Supply Control Savings for Hog Slaughtering-Processing Plants

According to a random-process simulation model, slaughter plant cost savings of over 10 percent could be realized if complete market hog supply control were to be obtained. For the five sizes of plants studied, costs could be reduced by an average of $1.33 per hog. Cost savings via complete supply control ranged from $1.02 per hog for a 600-head-per-hour plant to $1.80 per hog for a 50-head-per-hour plant. Even though a high daily variation was considered, seasonal variation was the major determinant of costs attributed to supply variation. A feature of the model used in the systems analysis is the random component in determining the actual per hour productivity of workers in the slaughtering, cutting, processing, and rendering operations