RIFT VALLEY TECHNICAL TRAINING INSTITUTE

A REPORT ON INDUSTRIAL ATTACHMENT

PREPARED AND SUBMITTED

BY

DANCAN BARSONGOL BARSAMAT

ADMM NO: 1214R04020

ATTACHMENT INSTITUTION: TEBESONIK TEA FACTORY COMPANY

LTD.

COURSE OF STUDY: CERTIFICATE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT : MECHANIC

UNIT : INDUSTRIAL ATTACHMENT.

PERIOD : SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER

AN INDUSTRIAL REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF

MECHANICALL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT
FOR THE MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.

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DECLARATION.

I hereby declare that the content of this report on industrial attachment at Tebesonik
tea factory company limited is my own work and has not been submitted elsewhere
for any purpose . I therefore submit it to the department of mechanical for academic
purpose.

DANCAN BARSONGOL BARSAMAT

Sign.................................................

Mr. Chepkwony

Sign......................................... .................... .......

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.

I would like to sincerely thank God for His endless love, care and the protection
throughout the attachment period. I would like to acknowledge the support from Mr.
Chepkwony my field supervisor for being ready to assist me whenever l needed
support from the reporting date to the last date of attachment. I also appreciate the
board of management of Tebesonik Tea factory for giving me an opportunity to work
with them and guiding me as well also appreciate my parents for supporting me
morally, socially, spiritually and financially. Finally l thank all friends who
contributed to me directly and indirectly towards the success of my attachment.

THANK YOU ALL!

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ABSTRACT.

Tea (camellia sinensis) is a major cash crop grown in Kenya. Kenya tea has been the
leading foreign exchange earner for the country. Most tea produced in Kenya is green
tea. Tea was first introduced in Kenya in 1903 by GWL Cain and was planted in
present-day Limuru. Commercialization of tea started in 1924 by Malcolm Fyers Bell,
who was sent to start commercial estates. Currently Kenya is ranked the second after
China in tea export. Kenya tea is also one of the top foreign earners. The task of
managing the small-scale holder lies with the Kenya Tea Development Agency
(KTDA). Currently the KTDA has 66 tea factories serving over 500,000 small scale
farmers cultivating over 100,000 ha .Of all tea produced in Kenya, KTDA members
produced over 60% while the rest is produced by large-scale producers.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS.
KTDA- Kenya Tea Development Agency.
TESA- Tea Extension Service Assistant.
FUM- Factory Unit Manager.
FSC- Field Service Coordinator.
FA - Factory Accountant.
AFA- Assistant Factory Accountant.
PM - Production Manager.
PA - Production Assistant.
LA - Logistic Assistant
FSA- Factory System Administrator

LIST OF FIGURES.
Fig1: Organization structure.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents
DECLARATION...........................................................................................................................ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..............................................................................................................iii

ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS................................................................................v

LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................................v

Table of Contents.....................................................................................................................vi

CHAPTER 1; INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................1

1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION............................................................................................1

1.2 LOCATION...........................................................................................................................1

1.3 ECONOMIC SITUATION.......................................................................................................1

CHAPTER TWO..........................................................................................................................2

TEBESONIK ORGANISATION STRUCTURE..................................................................................2

VISION.......................................................................................................................................3

MISSION....................................................................................................................................3

CORE VALUES............................................................................................................................3

STAFF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES......................................................................................3

FIELD SERVICE COORDINATOR..................................................................................................3

FACTORY UNIT MANAGER........................................................................................................3

TESAS........................................................................................................................................4

SOURCE OF FUNDS...................................................................................................................4

FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS AT THE FACTORY...............................................................................4

CHAPTER THREE `................................................................................................................5

REPORT ON ACTIVITIES.............................................................................................................5

TEA PROCESSING......................................................................................................................5

FIELD SERVICE ACTIVITIES.........................................................................................................5

CHAPTER FOUR.........................................................................................................................7

PRACTICAL SKILLS AND LESSON LEARNT DURING ATTACHMENT.............................................7

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CHAPTER FIVE...........................................................................................................................8

CHALLENGES, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ...........................................................8

CHALLENGES.............................................................................................................................8

CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................8

RECOMMENDATION ................................................................................................................8

REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................9

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CHAPTER 1; INTRODUCTION.

1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION.

Tebesonik Tea Factory Company limited was started in June; 2018.It is a satellite of
Kapkatet tea Factory Company limited. It has a capacity of about 100,000kgs with
two lines for processing CTC (Cutting Tearing and curling unit).It has a total of 7000
farmers which are active. It has three zones; Cheborgei, Tebesonik and Techoget and
each of them has more than ten tea buying centres and 42 tea buying centres in total
with seven delivery vehicles. The type of tea clone grown
include :1510,TN,225 ,purple tea (rarely grown) and clone 51 (mainly grown by most
of the farmers).Tebesonik premium tea is grown and produced under sustainable
agriculture standards which are Rainforest Alliance Accredited and strict food safety
standards.
-It has two operating system; Agrimanager and chai-pro integrated system.
Agrimanager :is used for purchasing tea leaves at buying center and receiving them in
the factory.
Chai-pro integrated system; it has various components, which includes, fleet (factory
vehicles), Factory (workers and pay slips), chai farmers (information about farmers)
and financial (salaries and expenditures).

