MFCA was applied to the Hope Brewery processes for a period of six months between August 2011 and February 2012 throughout the whole flow process. The brewing process as described above makes use of materials and energy in producing any of the four types of beer produced by Hope Brewery. In the production of beer, barley, ale, water, sugar, and yeast are input materials. The input for packaging is the bottle and crates for transporting. The brewery flow process is explained in the next section.
5.5.1 Hope Brewery flow process
The brewing flow process in Hope Brewery as described by the brewery master is presented below:
5.5.1.1 Mashing, straining vat, and wort pan
Malted barley is mixed with water to form a mash with heat applied. Here, a proportion of energy is used to convert the insoluble starches and proteins into wort, which contains fermented sugars and maltose. By-products such as spent grains are generated at this stage. Carbon emissions are generated due to the boiling and heating of the materials and water.
5.5.1.2 Filtering
The mash is filtered at this stage to separate the dissolved sugars of the wort from the spent grains which contains a large quantity of malt husks. The spent grain is rinsed with hot water to remove any residual wort, which is in turn sold to pig and dairy farmers for animal feeding since it contains some percentage of protein-rich trub. Water and energy are consumed in large amounts at this stage. The wort is further boiled in the wort pan where the beer colour and flavour is developed. The boiling in the wort pan is used to extract the bitter and aroma substances from the
hop introduced at this point together with the sugar. The wort is allowed to cool to about 10ºC and prepared for fermentation.
5.5.1.3 Fermentation
Live yeast is added in the fermentation process to convert sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. At this stage, Hope Brewery had lost batches of production due to the addition of unsuitable yeast. However, these losses were not accounted for in its records. The fermentable sugars are allowed to convert for a period up to 5 days when most of the yeast would have sunk to the bottom of the fermentation vessel. The beer is allowed to mature below 0ºC for between 6 and 10 days to harmonise and produce the desired flavour. Hope Brewery produces four different beer types which include Draught, Ale, Porter and Black Brew.
5.5.1.4 Diatomaceous earth filter
This process is used to remove yeast residue and haze particles for a sparkling beer. Again, energy is consumed at this stage, which includes non-product output such as wastewater.
5.5.1.5 Filling
Filtered beer is dispensed into 330ml bottles ready for distribution to pubs in Mpumalanga. The quality control system of Hope Brewery is lacking at this point since from observation, due care has not been exercised to avoid dripping and sometimes spillage of finished beer.
5.5.2 Findings of the case study
Wastewater: Brewing is a water intensive process. Hope Brewery requires about
9 litres of water for every litre of beer produced. Although, Hope Brewery sources its water mainly from a nearby spring, reduction in water consumption should take priority, especially when the level of water scarcity in South Africa is considered (WWF 2012). Hope Brewery does not have the capacity and technology to reuse or recycle brewery process wastewater. Wastewater is discharged into a nearby canal which may contaminate underground water. The water source for Hope Brewery is
mainly from a large storage tank and a spring water outlet close to the brewery. Therefore, the brewery manager seems not to bother about the quantity of wastewater generated. However, he failed to consider the environmental hazard and other systems cost that have gone into producing such wastewater. Water leaks occurred in production due to rusted pipes. This is a major source of water leakage apart from that occurring when cleaning brewing equipment and the factory floor.
Energy usage: All wastewater generated in the brewery process consumes energy.
As such the more the wastewater and solid waste generated the more energy is wasted in production. It was discovered that energy cost accounted for about 20% of the production costs.
Abnormal production loss: During the study period of six months, inefficient
application of yeast had resulted in losses of 4 batches of 1000 litres of beer becoming unsalable. These losses usually go unnoticed since Hope Brewery lacks a good system to record the flow of material in brewing process. Production control relies heavily on the experience of Edmond (not real name) the production manager.
Lack of proper documentation of process flow: Production records relating to the
quantity of input materials and related costs used in each production batch is unavailable in the books of Hope Brewery. The record available indicates the output quantity of completed batches. Therefore, it is difficult to determine the amount of waste generated in any given batch. Reliance was on experience which has proven to be ineffective judging from the abnormal production losses suffered.
5.5.3 Improvements based on MFCA analysis
The following improvement strategies were made to the existing system in Hope Brewery after the pilot study:
• A waste record format was generated to record the quantity of input materials at the beginning of every batch. The record includes the volume of water used in each process, units of electricity consumed in the process, wages paid to the production staff during a shift, cost of any repairs, and the volume of beer that results in good product. This process enables the brewery manager to determine the loss in any particular batch. Overall water usage was calculated at 9 litres for every litre of beer produced. Subsequently, due to the purchase of a new wort pan responsible for
leakages, water usage dropped to 7 litres per litre of beer produced. Further, improvements include the ability of the brewery manager to determine which process is responsible for the inefficiencies;
• A new wort pan was purchased to replace the old pan which has become obsolete to reduce the water leaks in the connecting pipes to the turbidity filter. Although, replacing the wort pan is a major investment, MFCA has made it visible that the wort pan generates a considerable number of litres of wasted water which necessitated its replacement;
• Since production takes place twice every week, wages has been re- negotiated to align with batches worked. Savings in terms of production wages attest to the importance of a MFCA analysis in the brewery production process;
• A new quality-checking device had been purchased to ensure that quality beer is produced in any batch and to avoid the incidence of total batch losses;
• Wastewater treatment equipment could not be investigated due to the lack of funds to embark on such a project and the fact that Hope brewery is a micro- brewery; and
• Housekeeping and other cleaning activities now use less water since the notion that water is almost free for brewery use has been replaced by the concern to save water consumption as a result of its scarcity, especially in South Africa.
5.5.4 MFCA Cost Matrix for Hope Brewery
Below is a summarised MFCA cost matrix for Hope Brewery from August 2011 until February 2012.
Table 5.1: MFCA Cost Matrix for Hope Brewery
Material cost (R) %age Energy cost (R) %age Systems cost (R) %age Waste disposal cost Total cost (R) Good product 110124 39.90 31350 11 15732 5.70 0 157206 Negative product 83076 30 23650 9 11868 4.30 0 118594 Sub-total 193200 70 55000 20 27600 10 0 275800
Table 5.1 shows the costs incurred during the six-month period of the study and the portion that is attributable to both good and negative products. However, waste- disposal cost is not incurred by this brewery because wastewater and solid waste are disposed into a nearby gully. The availability of the MFCA analysis to the Hope Brewery has resulted in the improvements stated above.