The animal nutrition and pet food industry is undergoing massive change and growth. Consumers are now more aware of the importance of good nutrition for their animals and pets, and they want to feel 100% confident about the ingredients used within the products. As they research ways to keep their pets and livestock as healthy as possible, consumers are driving demand for wider choices of animal foods. There are now food products available that meet a variety of nutritional preferences in addition to special health-related requirements.
For more information about the forecasted growth of the animal nutrition industry and how consumer demand has driven a need for change in production methods, see the article
The Animal Nutrition Market Growth is Driven by Customer Demand.
This market expansion is putting a great deal of pressure on Animal Nutrition and Food producers. The requirement to manufacture such a varied portfolio of products has forced producers to adopt highly flexible manufacturing operations to meet with the burgeoning demands. Most producers are finding it a struggle to produce very different types of products on short timelines which require recipe changeovers on the production line several times a day.
Equipment and Technology for Manufacturing Pet Food Products
How can manufacturers succeed in this changing and demanding marketplace? We’ll explain how Matcon Technology can create highly flexible and efficient workflows, and enable Lean manufacturing processes to simplify production, eliminate waste and drive maximum throughput and profitability.
Improve Product Quality and Consistency
When Animal Nutrition manufacturers look for ways to switch to a highly flexible workflow, the best solution is to adopt Matcon’s range of stainless-steel Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs). The IBCs allow producers to maintain product quality and consistency during the ever-changing product development cycles. IBCs incorporating Matcon Cone Valve Technology are designed with safety, quality and hygiene in mind. They are designed to enable safe containment, storage, mixing, handling and transportation of ingredients, and to be easily cleaned as they are manufactured with no entrapment areas.
Matcon IBCs allow for the most flexible workflow possible and reduce the risk of cross-contamination at each processing stage including filling, mixing and discharge. Additionally, as each IBC can hold a recipe batch independently, recipe manufacture can be segregated reducing the need to clean between batches. This practice alone will provide substantial time and cost savings in line with Lean manufacturing standards.
“The Matcon IBC System has provided batch quality and manufacturing flexibility, allowing us to attract new customers to our business.”
Andrew Gubatan, Plant Manager, FJ Wegon
Decouple Production Lines for Higher Efficiency and Lean Production
Matcon IBCs allow the transportation of materials throughout the production process. Formulation, mixing and packing can now be decoupled allowing them to take place simultaneously. This results in:
- Reduced cost per kg of manufactured product
- Ability to manufacture quickly and efficiently and enabling producing to order
- Decreased inventory for improved cash flow
- Better overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) from fast and independent changeovers
Matcon’s unique Cone Valve technology built into each IBC offers significant benefits over traditional tilting totes or butterfly valve bins. The Cone Valve offers guaranteed, automatic controlled discharge without the risk of segregation of ingredients, which is key when handling complex recipe mixes.
How Matcon IBCs Improve Production Effectiveness
To learn more about how Matcon IBC’s with integrated Cone Valve Technology can improve the processing, storage and transportation of bulk material solids, powders, granules and tablets, read the following articles:
- Containment of ingredients
- Segregation of powders
- Hygiene standards
- Traceability of batches
- Storage of materials
- Staying flexbile and maintaining quality
- Cost efficiency during blending
“Our production volume has almost doubled with the Matcon IBC System. We are no longer using the ribbon blenders as the mixing results achieved with the Matcon IBC Blender with High Shear is far better than with the ribbon blenders. Ribbon blending produces a variance of 7% in homogeneity while IBC blending produces a variance of 2%.”
Andrew Gubatan, Plant Manager, FJ Wegon
Discover our Approach to Effective, Flexible Powder Handling in the Animal Nutrition Industry
Matcon IBC Technology will allow you to adapt to market changes, adhere to regulations, modify the way you operate and create new ways to enhance your production.
In the case study featured below, read how Animal Nutrition Manufacturer FJ Wegon increased capacity while delivering tailored orders quickly and efficiently.
To help you improve your existing production lines or help with a new installation, contact one of our sales engineers for a free 30-minute consultation. Discover how small changes can make a big difference to manufacturing efficiency and your profitability.
