04/07/2017: What does efficiency really mean?

By Matteo Agosti, Imeco, Italy

As per the main agricultural area, in the heart of the livestock Italian market, and as per its experience, Imeco has had several experiences in dealing with one of the terms often used by a plant manager

 

Image credit: Imeco

That’s the reason we would like to discuss the concept of efficiency with both data and suggestions in this article. Everybody knows how animal feeds play a leading role in the global food industry, enabling economic production of products of animal origin throughout the whole world.

They may be produced in industrial feed mills or in simple on-farm mixers. These feeds may be called ‘industrial’, ‘formula’, ‘blended’ or ‘compound’ feeds. Feed millers use their knowledge to grow or maintain animals for food, fibre and other products under a wide range of farming conditions and necessities.

Commercial production or sale of manufactured feed products takes place in more than 120 countries and directly employs more than a quarter of a million skilled workers, technicians, managers and professionals.

Currently, there are an estimated 8,000 plants for manufactured feed production with capacities greater than 25,000 tonnes per year, along with other production facilities, including premix and specialty plants producing lower volumes of high-value products. Together, these plants manufacture more than 620 million tonnes of feed products annually (FAO data).

The everyday concept
Underneath every aspect, we analyse the feed milling art with the most important word in every process stage being ‘efficiency’. The meaning of this word must be searched in its latin origin efficientia, derived by efficĕre that means “to accomplish” or “to fulfill”.

Of course, not in a general and superficial way, but at a deeper level. Using that word or even thinking to have reached it doesn’t mean that we know how to have it. It doesn’t matter if you live and work in a super industrialised area of the world or in a country whose industrial revolution is still happening: efficiency is something that needs to be reached every day, with every batch, in every slot of production.

So the question remains, how? Technology can help us all in becoming more efficient. Besides technology, the Imeco philosophy is to sit next to the client, investigating the best solution tailored to their real necessities and helping to find the correct balance.

In animal husbandry, feed conversion ratio (FCR) or feed conversion rate is a ratio or rate measuring of the efficiency with which the bodies of livestock convert animal feed into the desired output. For dairy cows, for example, the output is milk, whereas in animals raised for meat (such as beef cows, pigs, chickens, and fish) the output is the flesh.

The meaning and scope is exactly the same in order to know if the production plant is efficient. Everybody knows its output, in terms of loaded trucks, bags, liber, kilos or even bushel, but usually the knowledge of the in-load product is roughly calculated in volume or occupied space in the silos. An approximate knowledge of the in-load product gives an approximate calculation of the efficiency also.

Read the full article, HERE.

 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com

04/07/2017: Mühlenchemie’s “Flour Sack of the Year 2016” award goes to Arabian Milling & Food Industry

Mühlenchemie’s “Flour Sack of the Year 2016” award goes to Arabian Milling & Food Industry

The gala dinner for the 2017 Global Millers Symposium provided a noble setting, Volkmar Wywiol presented in Hamburg the 2016 Flour Sack Award to Tarek Hafez and Montaser Hosny from the Egyptian company Arabian Milling & Food Industry.

The Flour Sack of the Year 2016 shows a proud Bengal tiger whose power and strength are depicted on the premium brand of this Egyptian mill. With this award, the winner of which is chosen by an independent panel of judges, Mühlenchemie honours flour sack motifs as carriers of regional cultures.

They are to be seen at the FlourWorld Museum in Wittenburg. Arabian Milling & Food Industry is the biggest enterprise in the Egyptian food industry. One reason for its success is that it exports its products to countries of the African continent.

The impressive motif of the tiger symbolises the high quality of the mill’s premium brand, that is distributed mainly in the equatorial region.

“Although the tiger is not an African animal, its power is an excellent symbol of life in the jungle and therefore acts as a bracket for the many different cultures of that region. Its strength and dignity are a perfect way of conveying the claims we make concerning our company and the quality of our products”, says Tarek Hafez, Milling Operations Director of Arabian Milling & Food Industry in Egypt. Like those of the many sacks before it, this year’s motif from the “Flour Sack of the Year” will find a place of honour in Mühlenchemie’s “FlourWorld”.

With 3,400 exhibits from 137 countries, this museum near Hamburg houses the world’s biggest collection of flour sacks. The unique exhibition is devoted to the cultural history of man’s most important staple food.

As the museum’s central feature, the motifs on the sacks tell of the traditions of flour, its history and the myths surrounding it. That makes this collection a “hall of fame”, a tribute to all the millers who provide man with flour – day in, day out.

The museum is to be enlarged continuously as a “forum of cereal science” in order to familiarise consumers, too, with the history and significance of corn for our daily bread. From a total of 244 new sacks, ten were shortlisted for the 2016 award. The winning motif impressed the judges with its high emotional value.

In his speech, Volkmar Wywiol, the founder of the museum and a partner of Mühlenchemie, underlined the judges’ verdict, “The Bengal tiger gazes at the viewer with pride and confidence. Above all, the tiger stands for the power and strength conferred on man by flour. The animal’s typical attributes – courage, speed and stamina – are associated with the quality of the flour. The success of its exports to other African countries is confirmation that the mill is right: good sack motifs are good selling points.”

Volkmar Wywiol presented in Hamburg the 2016 Flour Sack award to the Egyptian company Arabian Milling & Food Industry. We spoke to the Operations Director of the mill, Tarek Hafez, about the award and his company.
  

Image credit: Public Relations v.Hoyningen-Huene

Tarek Hafez Interview:

Volkmar Wywiol presented in Hamburg the 2016 Flour Sack award to the Egyptian company Arabian Milling & Food Industry. Public Relations v. Hoyningen-Huene spoke to the Operations Director of the mill, Tarek Hafez, about the award and his company.
Congratulations, Tarek Hafez, on the 2016 Flour Sack Award! What significance does this prize have for your mill?

Thank you. My employees and I are very proud of this award. It is a great honour to us to find our ideas and activities as an enterprise acknowledged in this way, and as part of the global milling family. We also regard this award for our flour sack as a symbol of the successful development of Arabian Milling & Food Industry.

The prizewinning sack shows a tiger. How did you come to choose this motif?

One focus of our exports is Africa. The cultures of that continent differ widely. But one feature the equatorial regions have in common is their “jungle culture”. To them, the tiger is the symbol of power and strength. The flour and its motif constitute our premium brand, for which we use exclusively high-quality Australian wheat. The tiger represents this quality.

You mentioned the different cultures in Africa. What other motifs do you use?

Our marketing department puts a great deal of thought into the design of our sacks. We have another 30 or 40 brands that are sold in different regions, where they are faced with strong competition. Unlike Europe, where there are numerous possibilities of B2B advertising, the only medium we have for telling the story of a product is the flour sack. It is our most important marketing and communication tool. The animal kingdom plays an important role in this context. We use other tiger motifs, a jaguar or even an American eagle. But traditional Egyptian motifs help to market our products, too.

And you are very successful with that?

Our company was established in 2004. Now, with a capacity of 2,000 tons of flour, we are the biggest enterprise in the Egyptian food industry as well as the country’s biggest mill. In future we are hoping to double our capacity. Such development is only made possible by close partnerships with companies like Bühler and Mühlenchemie.

What needs do you have in respect of flour improvement?

For a long time, Egyptian mills only processed one kind of wheat. Then, during the first Gulf War in the early 1990s, more and more grain had to be imported from other countries. That presented us with the challenge of equalising different qualities of the raw material. Egypt is now the world’s biggest importer of wheat, which means nothing goes without companies like Mühlenchemie.

How does cooperation with Mühlenchemie work?

Our parent company, the Abu Donkol Group, is the biggest wheat importer of Egypt. We are one of the few mills in the market that import wheat themselves. Mühlenchemie’s employees already advise us when we buy the wheat and can analyse samples for their quality at the Stern Technology Center at the company’s headquarters in Ahrensburg. Even before the wheat arrives, we know how to process it in order to produce a quality flour.

The Flour Sack Museum in Wittenburg is not far from the Stern Technology Centre. You have visited it already. What was your impression?

At first I didn’t know what to make of the idea. But when I saw the collection of 3,400 motifs and the way they were presented, I was overwhelmed. It makes you realise that flour is a global food, that the history of mankind tells us “we all come together in flour”.

Visit the Mühlenchemie website, HERE.

 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com

03/07/2017: Nutriad strengthens USA sales team

 Nutriad has announced the hiring of two sales managers for their US organisation.

 The company has recently opened a factory and lab facility in Hampshire, Illinois, they have reported on their recent investments in high level technical and commercial staff. 

Grady Fain - Image courtesy of Nutriad

 Grady Fain, Senior Vice President, Sales and Business Development commented, "At Nutriad we are dedicated to building our sales team with top industry talent for providing best in class service to our valued customers. Our new hires confirm that commitment and we are excited to have them as Nutriad team members."

Chuck Middleton - Image courtesy of  Nutriad

 Chuck Middleton, residing in Idaho, joined Nutriad as a Dairy Nutrition Consultant. He has had a successful career in agricultural supplier organisations and has served on various advisory boards in the industry. Mr Middleton attended the University of Idaho and received a BS in both Agricultural Education and Animal Science. 

Kevin Stephens - Image courtesy of Nutriad

 Kevin Stephens, residing in North Carolina, joined Nutriad as Regional Sales Manager Southeast USA. Kevin brings extensive experience in the poultry, food and agricultural industry. Mr Stephens received his BSc at Marshall University. 

