BUSINESS ANALYSIS
Determining the economic value of hte OIl Palm Harvester
PHASE SUMMARY
The business analysis evaluated the work performed by the team and determined the project’s overall value. It considered the amount of money currently spent on harvesting Oil Palm fruit and the potential savings with an improved mechanism, as well as the environmental, ethical, health, social, and political impacts of the device.
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
The Oil Palm industry lacks productivity due to the current harvesting methods being used. The current methods are strenuous and time consuming when dealing with tall trees. Of approximately 560,000 people directly employed in the Oil Palm sector, 336,000 are climbers that harvest 4.6 billion hectares of land annually around the world. Many climbers are necessary because the process of climbing is difficult and time consuming. If the process were to be automated, the workers would not need to climb the trees, so they will not become as fatigued and less productivity throughout the day. The improved productivity of an improved Oil Palm Harvester could increase production which would increase profits of the Oil Palm plantations and could potentially mean cheaper products for the consumers. Increased profits could also lead to an expansion in the Oil Palm industry, which would mean more jobs in those areas.
​
The budget to create an improved mechanism was $2,500. All costs involved with the prototype are justifiable as each component was necessary to build a functioning prototype. The current harvesting methods use manual labor and are performed in developing countries were labor costs are relatively cheap. It is estimated that a worker in Malaysian earns approximate $297 per month for eight-hour shifts throughout a 40-hour week. It is also estimated that a team of two workers are typically responsible for harvesting an area of 19 acres of Oil Palm trees per day. This means 4,560 acres per year per two workers assuming 240 working days per year. If an improved Oil Palm Harvester were implemented and were able to increase the rate of harvesting, the effect on the Oil Palm Industry would be significant.
​
The improved Oil Palm Harvester requires about 6.55 minutes to harvest a 40-foot tree. The current process takes about five to eight minutes to harvest a tree of any size. Assuming it takes the higher time, eight minutes, to harvest a tree at the maximum 40-foot height, the improved device would improve process times by 18.13%. With this increase, it would be possible to increase the acres of Oil Palm trees harvested from 19 to over 22 trees per day and increase the acres of harvested Oil Palm trees per year from 4,560 to over 5,380. One bunch of Oil Palm fruit weighs about 17.5 kg and of that weight, 27.5% will be usable oil. The oil has a market value of about 681 dollars per ton as of March 31, 2018. This means that approximately 1.64 dollars of oil may be harvested per tree. Using this value, the assumption of 240 working days per year, with the increased three trees per day with the improved Oil Palm Harvester than the current method, the team calculated that the device’s increased productivity would increase profits by $1,179.83 each year. The improved device costs $2,075.17 to produce so the device would be able to recuperate the cost of initial investment in a little over one year and nine months. This would justify the investment costs of the product to Oil Palm plantation owners.
​
In an industry where it is becoming harder to find workers willing to perform the dangerous tasks at hand, an investment like this might be vital to keeping and attracting workers to work for that company. The benefits of such a product help to compensate for the cost of paying for the device. As Oil Palm harvesting countries become more developed, less people are willing to perform the dangerous harvesting tasks. This has led to a shortage of labor that the sponsor hopes the improved Oil Palm Harvester will help to offset.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
An environmental factor that must be considered is the impact on the land and terrain. There would be a highly negative impact on wildlife if there were an expansion in Oil Palm plantations. As plantations expand, there is an increase in land usage and deforestation.  Deforestation is detrimental to wildlife because it destroys habitats, contributes to the endangerment of species, and makes animals more vulnerable to poachers. If there were an expansion in the Oil Palm industry, though, it would still be better than an expansion in other vegetable oil industries because the Oil Palms require relatively less land. Each of these factors must be considered in the creation of an improved Oil Palm Harvesting mechanism.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
When designing the Oil Palm Harvester, the team kept various ethical considerations in mind. The reason that there is a need for an improved Oil Palm Harvester is to make harvesting process easier and reduce the physical stresses on the laborers who harvest the fruits. The currently used harvesting method in which laborers must climb trees or extend a long cutting tool is dangerous for the workers.  Injuries may occur if the worker falls from the tree, or if the fruit falls and strikes the worker. There may also be chronic injuries from the high physical demand and repetition of these harvesting methods. The Oil Palm Harvester would improve the working conditions for the harvesters by making the work less dangerous and strenuous. This will reduce the risk of acute or chronic injuries and positively impact the health of the workers.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
The improved prototype makes for a more ergonomic harvesting process. As discussed in the Analyze Phase, the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment indicated that the improved device has puts less physical stresses on the workers than the current method. This means that the improved process puts workers at less risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders. The device makes the harvesting process safer for the workers due to the added safety features and because the workers do not need to climb up the trees and risk serious injury or death. Ergonomic improvements such as added handles and wheels also allow for less stresses on the worker when loading and unloading the device. Each of these factors allow for a more ergonomic device.
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The Oil Palm Harvester can potentially have a strong social and political impact. The product could improve the lives and working conditions of the laborers harvesting the Oil Palm fruit. Also, harvesting Oil Palm fruit would become a more attractive job to have because a lot of the physical labor will be removed from the process. Additionally, the increased productivity and profitability of the process could potentially lead to an expansion of the Oil Palm industry, which would create more jobs. This will raise the socioeconomic standings of several people, improve the economies in those areas, and have a large impact on the lives of those who work in the industry or live in an area where the industry is prevalent. The implementation of an improved mechanism has the potential to completely change individual lives as well as entire towns by decreasing the number of people living in poverty.
SUSTAINABILITY
For the product to be successful in the long-term, owners of Oil Palm plantations must recognize the growing need for an Oil Palm Harvester as it becomes more difficult to find workers willing to perform the manual harvesting process. They need to recognize that the initial investment of an Oil Palm Harvester will be worth it economically to keep their workers safe so that the industry becomes a more attractive field to work in. Also, decreased physical stress and fatigue for the workers translate to increased productivity and profits for the plantation owners. Additionally, the device will remove variation from the process to make for consistently shorter times in harvesting Oil Palm fruit.
