Technoserve Consultancy Services in Providing Technical Support on Power Audit at a Milling Plant

Technoserve Consultancy Services in Providing Technical Support on Power Audit at a Milling Plant

Request for Proposal for the Provision of Consultancy Services in Providing Technical Support on Power Audit at a Milling Plant

Introduction

Technoserve (www.technoserve.org) and Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) (www.partnersinfoodsolutions.com) are implementing the “Strengthening African Processors of Fortified Foods” (SAPFF) Program in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The program aims to support processors of fortified foods to increase the availability of adequately fortified foods by assisting them to resolve production and business related challenges that may limit their capacity to escalate this production.

In Kenya, the program is supporting wheat flour and maize flour millers through the provision of customized technical support, organizing sector wide trainings and CEO Forums, among other sectoral support interventions.

The technical support is provided through the use of volunteers who are employees (with extensive experience and expertise in different fields) of companies within the PFS Consortium, local consultants or a combination of the two.

It is envisaged that, resolving production, compliance or business related challenges will greatly improve the capacity of processors to produce safe, quality and adequately fortified products thereby increasing their competitiveness and market share.

The Challenge

Our client is a mid-sized milling company with a production capacity of 150MT/day. Milling operations started in 2016 and the firm has since been growing by increasing its visibility in the market and expanding its share within the maize milling sector.

As part of the growth and expansion strategy, the firm seeks to lower its production and other associated costs. An analysis of these costs showed an operation of about 30% above the average production cost across the sector, a big proportion of this cost is attributable to power/electricity costs.

In Kenya, electric power is not in constant supply: During maintenance of the supply infrastructure or in periods of shortage, the power is rationed affecting production. During power surge voltage fluctuations to an extent damage sensitive milling parts that may require a more regulated power supply.

Currently, the firm does not have a back-up generator or an alternative source of power to keep operations running once the electric power from the main grid is off. Before installing alternative sources of power the firm would like to ensure efficient use of the existing power supply within the entire Plant.

As part of the customized technical support, SAPFF seeks to hire a consultant (individual /firm) to work with PFS volunteer to support the power audit project.

Objective of the Project:

To conduct a power audit in the maize milling plant and provide recommendations on efficient use of the available power supply. (electric/solar /diesel)

Aim of the Assignment:

To technically support implementation of the Power audit Project at the milling plant in the next 2 months.

Tasks of the Consultant

The consultant will work with PFS Volunteers to identify key power drivers; define key performance indicators to measure and monitor the power trends; and recommend appropriate measures for optimal power utilization within the maize milling plant by performing the following specific tasks: