Designing and Creating Khao Pong’s Plate Press Machine : A Case Study of Ban Huay Yang Career Group

Abstract

This research was a case study of the Ban Huay Yang Occupational Class, Huai Thalaeng Nakonratchasima. It focused on the design and construction of a press machine that could increase the production capacity of rice crackers (khao pong). It used a pneumatic and PLC system that could control the aluminum rotation tray when inputting and pressing the flour mix into the mold, and included rotation of the tray using a rotary cylinder for inputting new dough. Data collection was based on the pressing of rice crackers using 3 workers. Results showed that it took 46.30 seconds/cracker/person = 77.70 crackers/hour/person. Therefore, the total production capacity of the workers was 233.10 crackers/hour. Performance testing of the rice cracker press machine resulted in 8.61 seconds/cracker, with a total production capacity of 417.68 crackers/hour. This represented an increase of 184.58 crackers/hour (+79.18%), and a reduced production cost 2.74 baht/bag (-19.18%).