OPERATIONAL PLAN

Location
The business requires a visible and accessible location in a safe industrial
location. The location should be fully serviced with infrastructure such as
electricity, water, telephone and internet. The business would be in a
leased area in the industrial section of the town zoned for light
manufacturing enterprises. It is ideal that the location be owned to allow
for modification and further developments.
The Facility
The workshop will be established as per the Licensing Authority
requirements. The basic requirements for all workshop premises are:
Surroundings
Clean surrounding (no litter, no overgrown vegetation)
Availability of waste receptacles
Ventilation
Adequate ventilation: natural and/or artificial ventilation
Lighting
Adequate artificial and/or natural lighting
Sanitary facilities
Toilets labelled according to gender use
Work Area
Working area with shelter
Wash bay
Tools and equipment storage area
10,000 square feet should be ideal for the workshop. This workshop area
will be segmented in to eight (8) work area being; raw materials storage
area, tools and equipment storage area assembly area, welding area,
painting and coating area, finishing and quality control area and the
finished products storage area.
Workshop designs need to give consideration to safety so as to provide
worker safety, bring efficiency to the work process as well as to ensure

that a symmetrical work process is observed in workshops. Generally

fabricated steel products move through the production area until
completed and then stored. The item is moved each time, high
temperature processes are used to make the product, to form the
components and to join them together. The use of automated and semiautomated multi-function machines that cut, drill and mark the
steelwork further increases risk of incidents as lots more moving and
repositioning needs to take place. Ample space will be allocated to each
work area to allow for free movement of materials and people within and
between work areas.
Pedestrian access and egress will be controlled by permanent marked
routes. Loading and unloading of steelwork is carried out in designated
areas with the appropriate access and lifting equipment.
Deliveries to site will be managed in such a way that offloading can be
direct to the raw material storage area. This minimizes lifting and
handling where most risks of incidents and injuries can be presented.

Source of Supplies
All raw materials are available at popular hardware stores locally and
specialist stores in Francistown and Gaborone. The MD should be in a
position to create supply management contacts with suppliers.
Table 3. Project Location In Relation To Supplies / Markets / Infrastructure and
Manpower

Raw

Source

Location

Materials/Inputs
Labour

Around Selibe Phikwe

Selibe Phikwe and

surroundings

Technical Support
Business &

LEA

CEDA

Local Suppliers

Selibe Phikwe

Selibe Phikwe

Selibe Phikwe

Francistown

Gaborone

Selibe Phikwe

Gaborone

Marketing Advisory
Support Services
Raw Materials

Machinery and

Local Suppliers

Equipment

Production Process

Shot
Blasting

Finishing

Quality
Control

Marking
& Cutting

Painting

Bending
&
Blanking
Assembly
&
Welding

Warehous
ing

1. Shot blasting
Sections and plates are shot blasted prior to fabrication by firing shots at
the steel using a shot blasting machine. This surface preparation is an
important part of the fabrication process, which is essential to provide a
suitably clean finish for welding and subsequently also to produce a
keyed surface ready to accept paint. When paint is sprayed onto this

clean abraded surface it adheres well and provides a longer life for
the paint system. (5 minutes)
2. Marking and Cutting
Steel is marked and cut into predetermined shape and dimensions
depending on the product to be manufactured or customers
specifications using a Guillotine. (15 minutes)
3. Bending and Blanking
The cut pieces are curved and bent to the required shapes depending on
product to be manufactured. Every corner is bent to suit the size of the
product using a press brake. If there is a requirement for holes, a punch
blanking machine is forced under pressure through the steel into a die
below, producing a clean, accurately sized, hole. Where fatigue is an
issue the holes are punched 2mm undersized and reamed to the correct
diameter. (30 minutes)
4. Assembly
This entails putting all the pieces together to form the desired product.
(10 minutes)

5. Welding
All the pieces are moved to the welding area where they are joined
together to form the desired product. Welding is a core activity in the
fabrication process; it is used to connect all pieces together and for the
attachment of other fixtures and fittings. The welding process uses an
electric arc to generate heat to melt the parent material in the joint. A
separate filler material supplied as a consumable electrode also melts
and combines with the parent material to form a molten weld
pool. Welding requires skilful operatives and will generally be the largest
element of the fabrication process. Welding requires the organisation to
have in place a welding quality management system that adheres to ISO
3834: Quality requirements for fusion welding of metallic materials. (60
minutes)

6. Painting
The application of paint coatings or hot dip galvanizing to the steelwork
is carried out at the end of the fabrication process. At this point, the
product is finished although it cannot be used immediately for its
intended purpose before roughness and dirtiness are done away with. In
addition to enhancing the aesthetic appeal of the product, painting also
provides corrosion protection. Big products will be spray painted using a
100 liter air compressor spray gun whilst small products will be painted
using either a dipping tank or paint brushes. (30 minutes)

7. Quality control/inspection
At this stage a thorough inspection is done on the product before it is
sent to the warehouse or customer. The product is inspected using the
naked eye for dimensional variation which results in fabrication
distortion. For complex fabrications, trial erection is carried out to
ensure that fit-up and geometry can be achieved at customer site. (10
minutes)
8. Warehousing/Delivery
Once the product has come through all the seven (7) steps above, and is
certified to have passed quality inspection, it is moved into the
warehouse for safe storage while awaiting delivery. (10 minutes)

The machinery required for the whole production;

1. Shot blasting machine: Used to remove loose scales, impurities and
foreign materials from the surface and leave the parent surface
exposed.
2. Guillotine: Used to cut the pieces into desired sizes according to the
customers specification.
3. Punch blanking machine: Punches holes where required
4. Press brake: Used to bend steel sheets into desired shapes
5. CO2 welding machines: Welds the assembled parts

6. Grinder: Used to remove dirt on of the finished product.

7. Control Back Stop: Supports steel sheet when positioning and folding
so that the operator does not have to hold it.
8. Spot Welding Machine: Used to weld light duty materials
9. 100 liter Air Compressor Spray Gun: Compresses atmospheric air to a
given pressure, as the air expands it creates volume and speed which
is used to atomise paint.