CAPSTONE PROJECT

DIGNITY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES, INC.

Presented to
​Dr. Gina T. Suarez, CPSM, C.P.M., A.P.P.

College of Arts and Sciences

San Beda College

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

OPE04 Configuration Management
1st Semester, A.Y 2017 - 2018

Submitted By
de los Cientos, Christelle Carnel M.
Galima, Cara C.

November 23, 2017

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Foremost, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to our professor Dr. Gina T.

Suarez for her patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge. Her guidance helped

us so much in creating this project. We could not have imagined having a better professor.

We would like to thank also our family who supported us financially and spiritually, our

classmates and friends who helped us organize, edit and finalize our paper.

To the company facilitators and heads who toured us in the plant and explained to us the

process in making the product. For letting us interview and and allowing us to use their company

as the subject for this paper.

Last but not the least, we thank God for giving us strength and wisdom in order to create

such a useful content.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I 4

INTRODUCTION 4
Company Profile 4
Scope Project 5

CHAPTER II 6

CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES 6

Production 6
Supply Chain Management 9

CHAPTER III 11

FINDINGS (ISSUES/PROBLEMS) 11
Machine Inefficiency 11
Lack of Employee Training 11
Process Design & Time Management 11
Waste Management 12
Room Ventilation 12

CHAPTER IV 13

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ON CM 13

CHAPTER V 15

RESEARCH PAPER PROCEDURE 15

CHAPTER VI 18

RECOMMENDATIONS 18

REFERENCES 19

APPENDIX 20
Organizational Chart 20
Detailed Organization Charts 21
 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Company Profile

Dignity Products and Services, Inc. ​was established roughly 7 years ago. It is still quite

a new company. ​The business was born out of a conviction to help communities overcome cycles

of poverty and slavery​. Not with a handout, but with a sustainable business that will bring lasting

hope and change to communities. The company is situated in Cagmanaba, Oas, Albay.

Dignity started with a few people and a dream. They have all spent time, sometimes

decades, working in nonprofit organizations. They have seen what helps and what hurts. And

they aren't satisfied with the rate of change in the world.

Their answer was business. Not just any business, but a new way to do business. The

exchange of wealth around the world is vast. It is often the unequal distribution of this wealth

that leads to extreme poverty. We decided to tap into business as a vehicle for change. They

created a business that would change the future for the poor.

Dignity started with the poorest of the poor in rural Philippines. They prayed about what

kind of business they could start that would be the engine for change. The company asked

questions among the locals and found they had a great asset - coconuts! So, the company use

simple coconuts with dozens of health benefits to transform communities.

This kind of community transformation will be seen in so many different ways. They

chose their location based on the needs of the community. It's rural and hard access. The

drinking water is not clean and the unemployment rate is high. But that's why they are there.

They are bringing education, clean water, jobs and - most importantly - hope.
 It's not going to stop here. They have structured their plan to make it reproducible. They

are going to build more and more plants all over the world. There are plenty of coconuts to

harvest out there! And it won't be confined to coconuts. They want to go to communities and ask

them what they have. Then they will build their business based on their values and the

community’s resources. They have a big dream for the future. Dignity is going to change the

world.

B. Scope Project

Dignity Products and Services, Inc. ​manufactures ​Virgin Coconut Oil​. This is the

main project of the company as it is making coconut by products. The company currently limits

itself in making VCO because they are still researching on producing other products and the

process that needs to be done in order to preserve other coconut by products. The company is

focused on producing virgin coconut oil. The finished products are then shipped to Manila and

then exported to United States of America. The company does not sell any retail here in the

Philippines. Its target market is in the U.S.

The process starts in picking the right matured coconuts from different suppliers or farm

owners. The coconuts are from the nearby farms in Cagmanaba and Polangui, Albay. The

company has over one hundred (100) registered suppliers recorded. The coconuts are then

delivered to the plant in Cagmanaba, Albay for production.

The production starts early in the morning and it would last until 2o’clock in the morning.

The process of the production is further discussed in the proceeding chapter.