1.2 LOCATION.
Tebesonik Tea Factory company limited is situated in Kericho County; Bureti Sub-
County, approximately 10km from Litein town. It is located at an altitude of about
1700m above sea level.

1.3 ECONOMIC SITUATION.

The factory produces 97.5% of primary grades and 2.5% of secondary grades.
Primary grades produced are graded as;
BP1-Broken pekoe one
PF1-Pekoe Canning's one.
PD -Pekoe dust.
D1 -Dust one.
Secondary grades are graded as;
F1 -Fannings one.
Dust.

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 CHAPTER TWO.

TEBESONIK ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

FACTORY UNIT MANAGER

FIELD SERVICE FACTORY FACTORY SYSTEM PRODUCTION

COORDINATOR ACCOUNTANT ADMINISTRATOR MANAGER

ASSISTANT
FACTORY PRODUCTION
ACCOUNTANT ASSISTANT

LOGISTIC DATA TEA

ASSISTANT CLERK EXTENSION
SERVICE PRODUCTION
ASSISTANT CLERK
SERVICE
ASSISTANT

G GENERAL
WORKERS

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 VISION.

TO BE A LEADING PRODUCER OF HIGH QUALITY AND SAFE TEA

PRODUCTS IN THE WORLD.

MISSION.
TO PROVIDE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE SERVICES TO SMALL HOLDERS
TEA FARMERS IN PRODUCTION, LEAF COLLECTION AND PROCESSING OF
HIGH QUALITY AND SAFE TEA FOR THE BENEFITS OF THE
STAKEHOLDERS.

CORE VALUES.
1)CUSTOMER FOCUSED.
2)UPHOLDING HIGH STANDARDS OF ETHICAL PRACTICES.
3)SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE.
4)EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.
5)WORKING TOGETHER AS A TEAM

STAFF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

FIELD SERVICE COORDINATOR

-Coordinate ,manage and advice on agricultural extension services and projects within
the factory.
-Harmonize extension approaches and methodologies on various project
-Co-ordinate work plan, budgeting and reporting on all agricultural extension projects
and programs.
-Appraise staff and identify training needs in the field and advice accordingly.
- Co-ordinate collection and dissemination of agricultural information within the
zones .
-Organize field days, demonstrations and tours.
-Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural extension
services in tea growing areas.

FACTORY UNIT MANAGER

-Implement the decision made by board of directors.
-Inform farmers on the need to produce good green leaf .

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-Inform farmers when there is public holidays .
-Manages the factory unit.
-Ensures processing of high quality teas

TESAS.
-Register new growers
-Disseminate useful information to farmers.
-Distribute fertilizers to farmers .
-Educate farmers on rain forest alliance.

SOURCE OF FUNDS.
The major source of funds is the government of Kenya through it's annual budgetary
allocation to KTDA and other foreign countries Tea Development Agency and non -
governmental organization.

FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS AT THE FACTORY.

-Muster roll- provides the number of workers and the work rates .
-Payment vouchers- it describes how much, what and when goods and services are
paid for

-Invoice -provides details about goods purchase on credit ,the due amount and when
to be paid.

-Local purchase order - provides for the nature and quantity of goods to be supplied.
-Receipts -Acknowledges supplied have paid for.

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CHAPTER THREE `

REPORT ON ACTIVITIES.

TEA PROCESSING.
Withering .
After green tea leaves has been delivered to the factory there is manual offloading of
the leaves into CCW (Continuous chemical withering).CCW contains a capacity of
15000kgs.It has sensors which when tea leaves reaches certain level it is conveyed
into conveyer belt machine automatically for processing ,they are then passed into
CPW machine(Continuous physically withering) which removes the moisture content
of fresh tea leaves to about 67%.
Rolling.
With the help of rollers green leaves are cut open and the cell fluid released reacts
with oxygen in the air. In the CTC( cutting, tearing and curling unit) ,this process
takes 30minutes and is repeated three times and the dark green leaves are scattered in
sieving machine .once rolled for 30minutes the entire leaves are torn and the stems
and the leaf ribs are separated as far as possible and only torn(meat) of the leaves are
processed further.
Fermentation.
This oxidation and fermentation already starts with rolling .In CFU (continuous
fermentation unit) the leaves are fermented through addition of oxygen at room
temperature .When the level of oxygen is too low ,temperature is increased and the
level of oxygen is high temperature is reduced, thereby the leaves takes up it's cupper-
red to brown color and starts to unfold its unique aroma.
Drying.
On high point of fermentation the leaves are passed through tiered dryers on conveyer
belts .The tea is dried for approximately 20 minutes with hot air of 80-90 degree
Celsius which makes cell fluid stick to the leaves and gives it's dark brown to black
color, the final humidity of leaves is about 3-5%.
Sorting and grading .
After green tea leaves has been processed fully into made tea ,they are passed into
presorters machines where they are sieve to remove fibers, they then passed into
vibrosorters machines which has several sieves which separate made tea into different
grades ;BP1,PF1,PD and D1.These grades are placed in different buckets and weigh
to get the total weight for each grade and each grade is store in their respective bins
before they are pack.

