Thai Leather : Quality Cattle Hides in Thailand

By Skunmun, Pakapun

Book Id: WPLBN0003468702
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 2.24 MB
Reproduction Date: 8/16/2013

Title:	Thai Leather : Quality Cattle Hides in Thailand
Author:	Skunmun, Pakapun
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Agriculture, Leather production in Thalland
Collections:	Authors Community, Technology
Historic Publication Date:	2013
Publisher:	Thaksin University Press

Member Page:	LINDSAY FALVEY
Citation APA MLA Chicago Skunmun, B. P. (2013). Thai Leather : Quality Cattle Hides in Thailand. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.cc/

Description
This book covers a wide range of aspects of cattle and buffalo hide collection, storage and processing in Thailand. No previous collation of information on the subject exists and, together with research presented herein, this book represents a milestone in understanding of a neglected industry with great commercial potential from improved management. The story starts with the emergence of Thailand as one of the world’s major agricultural exporters in many fields often to the neglect of useful by-products. Treating hides as a by-product of the bovine industries has held Thailand’s own leather industry back. This book explains means by which it can be advanced to both national and commercial benefit. Because of the low quality of local hides in Thailand as in other developing countries, the end users in the industrial sector have long experienced major difficulties. As hide purchasers they need to meet quality requirements for their hide products in an efficient and financially viable manner. They operate without having the ways and means to deal with the existing problems of defects that originate from different sources in other segments of the industry. A clear demand to improve the local hide quality produced the basis for an integrated approach for traceability. Results and conclusions from detailed investigations led to specific recommendations for improvements in the industry that are presented in these pages. The approach used in examining the Thai hide industry was a hide cluster model that facilitated operational research and development, that aimed to introduce new and promising technologies for improved hide salting, to study some key physical indicators of desirable cattle hides, to identify the types and severity of damages that occur on hides and to trace these to the original sources of the problems and to develop a quality standard for Kamphaeng Saen (KPS) hides. With a common aim in improving hide quality of Kasetsart University (KU), the KU Beef Cooperative Ltd. and the Thai Leather Cluster, a hide cluster model was initiated to form a transaction chain of all operators from upstream to downstream. An industrial-pattern hide was used and a prototype stainless drum with a capacity of three tons was developed for experimental use. The results from capacity testing of the drum showed that its processing system and control settings worked accurately except a failure of some welds attaching the spiral blade inside the drum when loaded at the highest weight. Based on drum salting experiments, outputs at a full work load were advantageous over those at a low work load in terms of less weight loss from green hides to salted hide, and less contraction in size of the hides and lower cost of hide salting per kilogram of green hide. The key indicators of industrial-pattern hides from KPS cattle chosen to study were weight and size of hide, salinity and moisture content of hides because of their importance in the hide industry and in a hide transaction chain. Research in this area indicated that the reduction from the whole hide weight to the industrial-pattern hide was about 15% and the trimmed industrial-pattern hide on average was about 7% of the live animal slaughter weight. The weight and size of KPS hides in relation to the premium price for slaughter weight range of feedlot steers (550 to 600 kg), the specification for “KPS Hide Grade I”, has been proposed as having a green hide weight of 40 kg upwards with the industrial-pattern size being 200 cm upwards for both width and length; and the drum salted hide (after 2- hour ambient drying) a weight of 35 kg upwards with the size for both width and length being 180 cm upwards after salting. The hide salinity was assessed as relative values from the solution resulting by placing a sample of hide in distilled water in the proportion of 1:2 (w/w) and measured at 1- and 24-hours. The ratio of hide salinity as measured in solutions at 1-hour and 24-hours was found to be applicable for field work as an indicator to assess the levels of saturated salt in a hide within 1 hour. The specification for a good quality of salted hide without any risk due to rot was proposed as a relative value of 55% upwards for salinity from the 1-hour hide solution. Hide moisture content after drum salting was reduced from about 54% at the green stage to be lower than 30%. To ensure bacterial control while retaining sufficient elasticity of the salted hides, the moisture content for high quality hide was determined to best be in the range of 21 to 29 %; it is proposed that the median value of 25% be specified as a criterion for the quality standard to guide the setting of a purchase price for a salted hide. An invented portable tool for estimation of hide moisture for field use was found to be promising in initial tests, though more development and testing is needed to achieve a lighter, more convenient instrument with validation across a wider range of hide samples. With the emphasis on the methodology and scientific information for improving the quality of cattle hides through tracing back to the origins of problems in the transaction chain, visual assessment of hide defects as well as identification of their primary causes was carried out on both green hides and wet-blue leathers. The defects most readily seen on green hides were knife defects from manual flaying, brand marks and dirty stains from farm management. Additional defects found on wet-blue leathers were those due to insect and parasite marks, open scratches, scars, brand marks, deeper corrosion from manure and urine arising under farm management and transportation, some less noticeable knife defects introduced during manual flaying and rots from inadequate hide salting. The defects found on specific positional areas of green hides were analyzed in terms of the percentage area affected. A scoring system for visual assessment of types of damage observed on wet-blue leathers was established with three classes of damage and six levels of scores from 0 to 5, with the description of each defect score for hide grading. A lead survey targeted to tanners prior to developing the quality standard of KPS hides reflected the strong need of small-scale tanners for improvement of local hides. According to the descriptive analysis, the quality standard for the green hide was classified into 4 grades, each with descriptions based on visual assessment of defects and their origins. In terms of the quality standard for raw hide based on the visual assessment of defects on wet-blue leathers, hides can be assigned to one of 3 grades, each grade having a full description based on all defects of hides and of defects from individual primary causes. Again this enables hides to be rapidly traced back to the direct point or process where the damage occurred in the transaction chain. Further recommendations that enable progress from setting the quality standard to achieving quality assurance are proposed along with further research needs. It is clear that quality assurance in the hide industry depends upon all operators in the transaction chain. The principle outlined in this book may be used to develop hide quality standards for other classes of cattle.

