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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my Geography teacher as well as

the principal of the school who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on
the topic Forestry.

Secondly I would like to thank the staff of Barama Plywood Factory for allowing me to
tour the entire factory so that I would be able to do this project.

Thirdly I would like to thank my parents who helped me a lot in financing this project. I
would also like to thank my friends for helping and guiding me through this project.
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TOPIC

Forestry: Industrial Location

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RESEARCH QUESTION

Is the location of Barama Plywood Factory an ideal site for plywood manufacturing?

AIM

To investigate and explain how the location of Barama Plywood Factory is ideally located.
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RESEARCH ACTIVITY

WHEN: The visit to Barama Plywood Factory was conducted on the 26 of February, 2016.

WHERE: This activity was conducted at the Barama Plywood Factory.

HOW: This activity was planned by the Geography teacher and a letter was sent to the Barama
Plywood Factory. After the visit was confirmed, an interview form was filled out, to state
that the student will be going. The class was divided into two groups and the operations
of Barama were explained by the employees. Data was recorded in various ways. The
researcher had an interview with the manager about the operation of the plywood factory.
Some of the questions that were asked include: Where do Barama company obtain the
raw material from?, How is raw materials being transported to the production site?
etc. Maps of the Barama Company was reviewed and sketched. Observations were
recorded and seen of all the aspects of this company. Pictures were taken along with
videos of the processes of plywood manufacture.
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INTRODUCTION

Forestry is the study of this complex interaction, the management of the various
components of the forest, the preservation of its' natural balance (of forests and the life forms
they support) as well as the care of it to ensure its' wellbeing

Barama is the leading forest resource and wood products company in Guyana. Barama
Company Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samling Global Limited. It established in
Guyana since 1991. The Company was granted lowland, mixed tropical forest concession for
approximately 1.6 million hectares in the Northwest region of Guyana. Barama is Guyana's
largest wood products company, contributing over 30 percent of the country's timber exports,

Their operations in Barama consist of forest management, timber harvesting and

manufacturing of various wood-based products such as plywood, sawn timber, decking and
flooring products.
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PLYWOOD MANUFACTURING PROCESS

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P O W E R G E N E R A T IO N SETTING

PASTING

PRESSING/MOLDING
PLANT

TRIMMING

PUTTYING/FILLING

SANDING

GRADING/SORTING

TRANSPORTATION/STOR
AGE

Power generation plant

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The generator plant is used to power the entire factory. The boiler system consists of a
pressure vessel, which provides steam/hot water for such purposes as product processing and
electricity generation. The plant provides the electricity needed to carry out the processes of
making the plywood.

Setting

The first stage of plywood manufacturing is the assembling of the veneer. A veneer is a
thin decorative covering that is placed over a coarser wood or other material. These are placed in
a crisscross pattern. There are three different veneer layers which include the core, the face and
back that have different thickness which are assembled to produce different dimension of
plywood.

Pasting

When the plywood is assembled, it is transported to the glue spreader, where both sides
of the core are covered in glue for the 3 ply. The glue is produced form a mixture of flor, a
powder, and a hardener and wats.The core is then collected by the workers after it was covered
with the glue and then they assemble them in order.

Pressing/ molding

After pasting, the pressing and molding stage occur, where the sheets are placed in a
loader which holds about 30 to 32 pieces. After the boards are pressed, they are compressed to
extract the moisture from the boards.

Trimming

The plywood is trimmed to a size of four feet in length and eight feet by width. This is
done by a cutting machine. The remaining pieces of the plywood are used to generate free
electricity for the entire factory.

Puttying and filling

After the plywood it cut into its specific size, it is sent to the putting and filling section.
This is where they repair the damages done on the plywood. The damage on the plywood such as
cracks and splits are filled with putty. The putty is made of red colouring so it will be able to
blend with the colour of the plywood.

Sanding
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After the putty and filling of the plywood, it is sent to the sanding machine. The sanding
machine is used to sand the top layer of the plywood only. A turner machine is then used to turn
over the plywood so the bottom will also be sanded by the sanding machine. The sanding of the
plywood gives smoothness to the plywood.

Grading and sorting

After the sanding process, the plywood is checked and sorted on site to see if the quality
is up to standard. The ply includes: S25, S15, Shop and reject. The S25 grade consists of two
face ply. The S15 grade is the 9mm veneer, one face and back. The shop grade consists of two
back ply and the rejected plywood consists of damaged ply.

