CHAPTER ONE

1.0  INTRODUCTION
            In various university and polytechnics all over the country, students Industrial Work
Experience Scheme (SIWES) upheld its responsibility of providing opportunity for student
in their various discipline to accomplish the basic aim of bringing the existence gap
between the oral ways of learning and practical focus. Such different courses range from
engineering and technology to sciences, Agriculture, Management and other professional
educational programmes.
            No doubt, this experience has indeed exposed one to lots of practical and many
more experience such as human relations, total quality management, time management
and of course cooperate strategies used for survival in a competitive market such as in
Nigeria.
            With immense support from the federal government, funding the scheme via the
Industrial Trust Fund (ITF) and the Nigeria University Commission, the Industrial
Programme has been described as one of the well-organized programmes for student in
the country. Here are some basic aims of the SIWES;
-           To allow the student apply the theoretical knowledge gained to develop a critical and
realistic approach to problems and proffer solutions.
-           Allows for students to get themselves acquainted working methods, techniques in
handling equipment and machinery.
-          Exposes student to the reality of jobs and conditions, which they are bound to face
after graduation.
-            It is also envisaged that this experience should ensure or make it easier for students to
get job placement in the future due to their experience and contacts.
-            This report is a justification of the student’s attachment to the named companies as it
reveals all engagements for the past months.   

1.1 Brief history of company

Before 1995, Indomie Instant Noodles was imported into the country by PT.Indofood,
Sukses Makur, Indonesia. After such an encouragement received from the Nigerian
market, the company was poised to set up a production plant in Nigeria. The production
plant was launched in January 1995 under the name De-united Industries Limited (DUFIL).
The production commenced with a single automated production line with optimum
output of 8910 cartons of noodles per shift.
Today, the production plant now has three functional products with international remark
the company has set up a new production plant to meet up meet the market demand. The
production plant sited at Chobba Port Harcourt in River State has a higher capacity
compared to that sited at Ota, Ogun State. De-united Food Industries Limited, Chobba
Port Harcourt has commenced production since November 2003.

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                                                               CHAPTER THREE

3.0 NOODLE PROCESSING OPERATION

The basic processing steps for machine-made noodles are outlined in Figure 2.1 these
steps involves mixing raw materials, resting the crumbly dough, sheeting the dough into
two dough sheets, compounding the two sheets into one, gradually sheeting the dough
sheet into a specified thickness and slitting into noodle strands. Noodle strands are further
processed according to noodle types. At the De-united Food Industries (DUFIL), the
processing operations are basically divided into six stages. At each of these six (6) stages,
there are different operations and strategies involved such as to give required product
while meet the standard as specified by the quality assurance department.
At DUFIL, Ota Factory, 6 lines, which are run automatically, enables production process to
continue every day. There is no significant difference in the process operations for the
three lines as well as for the brands of Indomie Noodles, namely chicken flavour, Onion
flavour and Spicy flavour. It is important to understanding that not much difference occurs
in the product weight and the types of sauce/seasoning in feed.

3.1      Noodle Processing

In the processing of noodles, the basic stages involved:
1.            Mixing
2.            Pressing
3.            Slitter
4.            Steamer
5.            Cutter
6.            Fryer
7. Cooling
8. Packing

At each of the above named stages are intermittent operations being carried out.

3.1.1 Mixing
At the mixer area, two main operations are involved; these are; Alkali mixing in the alkali
tanks and the flour in the dough-mixing machine.

Dough mixing
Dough mixing is often carried out in a horizontal pr vertical mixer for 10-12 minutes. Since
the horizontal mixer seems to have better mixing results, it is more commonly used than
the vertical one in commercial noodle production. Mixing results in the formation of
crumbly dough with small and uniform particle sizes. Since the water addition level is
relatively low than what is experienced in bread dough, gluten development in noodle
dough mixing is minimized. This improves the dough sheet ability, sheeted dough
smoothness and uniformity. Limited water absorption also slows down noodle
discolouration and reduces the amount of water to be taken out during the final frying
processes.
Dough-mixing machines with two stainless steel blade stirrers are connected by a shaft to
two gears that are driven by timing belt. Power motion is transmitted to the timing belt

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that is attached to the shaft connecting the pinion. The stainless steel made blades run 60
r.p.m for the first nine minutes and 50 r.p.m for four minutes. There is a limit switch
(sensor) that regulates the stirrer and this enables the stirrer to start when the lid is closed
and stop when lid is opened for safety purpose. It has a gate that is automatically opened
with the aid of hydraulic pump that is fed by the air compressor at the boiler room. For
each batch of dough to be mixed, five bags of 50kg each of hard wheat flour are emptied
in the mixer and 70litres of alkali solution is released into the mixer with the aid of a
perforated pipe running from the weighing tank. After 4 litres of portable water is added
too. The dough formed at the stage is released into the presser feeler via the gates.

