Period | Technology in use | Reference |
Before the 1980s | Purely traditional, using rudimentary tools like mortar/pistle, cutlass, axe, sticks, etc. | [4] [15] |
In the 1980s | Stand-alone plants (especially the press); operated manually. | [4] [5] |
Mid-80s | Caltech-type press both manual and motorized | [4] [5] |
In the 90s | Semi-automation of various press designs and mechanization of other unit operations like threshing and digestion. | [10] [14] |
Early 2000s | Combined motorized hydraulic machine and press systems and various other combinations of units. Emergence of prominent semi-continuous small-scale processing lines | [5] [14] |
By mid 2000s | Complete integrated continuous palm oil mills with capacities mostly between 1 and 2 tons FFB per hour | [14] [28] |