Day 105 - 16 Mar 95 - Page 15


     
     1        A.  Yes -----
     2
     3   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do you know whether that is so or not?
     4        A.  I know that Jarretts work to the capacity their plant
     5        will allow them to work to.
     6
     7   Q.   So they are not short of business, as it were?
     8        A.  They are not, in general terms, short of business.
     9        They are a successful company, to the best of my knowledge,
    10        and if the production fills up their capacity, they cannot
    11        carry on any more production.
    12
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You have answered my question.
    14
    15   MR. MORRIS:  Working to capacity would be one of the things they
    16        would ask a consultant about, would it:  "Do you think we
    17        could get another 100 through a week without affecting
    18        standards?"
    19        A.  They did not ask me that question and would not
    20        necessarily do so.
    21
    22   Q.   So the figure of 400 to 500, is that a figure given to you
    23        by the company or something you have seen?
    24        A.  The figure I have been given by the company in the
    25        course of my enquiries as to which is the first question
    26        one asks:  What is your throughput, that is in general
    27        terms and that is particularised later on, so the overall
    28        throughput would be 800 units a week divided between sheep
    29        and cattle.
    30
    31   Q.   Yes I am concentrating on cattle.  The speed of the line
    32        and the throughput units are quite important criteria, are
    33        they not?
    34        A.  In what respect?
    35
    36   Q.   For a start, it is important to know whether you are going
    37        above capacity at any one time and, as it is a complex
    38        operation with a number of different parts of the
    39        procedure, if any one gets choc-a-bloc, or whatever, it is
    40        that is going to affect the entire procedure, would you not
    41        say so?
    42        A.  Not if the control points which have been built into
    43        the system are correctly implemented, self-regulating to
    44        that extent.
    45
    46   Q.   So are you saying that, in your professional opinion, the
    47        monitoring of the throughput capacity and speed of the line
    48        is not something that would be of continuous educational
    49        benefit in an abattoir?
    50        A.  The effects of log jams in production, of excessive 
    51        production, would show themselves, and non-implementation 
    52        of whatever control is necessary, so to that extent it 
    53        would be educational.
    54
    55   Q.   Yes.  If you had some problems, you might wish to know
    56        whether it was because at a particular time you were
    57        processing too many carcasses.  You would not know that
    58        unless you had continuous monitoring of that information?
    59        A.  It is always necessary to put right whatever might be
    60        wrong on a particular day at a particular time, yes.

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