Consolidation Center Design in Upper Egypt

For many years (truly, for many centuries), the economic development of Egypt has centered around Cairo and the Nile Valley, an area known as Lower Egypt. This has been equally true over the last 10-20 years, when the U.S. government has made billions of dollars available to Egypt for economic development, and nearly all of the food development was in the area from Cairo north to the Mediterranean sea.
        
However, the government is now turning its focus to the south, and a recent study was initiated by the Trade and Development Agency of the U.S. with a goal of designing an appropriate packing plant, precooling and cold storage facility for Upper Egypt, together with an accompanying feasibility study. A design team was formed, and Novelle principal, Henry Winogrond, was asked to join the team and do all of the organizational work and economic analysis for the project.
        
Working closely with a very fine design engineer and postharvest expert, the first task was to determine the volumes and varieties of fruits and vegetables available in the targeted area. The team traveled overland from Assuit (about 5 hours south of Cairo) all the way south until nearly reaching the border of Sudan. It was determined that within easy trucking distance of Luxor, the ancient city of Thebes and a major tourist center, sufficient volumes of export quality fruits and vegetables could be sourced and processed at a large, modern facility.
        
The trio then began doing the analytical work that is involved in the design of such a facility. The assumptions must be made for the volumes of product that will be arriving on average and peak days. (It should be mentioned that it was determined that there were sufficient volumes of both fruits and vegetables available locally so that designs were completed for both a fruit and a vegetable facility, in order to preclude the difficulties that present themselves when trying to mix the processing and storage of both products.) These volumes will determine the size and layout of the packing plant. The incoming field heat of the various products will determine the design and site of the precooling equipment. And the expected shipping rhythms will determine the required size of the cold storage area. Finally, the assumptions made about local labor efficiency will then determine the size of the labor force, which in turn leads to the design of dressing rooms, eating facilities, and bathroom facilities.
        
When this was all completed, Mr. Winogrond combined the estimated constructions costs of the entire building with information secured locally that allowed assumptions to be made about the availability of investor funds, bank financing, government financing and government grants, and the combination of all of this led to the assumed capital structure. Within another few weeks, the team turned over to the government of Egypt the completed drawings of the facility, the details of the constructions costs, the recommended capital structure, and the financial statements (P&L sheet, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, Depreciation Schedule, Loan Schedule, etc.) that were derived from all of the other information developed. The government of Egypt is currently looking for local investors, and intends to proceed with the project.

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