The Steps Involved in Orange Juice Manufacturing
The report focuses on the role of the operation management in transforming raw goods into final product or service. Operations management refers to the function of the business that is responsible for organizing the process of producing a specific product or service. It mainly involves planning, managing, controlling and co-coordinating each resource that is required for producing the good or service (Stinco et al., 2012). The inputs that used for producing particular product basically involves managing equipment, information, staffs , managers, facilities, technology and other resources required in manufacturing the product. In case of Traditional Transformational Framework, the outputs are basically the products or services that the organization produces. At the production plant, this transformation refers to the physical reform of raw materials into goods such as conversion of orange into orange juice , tomatoes into tomato ketchup etc. The design as well as the management of the operations highly impacts on the quantity of material are utilized for producing goods. Effective operation management helps the manufacturing organization in increasing production and improving the product quality. This study focuses on the transformation of orange into orange juice in US (Yang et al., 2013). The quality of orange and the possible causes of poor quality occurring from production are also identified in this report. The suggestion given in this report focuses on the changes that could be made to the manufacturing process for improving performance of orange in US.
The objective of this report is to demonstrate the transformation process of orange into orange juice manufacturing in Florida. The aim of this study is to provide brief illustration about the key transformation processes that is involved in producing output. This study basically highlights on the significance of the operational management and strategy in the manufacturing business. In fact, the step by step procedure of manufacturing the product is the basic aim of this report.
The US federal regulation code defines orange juice as the unfermented juice that is collected from the citrus hybrid generally known as Ambersweet. Fresh orange juices is usually difficult to bring in the market commercially as it needs special processing for preserving it. It is usually marketed in the nation in three forms that includes- frozen concentrate, reconstituted liquid and Not form concentrate beverage. The quality of orange juice is usually determined by the total content of acid, sugar level and other aromatic components present in it. If the ratio of acid to sugar level is high, then it is usually considered as tart, while if this ratio is low then the it is considered as insipid. There are several factors that influencing the quality of orange juice, which includes-
- Methods of harvesting- As the oranges becomes mature, the content of juice in it increases. The palatability of orange enhances with its changes. Harvesting orange before maturity is generally unpalatable. On the contrary, if oranges are permitted to be kept in tree after maturity, it then develops into insipid fruit. However, it is vital to pick the orange at maturity.
- Utilization of rootstocks- Rootstocks highly influences quality of orange juice. The trees on the trifoliate stock apt in bearing ample juice content in it. The navel oranges that is grown on lemon stock is unsuitable for extraction of juice as it has high content of lemonin. High quality orange juice are usually extracted from the oranges that are grown on those orange stock that are sweet in nature in Florida.
- Climate of the nation- Climatic conditions of the respective country highly affects on the quality of orange juice. Rainfall, humidity and temperature are the main factors that influence maturity of oranges, which in turn impacts on juices. The acid as well as sugar content in the orange juice varies according to the season. The content of acid reduces and sugar increases usually under humid climatic conditions. Furthermore, hot climatic conditions reduces both acid as well as sugar content in oranges, thereby making the juice unplatable.
- Condition of soil- The quality of orange juice is also influenced by nutritive as well as conditions of soil under which this fruit is generally produced. Sufficient supply of moisture in soil is also vital for the orange trees specially during the blossoming as well as harvesting period.
- Tree spraying- Different kinds of insects usually citrus bugs usually harms the orange fruit leaving it dry as well as tasteless. The impact of insectidal sprays that is applied to the orange fruit reduces the sugar level, soluble solids and the content of acidity. If the decline in sugar level is higher than that of acidity, the fruit becomes unpalatable. I addition, arsenal sprays also decreases the content of sugar and increases the content of sugar in the citrus fruit.