 CHAPTER II
CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

A. Production

Mr. Archie Rape is the supervisor of the Production. He assigned line leaders in the step

by step process in producing Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO). These line leaders will report to him

any issues or problems encountered in the production. Mr. Rape also gave them the power of

decision making. If the problem may be solved by the line leader, they may do so. Each line

leader is given a logbook for them to record any problem or issue that may arise. In the end of

the day, the logbook is then given to Mr. Rape for him to read and study the issues, if there are

any, and think of ways to handle and solve them. Mr. Rape assigned line leaders in the

Production so that he could focus on the Documentation, Process Improvement, Production

Analysis that is being gathered every production.

a. Receiving Area

The production starts in the Receiving Area, where coconuts are received,

checked, and quality control inspection is conducted. The company has a criteria

in checking which coconuts are accepted and which are rejected. The line leader

for the Receiving Area is Mr. Isagani Palma. He keeps records of the coconuts

that are received. However, Mr. Palma is under Mr. July Prianes, the Supervisor

of Raw Materials.

b. Deshelling

The second step in the production is the deshelling. The deshelling machine

detaches the hard coconut shell from the dehusked coconut via a rotating cutter
 with belt drive. The recording and line leader for the Deshelling Stage is Mr. Leon

Macararanga. He is the one in-charge in this phase and keeps a record of any

concerns, issue or problem in during the Deshelling process.

c. Water Capture

The third step is Water Capture. After the deshelling, most of the coconut meat is

not cut into half. In this stage, workers will just cut them into half and drain the

coconut meat off its water hence, water capture. The coconut meats are then put

into blue crates and are ready for the next stage of production.

d. Meat Inspection and Slicing

The coconut meat is inspected for remaining shells that are still attached on the

coconut and are taken off by workers. They do this process by hand there are

mostly 6 people inspecting the meat. After the meat is inspected, it is sliced into

smaller pieces

e. Meat Washing

The slices of meat are washed twice. There are two phases in washing the meat.

First is with tap water and second is dipped into a container with Chlorinated

water to avoid contamination and in order to kill the bacteria and other microbes.

f. Grinding

The operators of the coconut grinder feed the deshelled coconut slices into the

machine during the grinding process. It grinds the meat into fine grated coconut

which will be easier for the next stage which is, Pressing.
g. Pressing

The fine grated coconuts are contained in the cheesecloth bag. They are placed in

the pressing machine used to squeeze the bag of cheesecloth to obtain coconut

milk. This stage is repeated twice. The workers use containers to transfer the milk

to the staging process.

h. Staging

i. Temperature Control Unit (TCU)

The Temperature Control Unit also called as TCU is a machine that

controls the temperature of the coconut milk as it is being poured into and

run through the next machine, the CR250.

ii. CR 250

The CR250 is the machine connected to the TCU. Basically, this is the

main equipment in making the Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO).

i. Packaging

After the coconut oil is produced or extracted from the coconut milk, it is brought

to the packaging room. There is a device or equipment that measures how much

volume will be put in different jar sizes. Once the VCO is sealed inside the jar,

stickers with the company logo is then attached to the lid. Workers write their

names on the sticker so that the customers would have a connection with the ones

who made the product and would at least know their name. There is also a sticker

attached to the bottom of the jar which indicates when it was produced and what
 batch it was. It also indicates there the “Best Before” date of the product. The

company gives two (2) years shelf life for the product.

B. Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management involves all of the activities associated with the acquisition of

materials, goods, and services from suppliers. Dignity’s raw materials are taken from their direct

suppliers, the farmers. The farmers are trained and certified using organic farming methods that

help them farm better. Since the company promotes sustainable business, the quality of the

coconuts are sure to be organic, free of pesticides and other chemicals.

a. Raw Materials

Dignity Products and Services, Inc. has registered over one hundred (100)

suppliers who provide coconuts for the company. Every farmer or supplier has a

designated code for traceability. The company can easily trace from which farm

the coconuts are collected per batch. The company has its own coconut farm but it

cannot fully supply the needs of the company for the production.
 b. Flow of Delivery

Figure 1. Flow of delivery of finished goods

After packaging, the finished goods are brought to the warehouse of the

forwarder company. Once the goods are now in the management of the forwarder,

it is now under their responsibility. The forwarder then brings the VCO to the

co-loader or the vessels that will bring the products to Los Angeles, California.

