Capacity Planning

Blue Skies

Group 3

Group 3 Members

Bridgette Bimpeh Mensah Alfred

Baako Derrick Latif Hannah B. Otu
Juliana B. Addo
Leticia Haywood
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215003586
214017400
215003497
215003535
215003578
214042626

Company Overview
Blue Skies was established in 1998 by
Anthony Pile.
Blue Skies Ghana Ltd. operates as a
subsidiary of Blue Skies Holdings Ltd. with
offices and production facilities in the UK,
Ghana, Egypt, South America and Europe
with a staff strength of more than 4000
people across their operations
It produces and markets fruit salads and
juices. It also offers packaged foods

Some Facts!

1. Responsible for 25% of Ghanas pineapple exports

and around 1% of total exports
2. Some companies in Europe and South Africa take
100% of their fruit products from Blue Skies
3. They deal directly with the local farmers e.g. the
mango supplier is one Victoria Adu Boateng ( a 60
yr. old woman)
4. They explore various channels in marketing &
selling their products including wholesaling,
retailing, door-to-door as well as parking at
vantage points to serve consumers

What is Capacity?
The capacity of a process is the maximum
amount that it can produce in a given time.
Capacity management is responsible for planning
the capacity of a process with the aim of
matching long term capacity and demand
Capacity Planning is done on the basis of
projections for future product demand, labor and
equipment requirements.

What is their Capacity

Blue Skies operates a leading type of capacity planning
Fresh Cuts
650 -700 tons of fruits at peak but below its peak is
400-450 tons.
30% is used and 70% is discarded as waste especially
for imported fruits
Average life span of fruits is 35 days
Fruit Juice
50,000 liters per week but currently produces 22,000
liters per week because they havent penetrated into
the market.

What is their CapacityContd

Between Jan-Feb all their fruits are sourced from Ghana

March and first half of April sourced from South Africa
Second half of April to May From W. Africa specifically

Cote DIvoire and Burkina Faso

June- July sourced from Ghana
August September sourced from Senegal
Oct-December sourced from Brazil
They have 3 factories in Ghana: 2 for fresh cuts and one

for juices

What is their CapacityContd

Six chillers for storing with sizes between 80
200 tons
Peak period April July
They have 200 different SKUs for export
2000 staff during off-peak period and 4000 during
peak

Factors that influence the timing of their capacity change

Forward forecast of 5 years

Changes in future demand
Consequences of over/under supply
Availability of capital
Cost structure of capacity
A year to increase their capacity for fresh cuts and juice
already has capacity build up
When demand is down they close down one of the fresh
cuts factory

How they go about their

capacity decision
They define the capacity and discuss its
measurements
They consider the timing and size of capacity
changes
They assess the capital required on the capacity
change
They take a strategic capacity decision

Criticisms
Blue Skies Fresh Cuts and Blue Skies Juice
production centers do not collaborate so raw
materials get wasted
All their cutting is done manually. This reduces
productivity
Capital is wasted by importing fruits e.g. Fruits
are imported from Brazil by air cargo

Recommendation
They should mechanize the fruit cutting process
to increase productivity
They should manage their operation such that
fruits that are damaged during cutting can be
used for juices
They should invest in farming and create the
conditions for growing and harvesting fruits in
Ghana

Thank You