Factors Impacting the Quality and Quantity of Orange Juice
The basic ingredient that is used for the production of orange juice in Florida is different flavored oranges. A blend of various kinds of oranges is basically used for providing certain flavor and to assure that bitterness is not present in the juice collected. In US, two and half billion liters of fruit juice is produced every year and most of it generally comes from Florida. This manufacturing plant in Florida harvest and squeezes 13 billion oranges each year, which keeps the juice flowing. This nation produces near about 6 million tons of citrus fruit each year. As Florida is one of the wettest nation in US, oranges are manufactured in high quality. The manufacturing plant in Florida produces five different varieties of oranges. However, each different variety ripens at different times in a year and hence the people of this nation enjoy the oranges juices throughout the year (Zhang et al., 2012). The oranges that are selected for making juices is based on various factors that includes variety as well as the maturity of fruit (Kimball, 2012). The oranges contains large number of different materials , which contribute to the flavor as well as consistency of juices that includes waters, sugars, alcohols, organic acids, lactones, esters and ketones. Some of the preservatives are also used as input that includes sulfur dioxide that are usually permitted by the federal regulation in the orange juice even if the total amount are controlled by them. Likewise, the ascorbic acid, EDTA , BHT, alpha tocopherol are used as antioxidants. In addition, sweetners are also added in the orange juice in form of dextrose, artificial sweetners, honey and dextrose. Often, critic acid is also added in order to give tartness. The producers in this nation also reinforce juices with added vitamins or nutrients that includes vitamin C and vitamin A and beta carotene. Furthermore, the producers in Florida add calcium in the orange juice.
Figure: Flow Chart for manufacturing process of the final product
(Source: Heizer, 2016)
The process is involved with the manual peeling of the oranges after sorting them based on the freshness. This is involved with reducing the size of the fruit, the seeds and pulp separation through sleving.
This step is involved with extraction and using hydraulic press and inside a frame into which the fruit is placed wrapped in cloth with an appropriate mesh size; a hydraulic press with tube membranes of variable porosity; high capacity belt presses and so on.
The Importance of Operations Management in Orange Juice Manufacturing
This step comprises of filling of the additives such as sodium sorbate for the enhancement of the overall shelf life. The juices are seen to be labelled and packed in the storage rooms.
The juices are seen to be pasteurized at high temperatures with the method of “High Temperature Short Time (HTST)” approach. The immediate process is followed by the cooling process which is seen to be followed by sterilization before use.
The processes through which the oranges are transformed into orange juices are explained below:
Harvesting- In Florida, the oranges are collected from large groves. Few of the producers are independent while some other is members of marketing associations. When the oranges become mature, a picker machine is sent for pulling the fruits from the trees (Singerman & Useche, 2016). These collected oranges are then sent to the manufacturing plant for processing into juice. These oranges are transported via truck to facilities of juice extraction and have been unloaded with the help of gravity feed onto conveyor belt.
Grading-the oranges that are collected from gardens can be inspected before it is used. This orange is then transported along with conveyor belt for cleaning with the detergent when it moves through roller brushes (Karmas & Harris, 2012). This procedure removes dirt as well as debris and hence declines the microbes. These oranges is then dried while passing over rollers and then the good quality oranges is then separated by size owing to extraction. However, the remaining pieces of oranges are then segregated by its size for the extraction and hence proper size is essential for the process of extraction.
Extraction- Proper extraction of juice is vital for optimizing the efficiency of the manufacturing process of the juice and quality of finished product. As the oranges have peels that contains sour resins, it is carefully segregated for avoiding tainting the orange juice. There are mainly two extraction methods that are generally utilized by this industry in Florida. In the first extraction method, the fruit is placed between the two metal cups that has sharpened tubes at base. The cup placed at the top descends and the tubes on the cups mesh the oranges for extracting the juice out of it. The solids of the oranges are then compressed into tube between plugs of peel and the juice is then taken out with the help of perforations in walls of the tube (Heizer, 2016). As this time, water sprayed on it washes away oil from orange peel and this oil is then reclaimed for further uses. In the second extraction method, the oranges are cut into halves before removing the juice out of it. The citrus fruits are sliced when it pass by the stationary knife. These halves of oranges are picked up through rubber suction cups, which are then moved against serrated reamers. These reamers extract the juice when the halves of oranges travel around conveyor line. Now, the juice that is extracted is filtered through steel screen. The juice extracted is then chilled if it aims for reconstituted beverage.
