3.4.2.

plant location
The geographical positioning of the plant tends to be very important for the firms
profitability and long-term survival. The location of the plant has strong effect on the
success of the industrial venture. Choosing the plant location must be given enough
time, thought and concern as it has a direct effect on the final cost and profit of the
production. There are many factors affecting the decision of plant location and varying in
the degree of effectiveness. The most important factors are
3.4.2.1. Raw Material Supply

It is important and economical to select a site that is closed to supplement of raw

material. The most suitable place for production of formaldehyde form methanol will be
near resource for the supplement of methanol.
3.4.2.2. land

A land for the plant must be sufficient, cheap, suitable and in industrial zone. Also, it is
important to select a land with possibilities of

future expansion and satisfied

government regulations.
3.4.2.3.Transport Facilities

Selected site should be close to some forms of transport. There forms can be roads.
International airport or sea port. Good transport facilities is very important to assure a
steady supply of raw material needed.
3.4.2.3. Availability of Power, Fuel or Gas:

Because of the wide spread use of electrical power the availability of fuel or gas has not
remained a deciding factor in most of the cases for plant location. The reliability of
continuous supply of these facilities is an important factor.
3.4.2.4. Water Supply:

The plant requires large amount of water for several purposes such as cooling and
heating. Thus, it must be located near a supplement for water. Water may be obtained
from the sea or the underground.

3.4.2.5. Availability of Labor:

Labour play a vital role in site plant selection. It will be needed for construction of the
plant and is operation. Skill tradesman will be needed for plant maintenance. Local trade
union customs and restrictive practices will have to be considered when assessing the
availability and suitability of the local labor for requirement and training.
3.4.2.6.Environmental Impact and Effluent Disposal

All industrial process produce waste product and full consideration must be given to the
difficulties and cost of their disposal. The disposal of toxic and harmful effluents will be
covered by local regulations and the appropriate authorities must be consulted during
the initial site survey to determine the standards that must be met. An environmental
impact assessment should be made for each new project or major modification of
addition to an existing process.
3.4.2.7. Local Community Considerations
the proposed plant must fit in with and be acceptable to the local community. Great
consideration must be given to the safe location of the plant so that it does not impose a
significant additional risk to the community. On a new side, the local community must be
able to provide adequate facilities for the plant personal like schools, banks, housing and
recreational and cultural facilities.

3.5.site selection
In Oman, there are many suitable locations where the Shampoo production plant can be
constructed such as Sohar, Salalah, Muscat and Alduqum. Salalah is far away from the other
regions so the transportation cost of the product will be high. As a result, it was eliminated from the list of
possible plant locations and options were narrowed down to Sohar, Alduqum and Muacat.

A final plant

location to be determined based on a comparison, shown below in table 1, between the two preliminary feasible
locations.

Table 1: Comparison between Preliminary Feasible Locations

CRITERION

LOCATION AND WEIGHT OF EACH FACTOR

Sohar

W%

Alduqum

W
%
60

Muscat

Raw
Material
Availability
Market

Available since
it is imported

60

Available since
it is imported

High demand
due to high
population.

90

Low demand
due to low
population.

40

High demand due

to high population.

10
0

Land
Availability
and Cost

Crowded area
with less
available free
lands and high
cost

70

Large free lands

available with
low cost.

90

Crowded area with

less available free
lands and
relatively high
cost.

80

Energy
Availability

Available

70

Available

70

Available

70

Transportati Near to Sohar

on
airport and
Sohar industrial
port.

70

Near to
Alduqum airport
and Alduqum
industrial port.

60

Near to Muscat
airport and Muscat
industrial port.

70

Water
Supply

70

Near the sea.

Note: sea water
does not require
much
purification as
Alduqum
population is
low.

80

60

30

Easy due to
large free lands
available.

60

Near the sea.

Note: sea water
requires more
purification as it
contains
contaminants due
to intense
population in
Muscat
Difficult due to less
free lands.

Waste
Disposal

Near the sea.

Note: sea water
requires more
purification as it
contains
contaminants
due to intense
population in
Sohar.
Difficult due to
less free lands.

Available since it is
imported

W
%
60

30

Labor
Supply

Available human
resources.

70

Available
human
resources.

60

Available human
resources.

70

Community
Factor

Good
infrastructure

70

Developing
region with
acceptable
infrastructure.

80

Good
infrastructure.

70

Site
characterist
ics

Geologically
good

80

Geologically
good

90

Geologically good

70

Environmen
tal
Considerati
ons

Populated city
so any
environmental
issue would be
hard to handle

60

Large area
where
environmental
issues could be
easily handled

70

Populated city any

environmental
issue would be
hard to handle.

60

Weight

740

The comparison between

760

Sohar,

740

Alduqum and Muscat was carried out taking all

effective factors into account. It is clear from the table that Alduqum get the highest
weight compared with the other places. As a result, Alduqum was chosen to be the
most feasible location for the Shampoo production plant. Alduqum is the one with the
largest free lands and lowest cost which gives a high potential for plant expansion in
future. This feature of large unused lands solves the waste disposal problem which has
recently been a considerable issue as regulations of ministry of commerce and industry
in Oman impose a safe waste disposal. Most criteria favor Alduqum as the most
economic and environmental feasible location for the plant of Shampoo production.
3.6.

Plant Layout

Plant Layout is the physical arrangement of equipment and facilities within a Plant.
Optimizing the Layout of a Plant can improve productivity, safety and quality of Products.
There are several factors effecting plant layout. The most important factors are nature of
the product, volume of the product, type of industry process and climate. Figure 1 shows
the layout of Shampoo production plant.

Figure 2: Plant Layout