US-SAK NR: 110/2010 UNIVERSITETET FOR MILJØ- OG BIOVITENSKAP UNIVERSITETSDIREKTØREN 1302 1901 SAKSANSVARLIG: STABSDIREKTØR SAKSBEHANDLER(E): JAN OLAV AASBØ ARKIVSAK NR:2003/1387 Fôrtek Strategi for videre drift og finansiell situasjon Dokumenter: a) Saksframlegg b) Vedlegg Forslag til vedtak: 1. Universitetsstyret slutter seg til den vedtalte strategi for Fôrtek. Ås, 9. juni 2010 Siri Margrethe Løksa universitetsdirektør
2 Fôrtek, som er et unikt forteknologisk senter, ble i sin tid etablert som et aksjeselskap, Senter for fôrteknologi AS. Etter mange år med svake resultater sto man i 2005 foran en situasjon hvor store deler av egenkapitalen var tapt. Universitetsstyret besluttet da å overta virksomheten og la det inn under Senter for husdyrforsøk (SHF) som et UMB-senter. Fôrtek skulle drives videre innenfor kommersielle vilkår, dvs at virksomheten skulle drives uten tilskudd av midler fra UMBv dvs at Fôrtek var selvfinansierende. Fôrtek har klart å gjennomføre drift fra 2005 etter forutsetningene, og har i tillegg dekket investeringer og nødvendig oppgradering av anlegget innenfor de løpende inntektene. Når det legges fram sak til Universitetsstyret nå, er det fordi man etter finanskrisen har sett et skifte i etterspørsel og kundegrunnlag. Mens Fôrtek har vært leid ut til forsøk i 90-130 dager årlig i perioden 2005 til 2009, har det vært en svak start på 2010 med kun 11 dager så langt i år. Fôrtek har gjennomført en strategiprosess som framkommer i vedlagte Strategy and financial situastion. Kort oppsummert konkluderer den med at: Fôrtek bør i større grad gå inn som en konstruktiv partner i samarbeidsprosjekter med kunder (i dag har Fôrtek mer fungert som en fabrikk hvor man kan komme og utføre forsøk) Fôrtek bør inngå mer langsiktige kontrakter Når Fôrtek skal operere på langsiktige kontrakter (2-3 år) i markedet, er det viktig at man har styrets tilslutning til en slik strategi. Gjennom styrets tilslutning til denne strategien ligger det også et signal til markedet at UMB er villige til å opprettholde Fôrtek videre. Universitetsdirektørens vurdering Universitetsdirektøren konstaterer med tilfredshet at Fôrtek har klart å gjennomføre sin drift og utvikle anlegget etter forutsetningene som ble lagt i 2005. Da Fôrtek i sin tid ble overtatt av UMB var det ikke minst for å sikre APC tilfredsstillende forskningsfasiliteter. Universitetsdirektøren har registret at UMBmiljøet ikke i tilstrekkelig grad har benyttet Fôrtek i sin virksomhet, og at Fôrteks eksterne kundeporteføljeandel har vokst. Det er i styringsdialogen spesielt med IHA tatt opp at instituttet må sørge for at Fôrtek benyttes mer aktivt i undervisning og forskning. Universitetsdirektøren støtter strategien fra Fôrtek som går ut på å utvikle mer langsiktige partneravtaler. Universitetsdirektøren vil derfor tilrå at universitetsstyret slutter seg til strategien.
