| At this moment, the available pressing process of melinjo to make melinjo’s chip or “emping”, especially in Tuk Village, Kedawung, Cirebon district is taking too much time with low yields due to the manual process that use a hammer. To optimize this process, a melinjo chip pressing machine will be designed to offer an alternative solution for this small-to-moderate melinjo’s chip industry. The goal is not only to significantly shorten the production time but also increase the production quantity while keeping the cost as minimum as possible. Two research methods were used: Case study and literature study method. The pressing method applied on this machine was adopted from slider crank mechanism system of a rivet machine. Most of the components used to build this machine are components from used and salvaged machines, to be more economical and fit to use in a small-to-moderate scaled industry. This pressing machine is capable to press 27.000 melinjo or equivalent to 27 kg of melinjo’s chips in one day (5 hours work period), compared to the original manual method which could only produce 12.000 melinjo or equivalent to 12 kg of melinjo’s chips. Based on the above result, it can be concluded that this new machine achieved the goal to shorten the pressing time of melinjo while producing 125% more melinjo’s chips within the same workday period in the most economical way. |