ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this study is to determine the most efficient system for the evacuation of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from the oil palm tree to the mill. The study employed a quantitative method by utilising primary data, gathered by randomly selecting 500 oil palm estates in Malaysia. A descriptive analysis was conducted to identify the most used system for the in-field collections. The efficiency of each system was then measured by dividing the total output of each system by its respective operating costs involved. The study found that most oil palm plantations in Malaysia are using the conventional way of evacuating oil palms to the mill (termed as System 1). However, System 1 was found to be inefficient because it requires a higher cost of operation to produce the same amount of FFB. The study found that System 2, in which the FFB was immediately transferred to the collection bin after being removed from the oil palm tree and sent directly to the palm oil mill, is the most effective. System 2 has the highest ratio of production compared to the other systems under consideration, producing 0.0213 t of FFB on average per month for every Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) spent.