 Mr Fain added, "The US market faces new regulations; pressure on use of antibiotics and sees continuous consolidation. In that environment Nutriad is committed to take leadership in providing solutions for the challenges producers face today as well as future challenges."

 Visit the Nutriad website here. 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com

03/07/2017: The new E B Bradshaw and Sons Mill by Omas Industries

Image courtesy of Omas

 In December 2016 Omas was chosen to be the technological partner for the new mill belonging to E B Bradshaw & Sons. The mill will be constructed in a new building alongside the plants completed in 1990 and 2005. 


 The project submitted was chosen because Omas combined the customer’s three main priorities: food safety and the purity of the flour to safeguard consumer health; reduced energy consumption and minimum CO2 emissions; architectural designs with reduced impact in an area with restrictive regulations in terms of hygiene and environmental safety. 

 The wheat cleaning line, as well as a vibrating separator, destoner and photoseparator, will be equipped with a 'Giotto Steriliser', the Omas separator provides optimum management of the degree of cleaning of the grain, due to the removal of the outer layers of lignin and cellulose. 

 With this process, developed exclusively by Omas, the surface of the caryopsis is scraped to remove the outer layers of the husk by varying amounts (from 0.2 to 2%), purifying it by removing all inorganic impurities such as fertilisers, weed killers, insecticides, soil, sand and metals, as well as organic impurities such as bacteria, fungi, mould and mycotoxins. 

Image courtesy of Omas

 Milling a grain that has had all of its inorganic elements removed will reduce the ash content of the flour, improve the colour and eliminate the presence of metals that are banned in flour used to make baby food. 

 The removal of weed killers, fertilisers and chemical disinfectants is essential since recent studies have cited them as the origin of many food intolerances and allergies, previously blamed on flour and baked goods. 

 Milling wheat that is free from organic impurities not only prevents contamination of the mill itself, but the result is microbiologically purified flour and bran, which can then be stored for longer periods but which are above all, free from bacteria, moulds, and mycotoxins, with great advantages for consumer health as a result. 

 The energy savings are achieved with a series of technologies including the most important, which is the Leonardo S roller mill with “Kers“ device. This technology uses electrical regeneration of the kinetic energy created between the milling rolls, which means a reduction in the roller mill’s power use of 50 percent. 

 Probes and frequency changers (VSD) are applied to the motors with higher power to make sure that only the energy required for each stage in the process is actually used. During the winter season, the mill will also recover the heat produced by the fans present in the plant, redirecting it throughout the building and therefore optimising energy use. This will in turn allow the plant to benefit from the tax breaks available with regard to CO2 emissions and to cut production costs to the benefit of all concerned. The mill will be remotely operated and thanks to independently controlled roller speeds, it will be possible to optimise milling yield according to the type of mix and flour. 

 As far as the new building is concerned, the construction work will be carried out by the client, following instructions and designs from Omas, making use of cutting-edge “Building Economy“ technology which will cut the height of the building by a whole floor. The roller mill motors are fitted directly to the rollers and therefore, there is no need for an expensive, noisy transmission floor, which means building weight and foundations are reduced by 25 percent. 

 The roller mills will be raised above ground, making access easier for inspection and cleaning underneath the rollers, for an added guarantee of absolute hygiene. This will also benefit the power supply, which will come from above, avoiding the need for excavation or channels that are always a source of infestation. 

 The building will be windowless, but it will have an air conditioning and recirculation system that prevents noise and dust emissions, guaranteeing not only energy savings but also, in the colder months, a constant temperature inside the building, which in turn prevents the formation of condensation and mould. The work areas are compartmentalised using soundproof walls and materials, making it possible to operate the plant while remaining within the limits set by noise safety standards. 

 For the original press release click here. 

 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com

03/07/2017: How to reduce power consumption in an animal feed plant by more than half

Since 2011, UFA’s Sursee poultry feed mill built in 1965 has been one of only a few unmanned feed mills in the world

The mill runs from 9pm until 5am without any operating personnel. Mechanical engineer Peter Hofer is a member of management and responsible for the entire production of UFA, the Swiss agricultural company specialising in animal feed. 
 

Using power as efficiently as possible for UFA’s large production volume is important for him and the company – for reasons of cost and for the sake of principle.

He stresses, “You can do a lot to use energy efficiently if you analyse the processes accurately.”

Working with the Bühler Technology Group, UFA has been particularly successful in optimising processes at its Sursee feed mill. The energy savings mean the investment pays for itself in just a few years. Until the beginning of 2015, an aspiration ventilator was installed with a conventional 75kW induction motor.

This ventilator dehumidifies and cools the steamed, pelleted feed before it is packed. For this, it draws the air through the material to be dried from the 10th floor of the production tower. The ventilation was controlled simply via a flap with the motor directly coupled to the power grid and always operating at fixed speed.