Slitting
Further dough sheeting is done on a series of 4-6 pairs of rolls with decreasing roll gap. At
this stage, roll diameter, sheeting speed and reduction ratio should be considered to
obtain an optimum dough reduction. Noodle slitting is done by cutting machine, which is
equipped with a pair of calibration rolls, a slitter, and a cutter or a waver. The final dough
sheet thickness is set on the calibration rolls according to noodle type (Table 2.1) and
measured using a thickness dial gauge.
Noodle width determines the size of the noodle slitter to be used. The sheet is cut into
noodle strand of desired width with a slitter. Noodle can be either square or round in
shape by using various slitters.

 Steaming
            In making instant noodles, the wavy noodle-strands are conveyed to a steamer to
cook the noodles. The purpose of steaming is to gelatinize the starch and fix the noodle
waves. The streaming time varies according to the noodle size, but can be determined by
squeezing a noodle strand between two glass plates. If the white noodle core disappears,
the noodles are well cooked. Steam temperature, team pressure, and steaming time are
key process factors affecting the quality of the noodle. The steam box is a stainless steel
casing with proper lagging in order to curb the loss of heat and waste of energy.

 Cutting
            The cutter board is made up of series of chain belts that operates the stainless steel
rod that in turn has a blade attached to its end. As the cutter rod rotates against moving
pre-cooked noodles, it cuts through the rows of noodles at a speed of 60cuts/minute so as
to lay it on the plastic roller located under the cutter rod, which in turn rolls to fold it. The
folded noodles are then placed on the distribution pallet, which distributes the folded pre-
cooled noodles into the fryer baskets. It is important for the noodles to be cooled a little
bit before entering the fryer in order to avoid a high steam build up in the fryer and quick
oxidation of the oil. Cooling fans aid this before they enter into the fryer.

  Frying
            Frying the noodle in the oil at 140-160oC for 1-2 minutes decreases the moisture
content noodle from 30-50% at the steaming step to about 2-5%, the operation and
temperature distribution is further enumerated in the later part of this note. While any
edible oil is suitable for frying, palm oil or palm olein is often used in Asia and mixture of
canola, cottonseed, and held at 70-90oC for 30-40minutes to achieve 8-12% moisture

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content. The heating during frying further gelatinizes the starch and the noodle now
obtains a porous texture. Frying is the preferred method of drying and more than 80% of
instant noodle are fried because hot air drying can result in uneven drying that adversely
affects the texture of the finished noodles. Non-fried instant noodles also require a longer
cooking time. The disadvantage of frying is that the noodles contains about 15-20% oil
(compared with a maximum of 3% fat in hot air dried noodle) and are more susceptible. 
            The fryer is the largest of all the machines used in the production of noodles and it
has a steam driven heat exchanger unit that heats up the frying oil via conduction. The
steam is supplied with the aid of steam pipelines and the oil comes in to the exchanger
from the day tanks via the oil pipes. The fryer has an oil capacity of 2,160 litres, for the
three lines, more so, it has a circulation pump that has an in-built impeller. The circulation
pump sucks the oil from the strain and takes it up to the heat exchanger where there are
inner coils of stainless steel with steam flowing in it.

Cooling
            With the aid of fans, the fried noodles on the conveyor are cooled to room
temperature of about 25oC in order to avoid condensation in the films about to be used.
The cooling machine has fans built on the top of the conveyor and this aids the cooling of
the noodles for 60 seconds, before they are packed.

Packaging
            At the packaging area, the sauce/seasonings are fed on top of the noodles before
they enter the wrapping machine. The sauce/seasoning are placed on the noodle by the
sauce feeder who ensures that no noodle goes into the wrapping machine without having
a seasoning/sauce. And if it does go in without a sauce, the noodle arranger is alerted
with the aid of a bell.
            The wrapper automatically wraps up the noodles with the aid of its wrapping
components. The wrapper has an in feed conveyor where the noodles are placed then
into the forming box long sealer that seal the film on the longitudinal end as it flows into
the tubing conveyor and its sealed at both ends (upper and lower) and then to the
discharge conveyor.