From Los Angeles, a truck will bring the container van/s to Chicago. Upon

arriving in Chicago, the goods will now be distributed to distributors.

Dignity Products and Services, Inc. chose this route because the shipping

from Philippines to L.A. takes only 2 to 3 weeks. While having the vessel travel

from Philippines to Chicago would take almost 6 weeks.

The company also caters to Hong Kong and Japan but it is focused on the

U.S. Market.
 CHAPTER III
FINDINGS (ISSUES/PROBLEMS)

A. Machine Inefficiency

Workers who operate the machines without the supervision from the manufacturer (Alfa

Laval). Alfa Laval is the main supplier of machines of Dignity Products and Services, Inc. but

they failed to train the workers on how to fix the machine whenever breakdowns occur.

B. Lack of Employee Training

The operators of machines must receive employee training from line leaders. Based on

our interview, only the line leaders have the ability to make sure that the machines are working

properly. The line leaders must always be present and working closely with the operators to

monitor the operation when repair or maintenance are needed.

C. Process Design & Time Management

The manufacturing plant was established not so long ago therefore, the process design is

still being studied by the management. It was established in the year 2010. The process of

making VCO is still under going improvement because the production would take almost 18 to

19 hours which is very extensive. Most of the time, workers in the manufacturing plant stay up

late to finish the production of VCO.

D. Waste Management

During the Water Capture stage, the coconut water is already considered waste. It is

stored in large drums and will be disposed soon after. The company is still doing a research on
how to filter the coconut water and turn it into clean water so it would not be harmful to dispose

of in the area.

E. Room Ventilation

Poor indoor air quality causing worker discomfort, health problems and low

productivity/performance level and even the quality of raw materials, processed or stored goods.

Ventilation systems are used to reduce too much heat and humidity, remove vapors, oil mist and

odors. Having poor ventilation system helps diminish air quality by allowing the build up of

bacteria, dust and airborne contaminants.

 CHAPTER IV
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ON CM

This chapter presents the related literature and studies after the thorough research done by

the researchers. This will also present the synthesis of the theoretical and conceptual framework

to fully understand the research done and lastly the definition of terms for better comprehension

of the Capstone Project.

According to Quigley (2015), there are five (5) product phases which are (1)

Development, (2) Introduction, (3) Growth, (4) Maturity, and (5) Decline. For the company, it

has already gone through the phases of Development and Introduction. It is now in the Growth

Phase. There is already a developed product which was already tested in the target market. In the

Growth Phase, processes are being improved and rework costs may still be reduced (Quigley,

2015). Dignity Products and Services, Inc. is still in the stage of improving their process since

they are still quite a new company. The Maturity Phase and the Decline Phase of their product is

still far from reach.

In Quigley’s “Configuration Management: Theory, Practice, and Application”, he

discussed about CM and the Dynamics of Change. Under this topic he mentioned two (2)

strategies of introducing products to the market, Product Market Adaptation and Product

Performance Adaptation. “Product market adaptation is the strategy of introducing new products

into an existing market based on either a modification of competitors existing product or an

improvement of that product.” (Quigley, 2015). Dignity Products and Services, Inc. can be

considered using the strategy of Product Market Adaptation. There are already many producers

of Virgin Coconut Oil. They are not the first ones who discovered VCO. The only modification
or leverage they have against their competitors is the process that they use. They do not apply

heat to the coconut milk to extract the oil. They also do not refine it. The company makes the

most pure and delicious virgin coconut oil. The company calls it their unique raw method.

Dignity Products and Services, Inc. CM functional baseline is an integral part of the

development phase of their VCO product’s life cycle. It defines what the product is supposed to

do, the regulations involved, and other requirements such as testing, qualification requirements.

Producers/processors shall state in their product label sufficient information to identify the

process used in the production of virgin coconut oil, such as the traditional process, fermentation

with heat, fermentation without heat, centrifuge process, expelling process(with or without

cooling system), or equivalent process which ensures that the product conforms with the

definition and the physical characteristics of the virgin coconut oil characteristics in the

Philippine Virgin Coconut Oil Standards herein adopted (Department of Agriculture, Philippine

Coconut Authority Administrative Order No. 01 Series of 2005).

