Performance evaluation of Debre Birhan based plywood manufacturing company, North Shewa Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

The demand for building wood material in Ethiopia is increasing at alarming rate, resulting in increases in product prices. To overcome wood shortage, Ethiopian government has opened an opportunity for foreign investors to establish different types of wood product factories in the country. However, efficiency of these enterprises needs to be study to find out any irregularities which needs to be improve in the future for better performance of these companies. So the initiative was started from one of such plywood based factory, Debre Birhan plywood processing company with the objective to assess the operational performance of the company. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select representative respondents. The data were collected through questionnaire surveys, interviews, observation records, and document review. Non-financial perspectives were explored using key indicators of operational performances associated with resource utilization, quality management, and operative practices. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of SPSS Version 20. Results show that Debre Birhan wood processing company produces three categories (5-ply, 7-ply, and 9-ply) plywood with lacks of veneer thickness standards. The operational processes are categorized as log storage, debarking, bucking/trimming, peeling, green-clipping, drying, grading, gluing, panel layup, pressing, trimming, sanding, packaging, and processing activities. Performance indicates needs for improvement to quality management standards. The mean value of quality management criteria implementation using variable characteristics of log such as log form, dimension, and defects were 3.26, which shows intermediate achievement. The average performance of the four years’ production capacity for the company was 81.53%. It can be recommended that the company uses the available resource efficiently to grow with a competitive market and with modern information.