Enumerated below are the major raw materials used in the cause of production and their
functions.
1.      Hard wheat flour
2.      Iodized Salt
3.      Palm olein (refined bleached palm oil)
4.      Guargum
5.      Kansui
6.      Polyrinsan
7.      Portable Water
8.      Seasoning/sauce
9.      Tartrazine

SOME OF THE ANALYSIS CARRIED OUT IN THE LAB

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S/N Chemical Analysis samples
1. Free fatty acids Oil
2. Peroxide value Oil
3. Fat content Noodle block
4. Moisture content Oil, flour and noodle block
5. Protein content Flour and Noodle block
6. Ash content Flour and Noodle block
7. Gluten Flour and Noodle block
8. Colour Analysis Flour and Noodle block
9. pH Water
10. Iodine value Oil and salt

CHAPTER THREE

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INCOMING RAW MATERIALS

3.0      Hard wheat flour

The key noodle wheat growers and suppliers are the United States, Australia and Canada.
In the US, hard red spring, hard red winter, soft red winter and soft white wheat are used
alone or blended for making noodle flour. A new class hard white has been expanding in
production in recent years, targeting Asian products such as noodles and Chinese steamed
breads apart from western foods. Australian wheat has been known for decades for its
superior performance in Japanese type noodle making because it gives desirable noodle
colour and unique texture.
Australian standard white, Australian premium white, Australian hard, Australian prime
white and Australian noodle wheat are major types of noodle wheat. Canada western red
spring, Canada prairie spring white and Canada prairie spring red wheat are also
competitive in noodle production. In many cases, different classes of wheat are often
blended to achieve relative consistent quality noodle flour. Due to the complexity of
noodle types there is no single wheat that can meet all quality requirements, not to
mention that the consistency of wheat quality and supply also varies. The wheat grain is
nutritionally endowed cereal with a proximate composition of 85% from the endosperm,
bran 12.5% and the germ 2.5%, whereas, the wheat flour varies in composition due to
some factors such as the country of origin, class of wheat and the proportion of outer
parts removed by the particular milling process. Wheat flour quality differs due to the fact
that the other portion contains more protein, fat, fiber and ash than the starchy
endosperm as the proportion of each of these constituents decrease as the extraction
percentage gets less. 
The main difference between wheat flour and other flour is the gluten content, which
bears on its ability to strengthen and the water holding capability, which is an essential
factor in the production of noodles.

3.0.2        Iodized Salt

Salts are instantly obtained from concentrated salt solution (brine), which on evaporation
yield impurities more particularly salts of calcium and magnesium such that the addition
of sodium carbonate solution and moisture removal via evaporation follows. Iodized salt
was just an idea for prevention of goiter. This salt could otherwise be described as table
salt, household salt and possibly cooking salts. Its particular effect is to reduce the
sourness of acid and increase the sweetness of sugar. Together in foods, salt and sugar act
as balancing agents. Salt is required to strengthen gluten. They naturally contain
magnesium carbonate and have 433-735Ug/oz of iodide calculated as iodine content.

3.0.3        Refined Bleached Palm Oil (Palm Oil)

Elais guineensis, oil palm tree allows for the availability of such an essential raw material
source. From which pail oil is extracted from the thick fibrous outer layer of pulp of the
fruit. As a result of the increasing demand for dietary oils, oil palms stood justified given
more attention as cultivation sprang up more in different parts of the world especially the
West e.g. Indonesia, Malaysia etc
The composition of palm oils is rather unique when compared to other major fats and oil.
Most of the seed oil are composed principally (soybean, sunflower etc) of unsaturated

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fatty acids. Palm oil however is composed of approximately 50% unsaturated fats (linoleic
and oleic Acids). Refined Palm oil is targeted at producing pure oil and that is completely
free of taste and smell. The colour of the oil is light yellow (golden yellow precisely). The
bleaching effect is achieved by a specially treated form of filter’s earth which absorbs
colour pigments and residual Oxidized material which could later affect stability of the oil.
Oil needed for the commercial production of noodles need be fee of smell, red colour
pigments and should be most importantly be stable because of the rate and temperature
of which it’s been used for production.

3.0.4        Kansui
This food additive is also essential for the alkali solution mixing and it is a mixture of
carbonates such as sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate and all these are
essentially needed to achieve the final product of such international standard. “Indomie
Noodles”

3.0.5        Tartrazine
This is also an additive that falls in the category of colourants that is accepted under the
food laws as being suitable for consumption. It is responsible for the creamy colour of the
noodles.

3.0.6        Polyrinsan
Polyrinsan is a mixture of polyphosphates, which are essential constitutions of the alkali
solution needed for mixing the dough. It is made up of sodium phosphates powder.

3.0.7        Guargum
This falls in the category of emulsifiers and stabilizers which have varying characteristics
they perform such as crumb softeners, anti-staling agents.

