The Hog Problem:
Integrated Logistics

Executive Summary

The hog slaughtering plant located in Brendon, Manitoba has the capacity to slaughter 2.5 million hogs per year, around 50,000 per week and 10,000 per day. Hogs arrive at the slaughter plant from all over Manitoba and certain parts of Saskatchewan via truck. Every farm is located within a different distance from the slaughter facility and delivery lead times vary from as low as half an hour to as high as three and a half hours.
Farms vary in size, which impacts the lot sizes for each respective farm. This variation in size subsequently affects the loading/unloading time span, which vary from one and half hour to four and half hours. The number of farms …show more content…

The following tables identifies the variances between lot sizes, distance from different farms and respective transit time from each farm.
Area Annual Hog Supply from This Ares (100’s) Average Distance Average One-Way Transit Time From Area to Plant
A – Brandon local 100 25 km 30 min
B – Brandon regional 100 75 km 1.0 hour
C – Portage la Prairie 100 150 km 2.0 hours
D – Winnipeg 450 200 km 2.5 hours
E – Morris 450 250 km 3.0 hours
F – Steinbach 450 300 km 3.5 hours
G – Teulon 150 250 km 3.0 hours
H – Arborg 100 300 km 3.5 hours
I – Dauphin 100 150 km 2.0 hours
J – Roblin 100 200 km 2.5 hours
K – Saskatchewan SE 100 150 km 2.0 hours
L – Saskatchewan SW 100 250 km 3.0 hours
M – Saskatchewan NE 100 250 km 3.0 hours
N – Saskatchewan NW 100 300 km 3.5 hours
Total 2500

The number of farms does not necessary pose a logistics problem for the plant’s Logistics Manager. The main issues are the location and size of the various operations, which requires the Logistics Manager to know exactly where and when to arrange pickup for hog shipments.
Hogs are processed for slaughter either in finishing barns or in farrow-to-finish operations and each barn holds approximately 2,000 hogs, which require on average 16 weeks to reach marketable weight. Three batches of 2,000 hogs are processes annually at each barn, which represents approximately 6,000 hogs a year.
Nearly 80% of the hogs on the market come from finishing