AN EVALUATION OF TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE INDICATORS IN A POLYURETHANE FOAM MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA

The work is aimed at investigating, analyzing and comparing the business performance before and after a polyurethane foam producing company embarked on Max foam plant, which is a continuous machine for producing foam as a result of technology development. The study was designed to assess the performance of the company using questionnaire, interviews as well as data from secondary sources. The current productivity of the company (1996-to date) was found to be much higher than hitherto (1979-1996) when it employed the older method of polyurethane foam production ( the “box method”). The production rate per month, operating profit per month, operating profit per annum, the profit after tax, all increased tremendously by about 600%. Overall, the company achieved increased production, reduced wastage, high tonnage and reduced process and fugitive emissions. Strategies for maximizing the benefit of using the latest technology of production were therefore recommende