3.0.8        Water
The accessibility to portable water is also essential in the factory for the production
process and there are basic physical and microbial characteristics the water must possess
before being used for the production process. It has been of utmost priority that for any
food production company, accessibility to portable drinking water is desirable. The water
should be free from odour, taste and colour.
Chemically, the PH should be between 6.5 and 8.5 and it has a limit of residual iron
content, residual chlorine and hardness level. Most importantly, it should be free from
E.coli and heavy metals

                                           

                                                      
3.1 Fat Content Analysis 
            The fatty constituents of food consist of a number of lipid substances. The fat
content is sometimes called the ether extract or crude fat which may be considered as

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 consisting of the free lipid constituent, is that which is extracted by the less polar solvents
such as light petroleum fractions and diethyl ether, whereas, the ‘bound’ lipid
constituents require more polar solvents such as alcohol for their extraction. The
determination of fat content of the noodles was done using soxhlet apparatus in the
laboratory. The fat content of the noodle can be defined as the material, which is freely
extracted with a solvent under a test condition.
            At DUFIL the extraction of the free fatty material is done with the use of a non-polar
solvent (Hexane or petroleum Benzene). The principle behind this is that the extracted fat
is compared to the sample weight and expressed as fat content.

3.2 Equipment used in Fat Analysis

1.Analytical balance
2.Soxhlet distillation apparatus
3.Water bath
4.Electrical Oven
5.Heating mantle
6.Measuring cylinder
7.Beaker
8.Thimble

FFA (Free Fatty Acid)

Weight of Oil Titre Value

Line 1 = 5.6449  0.49

Line 2 = 5.6430  0.50
Line 3 = 5.6417  0.38
Line 4 = 5.6478  0.43
Line 5 = 5.6336  0.47
Line 6 = 5.6401  0.53

3.3 Organoleptic Test

This test experiment is more or less a physical test conducted by quality control analyst.
Chemical Test

Seasoning/Sauce
This is a basic material that determines the taste, odour and aroma of the noodle meal. In
every pack of noodle is the sauce that are of different type depending on the flavour of
the noodle produced. For every noodle, the seasoning powder is similar but the difference

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comes in the chili and oil. The seasoning contains basically iodized salt, sugar, hydrolyzed
vegetable protein, soy powder, pepper, garlic powder, chicken flavour and monosodium
glutamate. This chili varies with the flavour and oil is present only in onion chicken flavour
noodles. 

CHAPTER FOUR

4.1 INCOMING PACKAGING UNIT

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I was introduced to the QA incoming packaging unit, I was shown the various equipment’s
line compression strength tester bursting strength tester, GSM Tester etc. Also taught on
how to check the temperature and relative humidity of catons ware house. This
parameter is important for the preservation of the cartons.
I was shown hour to take samples from new deliveries sampling is done based on military
standard tank (MST) same for wrappers
I assisted in taking dimension of cartons samples. I measure the height, width, length of
the samples. We check for conformity to the standards.
I made use of the compression test machine and bursting strong tester to analyse corton
samples. I recorded the parameters

GRAM SQUARE PER METER (GSM) TESTER

    

4.1 RECOMMENDATIONS

During my industrial attachment in DE-UNITED FOODS INDUSTRIES LIMITED (DUFIL), here

are some of my observations that will project more on the food company;

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-            I observed that the seasoning/sauce are imported into the country and these happens
to be the core/one of the most important set of materials used for production, that
determines the taste, odour, aroma of the product.
-            The unique packaging film used by for the various flavours are also imported to bit
imitation flat and to ensure safekeeping of the noodles before it gets to the final
consumer.
-            I also observed that Total Quality Management has been of utmost priority of the
entire management, as they leave no stone untouched in ensuring production of quality
noodles.
-            Staff welfare and safety measures were taken in high esteem at DUFIL as their health
care facility measures up to standard.
-            In all, I observed that every pack of noodle that leaves the company is produced under
the highest of hygienic conditions.
The company and her Port-Harcourt factory are all under the license of PT. Indofood,
Indonesia.

Based on all these observations, here are some of my recommendations;

-            That DUFIL should continue with their reliable Good manufacturing Practices that has
made their products of international repute.
-            That the well nurtured and reliable quality control department should continue to be
given utmost priority as the backbone of the company by providing them with more state
of the and equipment.
-            That the quality control department where I had my I.T. should establish a limit library
for the various sections of the department to aid reference sources for trainees and even
the workers.
-            The industrial training fund should not relent in its full implementation of the students
industrial work scheme (SIWES), through diligent supervision and consistent follow-up of
participants.

 4.2 CONCLUSION
In truth, my industrial attachment/ training at DUFIl especially at the Product
Development and Quality Control Department has exposed me to lots of practical works,
handling of equipment and instruments in the laboratory.
It has with no doubt bridged the gap between my theoretical knowledge and the practical
aspect of it. Beyond all these, my sense of responsibility, spirit of hard work, discipline and
dedication to duty has been stirred up due to this opportunity. 
It has taught me more on human relations, body language and distress management
especially with long hours of serious work.
My conclusion is that the students industrial work scheme (SIWES) has achieved its main
objective of bridging the gap between practical and theoretical knowledge in me as a
student under such programme.

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