This ventilation system, which was state of the art when it was installed in the 1980s, needed to be replaced. “I read a technical article about a ventilation system at University Hospital in Zürich where, during a renovation, a new, highly efficient synchronous reluctance motor from ABB with a frequency converter was used. I was impressed by the figures that showed how much less energy it used," remembers Mr Hofer.

Precise motor design saves space and costs
Peter Hofer sat down with experts from Bühler to explore the potential efficiency improvements that renovating the ventilation system with an ABB drive package could bring. Together, they first thoroughly inspected the process and measured the power of the motor. The new plant was finally precisely designed along with specialists from ABB and Bühler.

Read the full article, HERE.

 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com

VIGAN company profile

VIGAN manufactures bulk materials handling systems, mainly:

• Mobile pneumatic conveyors or vacuvators or grain pumps.
• Pneumatic continuous barge unloaders and mechanical barge loaders.
• Mechanical and pneumatic continuous ship unloaders for vessels up to post-Panamax.
• Mechanical loaders for any size of ships.

VIGAN Engineering S.A is a Belgian company with its headquarters in Nivelles industrial area about 30 kilometres south of Brussels at the heart of the European Community.

VIGAN manufactures a complete range of pneumatic and mechanical conveying systems for products in bulk not only thanks to the supply machines but also by managing complete turnkey projects.

Nivelles city is easily accessible due to its proximity to European highways and about one hour drive to the port of Antwerp which allows excellent transport conditions for all its equipment to foreign countries.

All the company activities take place on the same 10,000 m² site which enables easy and very quick exchange of information among all departments including sales, engineering, manufacturing, quality control and after-sales technical assistance. VIGAN engineering department with 450 m² space boasts latest software technologies (such as CAO – CAM types)

According to the Vigan website, “For any free flowing materials like cereals, grains, seeds, animal feed, alumina, petro coke, chemicals, industry raw materials, VIGAN is your engineering partner and your solution provider”.

“VIGAN excellence is also recognized by hundreds of international references.
As an affiliate company from VAN DE WIELE group (which has an annual turnover of about 400 million USD and about 2,000 workers and employees in more than 10 different countries) and with more than 30 years of experience, VIGAN is a most reliable partner from your project ideas to their full completion and for your total satisfaction thanks to its service excellence and equipment performances.”

Visit the website HERE.

 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine GFMT
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com

03/07/2017: Bühler builds first industrial-scale insect processing plant in Europe

Bühler Insect Technology will build its first industrial plant to process black solider flies for animal nutrition together with its partner Protix in the Netherlands

Bühler will deliver the technology, equipment, and process know how for the rearing and processing of the insects and the feedstock preparation. Start of operation is planned for the first half of 2018.
 

Bühler insect technology and research and development
Image credit: Bühler

Andreas Aepli, CEO of Bühler Insect Technology, says, “With this first industrial insect protein production plant we will make an important step towards a more sustainable global food and feed value chain”.

Protein is an essential component of nutrition for both humans and animals. About 15 percent of the daily energy intake should be covered by protein, to build and repair the cells that sustain life.

Agriculture produces roughly 525 million tonnes of plant protein a year, found in corn, rice, wheat, or soybeans. However, today’s protein production is not sustainable: Only 25 percent of proteins land as vegetable proteins on our plates, while 15 percent are wasted and 60 percent are used to produce animal protein.

Furthermore, with the growing world population, protein production needs to double by 2050. Experts agree this cannot be achieved using traditional farming practices and resources, which is why alternative sources for protein such insects or algae are becoming increasingly important.

Insects offer a sustainable alternative: Grown on organic residues, they can recover up to 70 percent of nutrients, thus recycling these underutilised streams back to the food value chain.

Largest insect-processing plant on an industrial scale in Europe

In January 2017, Bühler and Protix founded the joint venture Bühler Insect Technology to serve the insect processing industry. Building the first black soldier fly processing plant in Europe together is the next step in this cooperation and will serve as a modular and scalable blueprint for future projects. The plant will be situated in the Netherlands and will serve customers in the feed industry.
  

Kees Aarts, Founder and CEO Protix, and Andreas Aepli, CEO Bühler Insect Technology
Image credit: Bühler

With construction starting this year, the plant is expected to be operational in the first half of 2018.

It will produce protein meal and lipids that are used in the animal nutrition sector to feed pigs, chicken, fish, and domestic animals. The black soldier fly larvae are fed carefully selected organic byproducts from local distilleries, food producers and vegetable collectors in the Netherlands, which further underlines the sustainability of the process.

Find more information about insects as a sustainable protein source on the Bühler website, HERE.

Find more information about Protix on their website, HERE. 

 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com