DESAIN EKSPERIMEN MENGGUNAKAN METODE TAGUCHI UNTUK PENINGKATAN KUALITAS MINYAK KELAPA MENTAH DI PT. MULTI NABATI SULAWESI (LUWUK)

Abstract

Crude coconut oil is one of the industrial products which have been known and used as raw material for public consumption industry, such as coconut oil and cosmetics. Since this products are widely used by the public, crude coconut oil products are required to meet quality standards set by the government. Therefore, the issue of quality becomes a major concern in the industrial processing of crude coconut oil. This study was conducted to improve the quality of crude coconut oil in PT. Multi Nabati Sulawesi (Luwuk). The method used is the design of experiments using the Taguchi method with L18 orthogonal matrix. Optimization is done for two responses, namely the content levels of FFA (free fatty acids) and the levels of oil content in copex (bungkil), and both of the responses have the characteristic quality of the smaller the better. Factors examined include drying method with two factor levels, length of storage, the moisture content of raw materials, oil content of raw materials, temperature of pre press machine, temperature of final press machine, ampere of pre press machine and ampere of final press machine with each have three factor levels. Results obtained from this study are the most optimal setting of these factors, as follows: drying sunrise (using sunlight), 0 months length of storage, moisture content of raw materials is 7%, oil content is 63%, temperature of pre press machine is 90oC, temperature of final press machine is 55oC, ampere of pre press machine is 60A and ampere of final press machine is 40A. The study is limited by cost factor, and therefore it is suggested to develop a more comprehensive work supporting by taguchi loss function.