COST OF THE MODEL DEPARTMENT SEMIHARD CHE ESE FACTORY USING THE EXAMPLE OF GOUDA CHEESE MANUFACTURE .2. RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE MODEL-CALCULATIONS

In continuation of this work (part 1 was published in No 2 of this per iodical), the costs of the ''semi-hard cheese factory'' were determine d using the example of the manufacture of Gouda cheese; here the model calculations performed 17 years before for Edam cheese were extended as regards the functions of the department and updated according to th e latest technical developments and to today's structures of semi-hard cheese production. In addition, the methodical further developments g enerally applicable to all model departments (2) have been considered in the calculations. In the 6 subdivisions pre-storage, curd preparati on and pressing, brine bath, cheese treatment and ripening room, packa ging and cold store prior to delivery and shipping a Gouda cheese (rin d-ripened, 12 kg loab) was produced and analysed for the costs incurre d. For determining the model costs 4 models were constructed, whose ca pacities regarding vat milk processing range between 8.000 and 48.000 l/h. As a function of the capacity utilization rate, simulated for val ues between 21 and 100 %, the costs for cheese quantities between appr oximately 5.100 and 30.800 tons of cheese/year can, thus, be determine d. According to the predetermined capacities the technical preconditio ns for the individual subdivisions must be defined model-specifically, the technical layout being adapted to a reduced capacity output (33 % ). The investments required for the basic version amount to 10.6 milli on DM in model 1 and to 40.3 million DM in model 4. Related to the res pective raw material quantity used specific investments can be derived , which are considerably decreasing with increasing model size: if the y amount still to 215.6 thousand DM/1 million kg raw materials per yea r in model 1, they decrease to 135.3 thousand DM/1 million kg in model 4. Product-specific investments and factor inputs consumptions lead t o the direct costs for Gouda cheese, which range, as a function of mod el size and capacity utilization rate, between 510.8 and 538.5 pfennig s per kg cheese. The total costs of the ''semi-hard cheese factory'', composed of the direct costs of the product and the direct costs of th e department, range between 530.9 and 654.3 pfennigs per kg of cheese. Raw material costs (73-90 %) account for the highest proportion of to tal costs. According to output the proportion of fixed-asset cost vari es between 4 and 18 %, whilst personnel cost and other operating cost are, in all models, of lesser importance compared with the 2 afore-men tioned categories of costs. If one considers total costs (without raw material costs) from the viewpoint how they are incurred in the subdiv isions, it appears that highest costs arise in the subdivision curd pr eparation and pressing:in case of a 100 % output they account e.g. in model 3 for 42 % of the total cost (without raw materials), whilst low est costs (2 %) arise in the subdivision cold store prior to delivery and shipping. The cost analysis shows clearly that with increasing mod el size and output considerable unit cost degressions can be achieved; here the influence of the capacity utilization rate on cost degressio n is markedly higher compared with that of model size.