Summary
The wide-ranging field of cattle and buffalo leather production in Thailand has never before been collated into one story. Here it is joined with research outcomes that target means of the leather industry moving from a cottage industry to fulfilling its potential in global quality leather production. The book includes all the tricks of the trade as well as techniques for improvement of hide quality at all stages in the process. Described as ‘a unique contribution to a neglected industry’, this book will be read by both those who work in the Thai leather industries as well as those who utilize leather from Thailand. It will also be of interest leather specialists in others parts of the world. The story starts with the emergence of Thailand as one of the world’s major agricultural exporters for many products and indeed being the leader in some, yet often neglecting the country’s useful by-products. Treating hides as a by-product of the bovine industries has held Thailand’s leather industry back. This book explains means by which it can be advanced to national, commercial, economic and environmental benefit.

Table of Contents
LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF PHOTOS ix Acknowledgments x What this Book is About 11 Chapter 1 – Setting the Scene 16 Chapter 2 – An Overview of Thai Bovines 27 The Cattle and Buffalo Industry in Thailand 27 Populations of Cattle and Buffalo 28 Cattle and Buffalo Production Systems 30 Story of Kamphaeng Saen Beef Cattle 33 Development of Kamphaeng Saen Beef Breed 34 Kamphaeng Saen Beef Breeders’ Association 36 Genetic Improvement of KPS Beef Cattle 38 Markets and Marketing System for Live Bovines 44 General Characteristics of Cattle and Buffalo Markets 45 Marketing Systems 47 Purchasing Techniques 50 Procedures after Purchasing & Destination of Animals 51 Payment and Money Circulation in RLM 52 Thai Hide Transaction Chains and Marketing Today 55 Transaction Chain of Hides 55 Hides at Slaughterhouses 56 Hide Collecting Businesses 60 Hides at Tanneries 61 Marketing of Hides 64 Types of Hide Traders 65 Hide Purchasing 67 Use of Hides for Continuing Businesses 73 Physical Factors Affecting Cattle Hide Quality 75 Hide Preservation and Quality 77 Investigation of Defects on Cattle Hides 79 Quality Standard for Cattle Hides 81 Review and Overview 83 Chapter 3 – Creating a Hide Cluster and Transaction Chain Towards an Integrated Approach for Traceability A Model Hide Cluster and Transaction Chain KU Beef Cooperative KU Slaughterhouse Hide Salting Research Unit Thai Leather Cluster Research Memorandum of Understandings The Value of the Hide Cluster Model 86 87 89 90 91 94 95 96 99 Chapter 4 - Salting and Technical Innovations 101 Preliminary Testing 102 Full Capacity Drum Salting 102 Low Capacity Drum Salting 104 Lessons Learned from Full Capacity Drum Salting 105 Lesson Learned from Low Capacity Drum Salting 112 Review and Overview 118 Chapter 5 – What Makes a Desirable Hide 120 Comparison Tests 121 Weight and Size of Kamphaeng Saen Hides 125 Hide Salinity 133 Hide Salinity by Drum Salting 138 Salted Hide Salinity 141 Hide Moisture Content 143 Moisture after Tanks and Drum Salting 147 Estimating Hide Moisture 148 Recap 152 Chapter 6 – Hide Damage by Visual Assessment 156 Identification and Recording of Hide Damage 157 Learning from Others 158 Useable Hide Area 159 Visual Assessment of Damage in Green Hides 160 Visual Assessment of Damage on Wet-blue Leather 164 Scoring System for Defects 173 Overview 175 Chapter 7 – Developing Quality Standards 177 Ways of Creating Standards 178 Backgrounding of Needs 179 Developing Standards for Green Hides 184 Quality Standards for Raw Hides 186 Standardizing KPS Hides 192 Lessons Learned 196 Overview 199 Chapter 8 – Where to Now for Thai Leather? 