In Chapter 4 Configuration Management and Product Management in Quigley’s book, he

established the link between product and the commercial environment. Under Marketing, the

company has a website (www.dignitycoconuts.com) which advertises the products and gives

information about the company and the product. The company is yet to reach Distributed Product

Development. Dignity Products and Services, Inc. already caters to U.S., Hong Kong and Japan.

The manufacturing plant is in Cagmanaba, Oas, Albay and the suppliers are there too. For it to

reach the Distributed Product Development stage, it must have multiple plants in different

regions producing the same product so that the company could save on logistics costs (shipping).

However, Philippines easily produce coconuts because it is a tropical country compared to U.S.,
Hong Kong, and Japan. This may be one of the obstacles that the company may encounter in the

future if they plan to expand in different countries.

CHAPTER V
RESEARCH PAPER PROCEDURE

The researchers visited the plant of Dignity Products and Services, Inc. in Cagmanaba,

Oas, Albay. They traveled for 12 hours going to Albay along with the company’s representative

to accompany them in the plant. They arrived 6 o’clock in the morning in Polangui and traveled

for another hour going to Cagmanaba. Upon arriving, they had to settle first their things and

prepare for the interview and plant visit.

They were first introduced to the Mechanical Engineer, Mr. Tim Lash, who was an

American. Then to Mr. Archie Rape and Ms. Joan Marquez, the Production Head and Finance

Head respectively. Mr. Rape was the one who accompanied them inside the plant and explained

every step of the production. The researchers were in time for the production because the plant

does not have a daily production schedule but weekly.

Figure 2. Plant Layout

This is the floor layout of the main building of the plant. The procedure and the recording

of the concerns were mentioned in Chapter 2. This figure gives an idea of the flow of the

process.

Mr. Rape gave them a tour on the Production itself. They wore scrub suits, hairnet and

masks. These are safety procedures that the company follows during production to avoid

contamination. They were brought to the Receiving Area first to check on the coconuts then they

were brought to the Deshelling and Water Capture Area. After that, they went in another room

which is bigger than the Deshelling and Water Capture Area. The room holds the Meat

Inspection, Slicing, Meat Washing, Grinding, Pressing and Staging. In the Pressing stage,
coconut milk is drawn from the meat and in the Staging, coconut oil is extracted from the

coconut milk using the TCU and CR250 machines. The coconut oil that was extracted from the

coconut milk is then brought to the Packaging Area for it to be filled in jars.

The researchers also interviewed other heads of departments to know how they keep

records on documents and important files. They finished in the afternoon and decided to head

back to Manila and finish the paper there. Whenever they had more questions, they would send

an e-mail to Mr. Rape or Ms. Marquez.

 CHAPTER VI
RECOMMENDATIONS

Eliminate machine inefficiency by improving the usability of the machines by studying

its technical guides to understand the system. Ensure accuracy and consistency of the process to

maximize the use of time and resources to achieve maximum productivity.

Finding skilled and trained workers in the remote area is almost impossible. The machine

operators inside the manufacturing plant are not skilled technicians but merely workers that were

hired near the facility due to the company’s desire to help the community. To have an efficient

workforce, the company should provide an accelerated technical training program.

Dispose of any cleanup materials and waste residue according to all applicable laws and

regulations to avoid pests and disease carrying insects and animals like flies, cockroaches,

rodents, larvae, etc. within the plant's' premises. The research on coconut water and other unused

part of the raw material being conducted are confidential.

General room ventilation should be adequate. It has been reported that the room

temperature inside the facility caused some of the workers to faint. The manager as well as the

line leaders must find a way to balance the ventilation between the comfort of their workers and

the products that are being processed. Use process enclosures, local exhaust ventilation, or other

engineering controls.
 REFERENCES

Quigley, Jon M. (2015). Configuration Management: Theory, Practice, and Application

Retrieved from http://www.dignitycoconuts.com
Administrative Order No.1 (2005) Retrieved from
http://www.pca.da.gov.ph/pdf/techno/vco_standard.pdf
 APPENDIX

A. Organizational Chart
B. Detailed Organizational Charts