Report Paper on Packhouse Department

Beaujeff P. Lagera

NCC Cadet Engineer

The Packhouse Department. We spent seven days at the final area of cement production, the one responsible
for giving the product of Northern Cement Corporation its final look and packaging appearance, the Packhouse
Department. During these seven days, we followed daily learning schedules which were prepared beforehand by the
head of the department, the Manager.

The Process. Cement that is produced by the Finish Mill Department is stored into nine cement silos. Cement
from a silo is transported pneumatically via the use of air slides whose output go to an elevator which then transports
the cement and discharge it into a vibrating screen machine. The said machine will filter out foreign material and yield
pure, fine cement and discharge it in cement bins. Cement packing machines or the so-called Rotopackers get their
supply of cement from their corresponding cement bins via rotary locks. A Rotopacker has 8 spouts that discharge
cement into cement bags. Packhouse operators can set the desired target weight of a product cement bag (40 kg per
bag) and the speed on which the Rotopacker completes the loading sequence (currently around 12 seconds for the 8
spouts to complete loading of 8 bags).

Once a bag is full, it is released into a compartment where it gets cleaned with the use of air, gets printed with
information (date, time and the Rotopacker it came from) and then travels through a series of conveyors until it reaches
the truck where it is stacked, with the other bags, by third-party cement bag stackers.

The Product. There are three types of cement that is being produced by NCC, namely, Supreme, MaxPlus and
Master Paletada. The bags that are used are different depending on the area it will be delivered. A red bag is used for
cement that will be delivered in Pangasinan and Batanes areas. A blue bag is for areas such as Tarlac, Pampanga, Nueva
Ecija, Isabela and Cagayan. For La Union, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, kraft bags are used. A Supreme-type cement bag
will have a deep red diagonal stripe at the top right section of the front face of the bag, three yellow stripes for Maxplus
and a chocolate brown stripe for Master Paletada.

The People. Cheerful, approachable and friendly these are the best adjectives that come to my mind if I
would describe the people of the department. They taught us, shared laughs with us and showed us how they manage
each days work. The people here are very knowledgeable in the operation of their department. The foremen and the
operators know not only the operation and the processes but also the electrical and mechanical aspects of the machines
they are using. They do troubleshooting when problems arise and are mechanics and electricians on their own. In this,
they remain humble and do their work responsibly, with smiles and laughs.
The Office. The room is clean, orderly and has good ambiance. The 5S of housekeeping, namely, Sort,
Standardize, Sweep, Systematize and Self-discipline can be seen visibly in the looks of the office the Order Slips and
the different truck scale stubs are filed systematically, monitoring sheets are kept in binders and the center table where
they do paper works and eat lunch smells good with scents of Downey.

Customer Service. The people of Packhouse Department interact firsthand with customers truck drivers and
their assistants. The checkers can be strict but they remain friendly in their dealings with the customers. I heard that in
other cement companies, the truck drivers would have to wait for days in order to get cement, but here, they would just
have to wait for a few minutes to a few hours depending on the queue or the number of trucks to be served.
Recommendation
If I were to humbly make a few suggestions, I would suggest the following.

Waiting Area for Customers. The Packhouse department is serving around an average of fifty trucks per shift
(thats an average of 150 trucks per day.) Depending on the queue, customer truck drivers would to wait in line for their
turn to be served while parking their trucks on the open area of the department and the drivers would have to wait
inside their trucks (under the sun or rain) or stand with the other drivers at the loading area.

I think we can enhance Customer Service Experience if we can provide a good waiting area for the customers.
Just like reception areas in hotels, I think it would be good if there were a room where the customer drivers can sit down
and rest comfortably while waiting for their turn to be served. I also think that expanding the roofing of the parking
area/loading area would be good so that trucks wont be parked under the sun or rain.