As one of the largest manufacturing sectors, food and drink businesses continue to grow at a staggering rate. This growth is fueled by demographic & economic changes and modern lifestyles that demand product variety. Competition in this sector is immense. This can put pressure on marketing to offer ever more varied SKUs, which in turn puts pressure on the manufacturing side of the business.
In this article we look at the challenges on businesses today and how manufacturers of Food Flavourings, Seasonings and Spices can future-proof their production processes to keep up with demand and capitalise on this growth opportunity.
Today's consumers have such high expectations of manufacturers, from niche, personalised products to precise labeling, sustainability and ingredient traceability. Consumers know what they want, where they can get it and if your product doesn't meet their needs they will go elsewhere. Added to this, increases in veganism, vegetarianism, allergen sufferers, health and fitness awareness, nutritional values and individual dietary requirements and it’s difficult for manufacturers to keep up.
With growing market opportunities, manufacturers cannot afford to rely on traditional operational processes and equipment to meet demand. They must innovate to stay ahead. But how do you do that while remaining competitive?
The need for agile production
If the portfolio of products is widening, you will need to facilitate multiple recipe changeovers, which often impacts production efficiency and output. More products also means handling more ingredients for each recipe. If these ingredients contain allergens then there is also a risk of cross-contamination, a significant factor as recipe changeovers increase. This will lead to extra time spent on cleaning.
Production flexibility is the key to surviving in a world where multi-variant recipes and smaller orders are the expectation. Transparency and sustainability are at the forefront of consumers’ minds when purchasing products, aside from the fact that most are regulated by law. Your reputation is at stake, along with your revenue if you don’t provide enough information or ensure that you are adhering to the quality standards expected by consumers.
Future-proofing food manufacturing
Identifying where you need capacity in the future is key to building a growing business. It is easy to say it’s all about forecasting but a solid growth forecast will provide the basis on which to plan your operational decisions.
How will you adapt to multiple recipes, shorter lead times and variable quantities? What products are you planning to develop and when are you looking to launch them? What materials and volumes will you be handling in 6, 12 or 24 months?
What ingredients are you using now and in the future? What characteristics do they have – are they free-flowing or sticky? When you mix them together in a recipe batch are they prone to separation once you start handling them?
Equipment choices, the size of factory and expansion plans will all be determined by the answers to those questions.
Why do Intermediate Bulk Container Systems offer the answer?
Matcon Powder Handling Systems are designed by experienced engineers to deliver flexible, agile and
An IBC system enables powders to be transported between manufacturing steps and processed in parallel, meaning that all of the necessary powder processing stages are executed simultaneously. This is possible since the powders are securely contained within each of the IBCs, and there are no contact points on the mixer as the IBC is the blending vessel. Different sized IBCs or fill levels will allow for a range of batch sizes to be processed on a single mixer. This contained, flexible manufacturing system enables you to adapt to market trends, order variance, multi-variant recipes as well as your large bulk orders. It is very much the best of both worlds and offers manufacturers reassurance that they can scale up or down on specific lines when needed and also realise efficiencies in existing processes.
In addition, the Cone Valve technology within each IBC will protect the blended powders as they are fed into the downstream processing or packing lines. Blend uniformity is assured as particle separation is prevented with mass-flow discharge and 'first in, first out' flow. The Cone Valve is proven to be able to cope with the most challenging of powders - even those with a relatively high moisture or fat content that become sticky.
Increasing flexibility at the Powder Blending stage
When compared to a traditional fixed mixer system, IBCs enable continuous production. This means that your flow doesn’t have to stop while a fixed mixer is being filled, emptied or being cleaned.
Even higher volume batch processes such as mixing a base recipe can be actioned in bulk, ahead of time by assembling ingredients into a pre-mix. Lower volume batch processes, for example adding flavours, spices or colours can also be completed independently. You can even produce small and large quantities of multiple products simultaneously, experiment with new trial goods and test recipes without substantial investment costs.
Increase OEE rates
We have witnessed some manufacturers that use fixed mixers (ribbon blenders or paddle blenders) spending a whole shift on cleaning. Often these types of blender must be fully cleaned and dried, then validated before changing recipes, which means the whole production process must be halted. With container blending, the cleaning is done offline, so the mixer is constantly in use, resulting in high Overall Equipment Effectiveness rates.
Read our guide on how to increase efficiency and ensure your resource time is spent producing high volumes of quality products and not cleaning and assembling a blender.
If you’re currently planning your business's growth or have concerns that your company is missing out on market opportunities, complete our ROI calculator to see what can be achieved with a move to IBC based manufacturing.