3 FôrTek Strategy and financial situation 1. Strategy of Fôrtek Present (adopted in year 2010) and future strategy of the Centre for Feed Technology - Fôrtek is based on involvement of Fôrtek into a cooperative developmental and/or project based assignments/goals with the partners from either feed industry or scientific community. Industrial projects/assignments - will be based on long-term cooperation between Fôrtek and industrial partner(s). In this respect Fôrtek offers (to its industrial partners) possibilities in evaluation and/or development of the process technologies for all animal spices. In addition, Fôrteks attractive location (colocated with Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences (IHA) and SHF) offers unique possibility to its industrial partners in respect to a transfer of the newest discoveries into practical production. Economically, industrial projects/assignments will be based on obligate (granted) annual financial foundation of the Fôrtek from the industrial partner. 1.1. Present activities: a) Fôrtek is under signing stage of a three year (2+1) collaborative project with the feed producer from the Netherlands CCL. Collaboration is based on development of new process technologies for the CCL industries in area of mono-gastric animal feed. Economical value of the collaboration is 800 000 NOK for FôrTek (in form of minimal annual foundation of the Fôrtek from the CCL). Signing process is expected to be completed by the end of the month June 2010. b) Fôrtek is in active negotiations with Felleskjøpet Fôrutvikling (FKF) on the possible collaborative project. Collaboration should be based on technological development, biological observations and educational assignments. Economical value of the collaboration is expected to be in the same range as collaboration with CCL. Completion of the negotiation is expected by the end of June 2010. Scientific projects will be based on constitutive partnership collaboration among Fôrtek and its partner(s) from the scientific community. The project(s) will be jointly initiated by the Fôrtek and its industrial partners. In this respect Fôrtek offers (to the scientific community) possibilities to monitor the complete feed chain; from feed ingredients processing and its technical characteristics to the effects on nutrition, health and welfare of various farm animals. Economically, scientific projects will be based on obligate (granted) annual financial foundation of the Fôrtek from the project. 1.2. Present activities: a) Fôrtek has filled in a joint project application with the University of Akureyri from Iceand (leader of the project) and Aquaculture Protein Centre, APC (partner in the project) within European Program FP7. Fôrtek assignments in the project are in area of the deactivation of the hazardous materials from the feed for fish by the use thermo-mechanical processes. Economical value of the Fôrtek participation in the project is 100 000 EUR (in form of minimal annual foundation of the Fôrtek from the project).
4 b) Fôrtek is in the process of filling in a joint application with the Agricultural University of Banjaluka, Bosnia and Herzegovina within the Programme for Higher Education, Research and Development in the Western Balkans (HERD) in the sector HERD/Agriculture. Project collaboration will be based on the systematic evaluation of the raw materials and development of process technologies in the area of feed for mono-gastric animals in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Deadline for the application is 1 st of July 2010. c) Fôrtek is in the initial stages of filling in the joint application with University of Technical Sciences from Novi Sad, Serbia and Aquaculture Protein Centre, APC. Preliminary meeting is organized for June 16 th 2010 in APC s facilities in Ås. IMPORTANT (applies in both cases): Correlation between actual activity of Fôrtek (in respect to a policy of the discounts and/or other deviation from the regular price) and granted annual financial foundation will be based on the size and length of the financial foundation. 2. Economical results from year 2005 till year 2010 Annual results (Bottom Line) have been as follows (depreciation not included): 2005 + 230 000 NOK 2006 + 316 803 2007 + 1 816 748 2008 + 1 873 196 2009 + 1 108 754 2010-960 820 (by 30.April) The net result from 2009 (+853.000 NOK) is set aside for 2010. 3. Activities of Fôrtek (2006 2010) Table 1. Invoiced working days at Fôrtek from 2005 till june 2010. 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 June 2010 UMB 7 30 16 17.5 17.5 3 FKF 34 27.5 57 38.5 19 3 APC 28 29.5 31 34 12 0 EXTERNAL 31 7 23 43 37.5 5 SUM 103 94 127 133 86 11 so far 4. Fôrtek Investments 2005-2010
5 *Table 2. Investments and costs at the Fôrtek from 2005 till 2010. 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 SUM Maintenance (NOK) 250 516 165 516 47 324 155 107 222 182 4868 845 513 Investments in associated equipment 2 000 000 70 000 151 768 178 092 157 193 72 255 2 629 308 Capital Costs Dryer** 186 831 186 831 373 662 Extruder 1 200 000 1 200 000 TOTAL: 2 250 516 235 516 199 092 333 199 1 766 206 263 954 5 048 483 *Values are presented in Norwegian crowns (NOK) **Two thirds of the total costs of the dryer has been paid in years 2009 and 2010, respectively. 5. Employees and salaries There are 3 people full time employed at FôrTek, plus part time employment of others, on average one person per year. Costs for salaries have been as follows: 2005 912 144 2006 911 804 2007 1 078 307 2008 1 618 613 2009 1 804 980 2010 603 274 (by 30.April) 6. Conclusions FôrTek has had a sound economy since 2005, and has managed to make significant investments and improvements despite no annual financial funding from the University. There was a shift in 2009 along with the financial crisis in Europe, leading to reduced activity in first half 2010. Long term agreements are necessary to stabilize the economy of FôrTek and to overcome periods of reduced activity. Ozren Zimonja Seksjonssjef FôrTek Ingvar Selmer-Olsen Avd.direktør SHF
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