Land O’ Lakes is looking for a seasoned consultant or firm to work with Meru Central Union, a dairy processing plant in the Eastern Province of Kenya, to develop a set of standard operating procedures (SOP) to improve efficiency of operations. A set of strong SOPs will also ensure that there are clear communication and reporting procedures in the entire organization. The results of this effort will help improve efficiency and profitability that will lead to more farmer engagement as they will receive improved services and income. The level of effort for this assignment is 30 non-consecutive days over a period of 3 months, with an anticipated start date of August 1st.
Background
Land O’Lakes International Development is supporting vertically integrated dairy cooperatives in Kenya, Uganda, and other countries in eastern Africa. The project, called the Cooperative Development Program (CDP), is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and runs through 2015. Among the activities in support of the cooperatives’ enterprise management is implementation of innovative solutions that will spur higher levels of profitability that will be seen in stable or increased farmer prices or reduced cost of production at farmer level thus increasing the farmer income and improving farmer engagement in order to compete effectively in the marketplace.
Meru Central Union is a dairy processing plant in the Eastern Province of Kenya. Production efficiency in a product processing firm, relates to the effective optimum use of resources to produce goods. Optimal efficiency during production is very vital in the realization of positive profit margins. Companies can achieve cost savings when they effectively utilize their potential processing capacity. The major indicators of production efficiency are; Capacity utilization, work force efficiency, processing floor losses and optimal use of working capital. The Meru facility suffers from capacity under-utilization. This drives unit costs up and creates losses. The processing facility has now invested in a brand new production line and therefore the factory is gearing itself to full production.
To increase efficiency in operations and align all departments to serve each other efficiently there is need to develop Standard Operating Procedures. This SOW refers todeveloping a basic SOP for each of the operational areas that will be defined by the Human Resources review and consultation with management. The purpose of the SOP is to provide staff within each operational unit a clear understand of the process for that division. The development and standardization of the SOPs will allow for staffing decisions based on need and the opportunity for management to identify operational bottlenecks and a means to respond to process improvement.
Scope of Work
The Standard Operating Procedures Consultant will work with Meru Central Union to identify the different operational areas that could benefit from SOPs. The consultant will then work with management to identify and prioritize the top 3-5 operational areas for SOP development.
The Consultant will also conduct a human resource review with management team to identify the appropriate individuals to involve in creation of SOPs, facilitate the development of each identified SOP, and develop standard operating procedure manuals for each identified activity/process.
For further details, please see the detailed Scope of Work below this announcement.
Application and submission requirements
All interest candidates will submit their proposal organized as follows:
The consultant is expected to propose a staffing scenario and budget consistent with the terms of reference
Evaluation Criteria
Proposal will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
Swahili language proficiency preferred
Deadline for Responses
Please provide information to the following address: bids.cd3@idd.landolakes.com. Please do not attach files greater than 1 MB. Applications must be received by July 12, 2013. Please review the instructions above regarding which elements must be present in your application in order for it to be considered.
