe3

As the water flows into the various compartments of the treatment tank, there is
thorough mixture of chemicals and aerated water and the conversion process of iron
(ii) to iron (iii) becomes more obvious and distinct

The choice chemicals here are caustic soda (NaOH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
which is an oxidizing agent, specifically, the caustic soda helps to bring the acidic
nature of raw water to neutral PH value while the hydrogen peroxide is basically a
disinfectant which takes care of microbes to an appreciable extent. Aside the specific
role, the choice and combinations of these chemicals enables the oxidation (removal)
of iron.

From the treatment tank, the water is allowed to flow by gravity into retention tank
where the water is retained and allowed to sediment, from here, the water is
allowed to flow through filtration channels by means of surface pumps (also referred
to as transfer pumps). The filtration channels are also referred to as FILTER VESSELS.

A typical plant consists of two filter vessels with different filtration media, the first
vessel contains sharp fine sand and the second contain a specialized material media
for the removal of iron and manganese thereby serving as a final polishing surface for
the water, this medium is called by the acronym “BIRM” meaning back washable iron
and manganese removal media. The BIRM consist of hydrolyte and activated carbon.
Having passed through these two filtration media, the water produced is portable
water which could be used directly for general human use.

4. BACKWASHING

The filtration vessels eventually become dirty after a period of 4hours due to trapped
iron sediment within its body. Hence there is need to wash out the trapped dirt in
order to re-use the vessels again and again. The process of the vessels is referred to
as “backwashing”, water goes from under the filtration vessels with high pressure
and force, hereby removing the trapped constituent in the filtration vessel.
Backwashing is also called “reverse filtration “

5. STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION

From the filtration vessels, the water which is expected to be clean and free of
impurities is sent into a central storage facility which is “main sump”. From the main
sump, distribution is made into some temporary storage tanks known as the fiber
tanks before being distributed into the final usage point or consumers.

6. LABORATORY ANALYSIS CARRIED OUT ON BAGCO WATER

Analytical methods are procedures used to measure the amount of particular

contaminants in water samples. Analytical methods generally describe how to:
Collect, preserve, and store the sample. Gather, separate, identify, and measure
contaminants in the sample.

 HARDNESS

Water is said to be hard when it does not readily form lather with soap. It is caused
by the presence of calcium and magnesium salts. This can cause scaling in water
system particularly boilers and steam generating plant, hardness is an important
control test in a wide variety of applications. Examples of substance which causes
hardness in water are

• Calcium teraoxosulphate (vi) CaSO4

• Magnesium teraoxosulphate (vi) MgSO4
• Calcium hydrogen trioxocarbonate (iv) Ca(HCO3)2

Calcium and manganese ion are complexes by the reaction with Ethylene-Di
Amine-Tetra- Acetic acid (EDTA). Excess calcium and magnesium ions react with
specific indicators to produce distinctive coloration. The Palin test hardness tablet
reagent containing a standardized amount of EDTA with ERICHROME black as
indicator. The test is carried out by adding tablet one at a time to a sample of water
until the color changes from plum red to blue. The result is calculated from the
number of tablet used in the reaction to the volume of sample taken.

 TEST FOR IRON

Iron is the second most abundant metal in the earth crust, ground water such as
boreholes and well contains iron (ii) at concentrations up to several milligrams per
liter without discoloration, taste is not usually noticeable at concentrations below
0.3mg/l but is very dangerous to human health at certain concentrations, though the
human body requires iron, most iron are absorbed in the duodenum and upper
jejunum, the largest fraction is present as hemoglobin, myoglobin and hemosiderin.
But high amount of iron can lead to brain disorder, body weight loss and even death.
Measure 10ml of water sample in a test tube
• Add iron LR tablet and crush
• Insert your blank
• Insert the water sample in a photometer and read the concentration of the sample.

 TEST GOR MANGANESE

Manganese is present in water, it is every bit annoying as iron, perhaps even more
so, in low quantity it produces extremely objectionable stains on everything which it
comes in contact.

• Measure 10ml of water in a test tube.

• Add Palin test manganese NO 1 tablet and crush.
• Add palintest manganese NO 2 tablet and crush.
• Leave for 20 mins and observe the color change.
• Insert it in a photometer and determine the amount of manganese present in the
sample in Mg/L. The maximum limit of manganese in drinking water according to
U.S. EPA drinking water regulations is 0.02Mg/l.

 PH

PH is the degree of acidity or basicity of a substance. PH of a substance is measured

with a PH meter or a photometer. Here in BAGCO we both use PH METER AND
PHOTOMETER. PH form (0 to 6) is acidity, while from (8 to 12) is basic\ alkaline, (7) is
neutral. Drinking water should not be too acidic or to alkaline, therefore there are
allowable limit for the PH of drinking water according to Water treatment in BAGCO,
which is (6.5 to 8.5) according to the palintest photometer.

PROCEDURES FOR TESTING PH USING PHOTOMETER

• Measure out 10ml of water sample in a test-tube

• Add PH phenol red tablet and swirl.
• Insert your blank and calibrate the photometer
• Insert your water sample and determine the PH with the photometer

PROCEDURES FOR TESTING PH USING PH METER.

Measure your water sample into a beaker or test tube

Insert the electrodes from the PH METER into the water sample and determine the
PH on the PH METER

 MICROBIAL ANALYSIS
Bacteria are single celled organism that can only be seen with the aid of a very
powerful microscope, bacteria can be found everywhere, In air, water, or even soil. A
very typical bacteria called” E. coli” known as ESCHERICHI COLI is very dangerous in
drinking water and it’s our most concern in BAGCO
.
High concentration of E. coli in drinking water can cause,

• stomach upset, diarrhea and stooling.

• In severe cases may lead to death of organism.
E coli can also lead to kidney diseases.

TEST FOR E. COLI

E. coli concentration are reported in units of the number of bacteria colonies per
100ml of sample, using a dip slide containing staph Aureus and a baird parker agar
and cultured in an incubator at 270c for 72 hrs and the result is being interpreted
using a chart according to the dip slides for industrial and environmental monitoring
of bacteria and fungi.

CHAPTER 9

CONCLUSION

The student industrial work experience scheme (SIWES) has given me the
opportunity to relate classroom work (theoretical lectures) with the actual practical.
It provided me job related skills and knowledge in the field. It has also given an
insight on the responsibilities required as a working class personnel. I hereby give a
good recommendation for students to engage in the SIWES program.
I have been also able to relate a few of the topics of BCH -- Food Biochemistry to my
practical knowledge such as food poisoning, food protection.
I have also been able to have an insight of my expected moral and professional
responsibilities as a working personnel in the nearest future.

THANK YOU.

CHAPTER 10
RECOMMENDATION

Problems caused by microbial contamination of foods tend to be expensive,

particularly if these result in consumer recalls. As a result of the development and
application of increasingly mild preservation technologies, processed foods become
more sensitive to microbial (re)contamination, requiring greater control of the
manufacturing process. One way to achieve this added control is to "build in"
hygiene into the equipment used in the food manufacturing facility from the start.
The hygienic design of equipment plays an important role in controlling the
microbiological safety and quality of the products made. A hygienic factory should
prevent products from having high microbial counts, from containing toxins of
microbial origin, and from containing residues of chemicals used for cleaning and
disinfection. In addition, the hygienic facility should prevent food flexible packaging
from being contaminated with other non-food substances, such as lubricants,
coolants and antimicrobial barrier fluids, as well as from containing foreign bodies,
such as pieces of metal, plastic, packing material and insects or other vermin, or
parts thereof. This may appear a complex task, but with increased activity by
international standard-setting organizations more specific and workable information
on this topic is now available to the food industry.