Conclusion
Concentration- This step is useful as it helps in making storage as well as shipping much more economical. The orange juice extracted is concentrated with instrument termed as TASTE (Thermally accelerated Short- time evaporator). TASTE utilizes steam for heating the juice under force water to evaporate it. The concentrated juice is then discharged to flash cooler that reduces the temperature of product.
Reconstitution-In this step, the concentrated juice is then taken out from storage batches, which is then blended with water for achieving proper proportion of acid to sugar. This step is necessary for ensuring that the juice achieves good quality flavor.
Pasteurization- It mainly inactivates few enzymes that causes pulp from separating from juices and hence results in undesirable beverage. Flash pasteurization reduces changes of flavor from heat specially for the high product quality.
Packaging- For ensuring sterility, this pasteurized juice is filled while hot. As packaging cannot be done in high temperat)ure, it is filled in sterile environment (Dwivedi, Spreen & Goodrich-Schneider, 2012. The empty container feds down the conveyor belt and passes on to the machine that fills liquids. The head meters adjust the juice into containers based on package design.
The output is the byproducts from the production of orange juice that comes from rind as well as pulp. The product that is created with these byproducts includes pectin that is used in jellis, oils, citric acid etc. Furthermore, throughout this production process the quality is checked in order to ensure that it meets the standards of quality control.
There are possible causes of poor quality of orange juice that results from the production process in this nation. The poor quality of products occurs owing to pest, fungi, physical and chemical. Fungi usually cause blemishes in the surface of oranges that are formed from infection of immature oranges that grows during season. Pesticides that are given in the orange trees also causes injuries to the immature orange fruit, which in turn impacts on the appearance of rind at the time of maturity. This in turn affects the quality of orange juices. Moreover, physical as well as chemical injuries also occur during the handling as well as manufacturing processes and hence this also leads to poor quality of orange juice. In addition, concentration of dissolved oxygen during production causes poor quality juices. As the truck picks millions of oranges at one time, some are kept for maturity (Brown, Bessant & Lamming, 2013). Now, after few days, these fruits are then blended with the fresh plucked oranges and this lowers the quality of orange juice. In fact, processing as well as packaging of the orange juice adversely impacts on its nutritional quality and flavor. Therefore, high content of peel oil and this pasteurization process reduces cloud loss in quality of orange juice.
Improvement in production process of orange juice can come from the implementation of utilization of computer controlled grading as well as sizing of orange. The formulations of orange juice will see many changes because the trend towards adding extra nutrition oriented materials that includes antioxidants continues (Gunasekaran & Ngai, 2012). In addition, the juice sacs should be given back to the frozen orange juice or can be sold to the beverage manufacturers. New technologies should also be implemented in order to make powdered orange juice. Moreover, they should also focus on packaging this material, as it requires moisture proof container. In addition, various formulas must be used for blending orange juice with other exotic flavors in order to attract more customers in the market (Ashurst, 2012). The filter cloths should be designed for processing the oranges and should stored in proper sanitary way. These filter cloths should be washed , rinsed and air dried. Moreover, less amount of pesticides should be used in the orange trees for keeping the oranges fresh.
Conclusion
The improvement in production of orange and its quality that the producer can achieve is through their choice of rootstock combinations, balanced nutrition, proper irrigation management and proper pruning. As Florida is one of the wettest area due to huge amount of rainfall , there occurs excessive loss of leaf , which in turn reduces flowering and production of oranges. Therefore, proper practices must be adapted for improving the tree’s health and increase citrus trees for producing high yield of high quality of oranges. From the above discussion, it can be seen that the oranges produced in large number is transformed into oranges juices via different processes. Aseptic processing as well as storage stability helps the manufacturing plant in producing high quality orange juices. Moreover, the operational management and the strategy used for manufacturing orange juices help in increasing the productivity. In addition, advancement of technology also facilitated the industry in improving their operations in production process and reduce the workload of the workers. It also increased the efficiency level of the staffs working in this industry, which in improved their job performance. Furthermore, certain improvements regarding production process including packaging, using new formulas for mixing the orange juice with other flavors will help them in expanding their business across the globe.
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