201 Innovations for Improving Hide Quality 202 Hide Transaction Chains 203 Salting Technological Innovations 204 Key Indicators 206 Visual Hide Assessment 209 Quality Standards 210 Future Developments 211 Quality Assurance 219 Bibliography Table 2.1 Table 2.2 Table 2.3 Table 2.4 Table 2.5 Table 2.6 Table 2.7 Table 2.8 Table 2.9 Table 2.10 Table 2.11 Table 2.12 Table 3.1 Table 4.1 Table 4.2 Table 4.3 Table 4.4 Table 4.5 Table 4.6 Table 4.7 Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 5.3 Table 5.4 Table 5.5 Table 5.6 Table 5.7 Table 5.8 Table 5.9 Bovine Populations in Thailand, 1999-2008 29 Distribution of Thai Bovines, 1999-2008 30 Comparison of Breed Traits 36 Production Performance of Bulls 41 Criteria for Bull Selection 42 Regional Livestock Markets in 2009 44 Official Bovine Slaughter Numbers, 1999-2008 58 Hide Imports, 1999-2008 64 Hide Exports, 1999-2008 65 Trim Green Weight to Liveweight 76 Leather Defects by Shape 80 Grading for Raw Hide in Thailand 83 Specifications of Stainless Drum 94 Testing of Rotating Drum 106 Drum Speeds and Running Times 110 Cost of Drum Usage 111 Low Input Loads 113 Rotating Time of Drum 115 Rotating Speed of Drum 116 Cost of Drum Usage 117 Salting Technologies 125 Slaughter Weight of KPS steers 127 Hide Weights 127 Trimmed Weights 128 Green Hide Weight 129 Correlation Coefficients 130 Size of Salted Hides 131 Correlation for Salted Hides 132 Relative Salinity of Green and LIST OF TABLES Table 5.10 Table 5.11 Table 5.12 Table 5.13 Table 5.14 Table 5.15 Table 5.16 Table 5.17 Table 6.1 Table 6.2 Table 7.1 Table 7.2 Table 7.3 Table 7.4 Table 7.5 Figure 2.1 Figure 2.2 Figure 3.1 Figure 3.2 Figure 3.3 Figure 4.1 Figure 5.1 Figure 6.1 Salted Hides 136 Salinity Before and After Drum Salting 137 Salinity Each Hour 139 Salinity by Stage and Storage Age 140 Ratio of Salinity 142 Stacking and Salting Days 145 Stacking and Storage After Drum Salting 146 Moisture Contents of Salted Hides 147 Estimating Hide Moisture 151 Percentage Defects 163 Six-level Scoring 174 Defect Types 185 Defect Scores 187 Quality Grading by Causes 189 Quality Grades – Farm Management 190 Quality Grades – Flaying and Salting 192 LIST OF FIGURES Money Circulation in Markets 54 Transaction Chain of Hides 57 Hide Cluster and Transaction Chain 90 Industrial Hide Shape 93 Stainless Steel Drum 95 Measurement of Hides 103 Estimation Tool for Moisture Content 149 Useable Area of Hides 160 Photo 6.1 Photo 6.2 Photo 6.3 Photo 6.4 Photo 6.5 Photo 6.6 Photo 6.7 Photo 6.8 Photo 6.9 Photo 6.10 Photo 6.11 Photo 6.12 Photo 6.13 Photo 6.14 Fine Knife Score 162 Deep Knife Score 162 Knife Cut and Hole 162 Brand Mark 162 Dirty Stain 162 Insect and Parasite Damage 166 Scars 167 Open Scratches 168 Brand Mark 168 Manure and Urine Corrosion 169 Knife Flaying Defects 169 Hairslips and Worm Contamination 170 Grain Rots 171 Grain Rots and Deep Rots 172