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FIELD SERVICE ACTIVITIES.

TEA LEAVES COLLECTION.

Before the green leaf is purchased, inspection of the leaf quality is done, since KTDA
emphasized on leaf quality in order to produce high quality products .
Process of purchasing tea leaves.
The weighing is connected to the personal digital machine (PDA machine), PDA
machine is then connected to the printer via bluetooth.PDA has all code numbers for
all the farmers in each tea buying centre. PDA add and summarized the customers
total weight and print so that customers gets their receipts. The maximum weight that
PDA purchase per bag is 12.5kgs and beyond this it does not purchase and also it does
not purchase the same transaction following each other. After the tea leaves has been
collected from various tea buying centre and vehicle is full, the clerks are required to
print receipts showing the total weight for each buying centre and take them to the
weighbridge at every field run. Proper timing is important and are emphasized for
efficient tea collection, and also proper record keeping is required at weighbridge to
ascertain the total KGS collected during the day (close day).

FARM VISITS.
With one of Tea Extension service assistant (TESA), we visited farmer to farmer
whose tea leaves quality was identified to be poor at tea buying centre to for the cause
of the problem.
Some of the problems we identified were;
-Poor management.
-Lack of fertilizers.
Advice we gave to them were;
-To carry out proper weeding without use of the agrochemicals like herbicides.
-Application of enough fertilizers to improve green leaf quality.

Pests and disease management.

Mosquito bugs.
Mosquito bugs are pests which lives in cool area and it mainly affect clone-51
whereby they stayed under the leaves and fed on the tender part of the leaves by
sucking sap and the leaves curled.
Control management.
Avoiding planting bananas around tea farm ,in that, they are habitat of the mosquito
bug.
Through hard plucking in order to remove and destroy mosquito bug larvae.

Root rot disease (pytopthtora cinnanomi).

Symptom.
-Leaves turn yellow, poor plant growth ,entire plant wilting and rapid death of the

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plant.
Cause.
-Disease emergence favors poorly drained warm soils.
Management.
-Disease is difficult to manage once plants are infected so control methods should
focus on protecting plants ,always plant tea in a well drained soils which are favorable
for the survival of the pathogens.

CHAPTER FOUR.

PRACTICAL SKILLS AND LESSON LEARNT DURING ATTACHMENT.

i) Team work ; This is the most interesting part l enjoyed throughout the attachment
period. I worked with logistic assistants(LAs) in purchasing green tea leaves, also
worked with tea extension service assistants(TESAS) during farm visits. I enjoyed the
company of the staffs who continuously engaged me in the office work including
filing of the forms and working with FSA .
ii) Work culture ; I was introduced to new work culture, which made me to adjust my
attitudes and behavior to fit to the new working atmosphere as well as adhering to the
policies and department goals.
iii) Computer skills; Adjustment of fertilizer in the chai pro integrated system
equipped with some computer skills, whereby we edited the number of bags requested
by each tea farmer in all tea buying centers and saving the changes in the system for
future reference.
iv)

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 CHAPTER FIVE.

CHALLENGES, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION .

CHALLENGES.
There are various short comings limiting tea production in tea growing zones.
These include the following;
- Stiff competition from multinational companies, like Koraraa, Sasini, kapchebet and
Kabianga where by most of the farmers have shifted from KTDA to these companies.
- Pests and diseases is the key challenge i.e mosquito bugs being a threat to tea
production especially clone-51 ,which mostly affects most of the tea growing zones.
- Poor agricultural practices.
- Low number of Tea Extension Service Assistants (TESAS) making dissemination of
information to the farmers a challenge.
- Poor infrastructure; roads is the key challenge with most parts of the tea zones
inaccessible during rainy season.

CONCLUSION.
In conclusion, industrial attachment is very useful as it helps student trainee to gain
practical experience to supplement the theoretical knowledge learnt in class .
- It exposes the students to real practical world and creates an opportunity for one to
develop work base skills and acquire self-reliance skills.
- During attachment period, I was able to meet some of the objectives and
expectations; since I applied knowledge in class to solved environmental problems.
- Participating in the field work exposed me to real life situation and it enabled me to
link classwork and field work.
- Finally, l find industrial attachment very resourceful and enjoyable with a lot of
skills and experience gained which l believe it will be very useful in the future life.

RECOMMENDATION .
- Increase awareness and access to loans and credit facilities to farmers to boost their

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farming activities.
- Train farmers on the value addition to produce green leaf quality
- Advocate for the soil, water and entire environment conservation through extension
education(rainforest alliance).
- Improve funding on infrastructure especially on roads to allow for easy access of
tea buying centers in tea growing zones.

REFERENCES.
Tea growing in the Florida home scape Duke ,J.A(1983).
Camellia sinensis (L) Kuntze of Energy crops.

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