Transportation and storage

After grading and storage, the plywood is placed in craters which can hold up to 50
pieces of plywood. A forklift is used to lift these craters and transport them to the store room.
The plywood stored in a cool environment. The S25 quality is the best quality and these are
usually exported.

PRESENTATION OF DATA
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VILLAGES NUMBERS
OF
WORKERS
Georgetown 30
Timehri 20
Soesdyke 30
Land of Canaan 30
East Coast 10
West Coast 20
TOTAL 140

CHART 1: SHOWING THE NUMBER OF WORKERS AND THEIR ORIGIN

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COLUMN GRAPH SHOWING THE NUMBER OF WORKERS AND THEIR ORIGIN

35

30

25

20 GEORGETOWN
TIMEHRI
15
SOESDYKE
NUMBER OF WORKERS LAND OF CANAAN
10
EAST COAST
5 WEST COAST

VILLAGES

FIGURE 1: SHOWING THE NUMBER OF WORKERS AND THEIR ORIGIN

EXPLANATION OF THE FIRST GRAPH

This graph shows the number of people coming from each village. The highest number of
workers comes from Land of Canaan, Soesdyke and Georgetown. This is so because these
villages are closer to the Plywood Factory. However, East Coast has the least number of workers
because the village is furthest away from the factory.
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OCCUPATIONS MALE FEMALE

Drivers 10 0
Production Team Member 30 20
Loggers 20 0
Engineer 3 2
Packing Personnel 10 5
Business Development 6 10
Manager
Industrial Electrician 5 3
Supervisor 2 8
Sales Officer 2 4

CHART 2: SHOWING THE NUMBERS OF BOTH MALE AND FEMALE AND THEIR
OCCUPATIONS
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BAR GRAPH SHOWING THE NUMBER OF MALES AND FEMALES AND THEIR OCCUPATION
Sales Officer

Supervisor

Industrial Electrician

Business Development Manager

Packing Personnel
MALE FEMALE
OCCUPATIONS Engineer

Loggers

Production Team Member

Drivers

OCCUPATIONS

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

NUMBER OF MALES AND FEMALES

FIGURE 2 SHOWING THE NUMBERS OF BOTH MALE AND FEMALE AND THEIR
OCCUPATIONS

EXPLANATION OF THE SECOND GRAPH

This graph shows the amount of males and females in each occupation of the factory.
There are more males than female working. Some occupations only have males working such as
drivers and loggers while some occupations have more female than male like sales officer,
supervisor and business development manager. The rest of the occupations have more males than
female.
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OCCUPATIONS PERCENTAG
E OF
WORKERS
Drivers 7%
Production Team Member 36%
Loggers 14%
Engineer 4%
Packing Personnel 11%
Business Development 11%
Manager
Industrial Electrician 6%
Supervisor 7%
Sales Officer 4%
TABLE 3: SHOWING THE PERCENTAGE OF WORKERS IN EACH OCCUPATION
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PIE CHART SHOWING THE PERCENTAGE OF WORKERS IN EACH OCCUPATION

DRIVER PRODUCTION TEAM MEMBER LOGGERS ENGINEER

4% 7%
7%

6%

PACKING PERSONNEL BUSINESS DEVELOPMANT MANAGER INDUSTRIAL ELECTRICIAN SUPERVISOR

11%
36%

11%

4%
SALES OFFICER 14%

FIGURE 3: SHOWING THE PERCENTAGE OF WORKERS IN EACH OCCUPATION

EXPLANATION OF THE THIRD GRAPH

This graph shows the percentage of workers in each occupation. The largest occupation
taken up by the workers is the production team members. This is so because most of the
operation is done here and so need more workers. The smallest occupation taken up by the
workers are the engineer and the sales officer. This is so because these occupations do not need a
lot of people like the production team member
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DISCUSSION

Manufacturing is the making of goods by hand or by machine that upon completion the
business sells to a customer. Items used in manufacture may be raw materials or component parts
of a larger product. The manufacturing usually happens on a large-scale production line of
machinery and skilled labor.

The logs are harvested and sent to Kaituma in Region 1. The Barama Company Limited
manufactures their products mainly out of Baramalli, wood but Kabukalli, Crabwood, Simapura
and Shibadan are also exported. The logs are then transported to BuckHall in Region 2. The
operation in BuckHall is located approximately 65km from Georgetown by road or a 45-minute
boat ride via the Essequibo River. The facility consists of a new sawmill, the forest planning and
operations department, a logpond and staff quarters. It also serves as an entry point into the forest
concession. The veneer is then transported to Land of Canaan in Region 4. Land of Canaan is
situated approximately 25 kilometers outside of Guyanese capital, Georgetown. Land of Canaan
is located along the Demerara River and has a total land area of approximately 170 hectares. This
site houses Barama's production infrastructure which includes a corporate office, a plywood
factory, a sawmill, a jetty and staff quarters.

Generally, location of industries is influenced by economic considerations though certain

non-economic considerations also might influence the location of some industries. Maximization
of profit which also implies cost minimization is the most important goal in their choice of
particular places for the location of industries. There are several factors which pull the industry
to a particular place. Some of the major factors influencing location are:

Availability of raw materials

Availability of Labour

Proximity to Market

Transport Facility

Power

Finance

It is hardly possible to find all these factors at one place. Industrial locations are complex in
nature. As a result manufacturing activities tends to be located at most appropriate places where
all these factors are present.

After industrial activities start urbanization follows

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Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life and economic well-
being of people living in relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. The reason why the
growth of surrounding is occurring is because people are being employed. Since they are
employed, their standard of living will improve and that in turn will help the villages to develop.
This is so because the factory has supplied employment to many persons. This will cause more
people to come into the areas because of their job in the factory and thus there is development in
the villages.

Flow Chart

INPUTS
Raw materials/ components
parts
MONEY
FACTORS OF PRODUCTION
Land, Labour, money,
Infrastructure &machines
Entrepreneurship

MARKET
HARVESTING OF LOGS
LOCAL AND
AT PORT KAITUMA, OVERSEES
REGION 1

TRANSPORTED TO: TRANSPORTED

TO: PORT OF
BUCKHALL, REGION 2 GEORGETOWN

TRANSPORT OF VENEER OUTPUT

TO:
PLYWOOD
LAND OF CANAAN
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CONCLUSION

Many industries are located near or in cities and towns. Industries provide many benefits
such as employment, services, provide markets, banking, transport, insurance as well as
consultants etc.

The key decisions of the factory location are:

Choose a site with the cheapest land or buildings.

Decide on a location that is convenient for key employees. A business needs to be able to
recruit staff with the right skills base.
Choose a site that has easy access to raw materials.
The key factor could be the transport and service infrastructure. Many businesses require
easy access to good road and railway links and modern telecommunication services.
These ensure that they can meet service or delivery deadlines.
They should be able to make a profit

Flow chart showing why the location of Barama Plywood Factory is ideal

Cost of obtaining raw

materials (logs) at site
Region #1.

Cost of Production
Cost of Transportation
of logs and veneer .
PROFITS and distribution of
in Region #1 Port
products (plywood).
Kaituma and Region
#2 Buckhall.

Decision to locate
Factory at Land of
Canaan Region #4.
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Bibliography
Bernard D.M. -A New Geography of Guyana.
Nelson Thornes Geography for CSEC
Rahil, Von A.M-New Caribbean Geography, With MAP Reading and C.X.C Questions (1984).
Rahil, Von A.M- Complete Geography Course for CSEC (2010).
Guyana Review Vol 13 No. 148 (April 2005).

APPENDIX

1. What is the history of the company?

2. What are the advantages of the location of the company?
3. What is/are the source(s) of the supply of logs?
4. How is electricity generated?
5. What form of employment is available here?
6. Are markets available for the plywood?
7. How can the technology for plywood manufacturing be improved?
8. What are the waste products used for?
9. Is recycling of waste wood and water practiced?
10. Are there opportunities for expansion?
11. How many sites do Barama operates on?
12. Explain how plywood is manufactured?
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PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWING:

FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2

After arriving by barge, logs

are graded and then peeled. Veneers are dried under
careful moisture control.
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FIGURE 3 FIGURE 4

Veneers are joined

Gluing and assembling before
cold and hot pressing.

FIGURE 5 FIGURE 6

After the hot press, boards are trimmed

Boards are poly wrapped and
and graded into 1st And 2nd Grade
packed into steel strapped
plywood crates for export, either
by container or direct from the
FIGURE 7 factory wharf.
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Loading at factory wharf for

shipment to Europe and North
America by ship loads.

Table of contents
Individual Mark
Sheet. i
Strategy
Sheet..ii
Acknowledgement.iii
Map of
Guyana..1
Topic.2
Research
Question3
Research
Activity..4
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Site map of study

area5
Introduction...7
Plywood Manufacturing Process...8
Presentation of data, charts, graphs, photographs...11
Discussion...17
Conclusion..19
Bibliography...20
Appendix21