Lean Manufacturing in Powder Processing Conference
On 23rd and 24th June Matcon hosted their fourth “Lean Powder Processing” conference (Promotional Flyer).
The conference was attended by 44 international delegates. Countries represented included; Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, UK, United Arab Emirates and the USA.
Delegates came from a wide range of industries, indicating the very wide appeal of the subject matter.
- Infant & Adult nutrition
- Flavours / Fragrances
- Food ingredients
- Confectionary
- Bakery
- Soups
- Yoghurt and Drinks
- Dairy
- Tobacco
- Animal Feed
- Pharma & Biotechnology
A prestigious panel of speakers shared their experience over the two day programme, which included:-
- Cstar (Mars), Dubai, UAE
A consultant who has over 20 years experience working for the Mars Corporation and was heavily involved in implementing lean factories within the group.
- Large Refractory, Belgium
Engineering Manager at this refractory company who last year installed a substantial Matcon recipe formulation system.
- Lean Dental Insert Manufacturer, USA
Engineering Manager at this manufacturer of specialty powders for medical industry.
- AllFill, UK
Managing Director of this leading provider of powder filling systems.
- University of Greenwich, London
Senior Lecturer at the School of Engineering, specialising in lean manufacturing.
- Processing & Packaging Machine Assoc
Chief Executive of this national trade association, representing the views of 370 member companies and approximately 12000 employees.
- Centre for Food Robotics and Automation
Vice Chairman, representing the current trends and solutions with robotics in food sector.
To add the practical touch, Matcon also demonstrated a wide range of powder handling process equipment and integrated systems suitable for food and other industry sectors. Equipment and systems included a blend of Matcon’s own equipment and that of many other leading companies in the powders handling sector:-
- Rigid IBC (Intermediate Bulk Containers) and related technology for filling, discharging, blending, dosing, packing (Matcon);
- Matcon’s “FlexiBatch” system for fully automatic recipe formulation for minor and micro additions. For many of the attendees this unique system was the highlight of the equipment demonstrations illustrating how modern automation is being applied to gain major efficiencies in world class food production facilities.
- Sack tipping & sieving (Russell Finex)
- In-line sifting (Quadro)
- Pack filling (Allfill)
- Dust collection (Dustcheck)
- Metal detection (Lock Inspection Systems)
- CIP (clean-in-place) systems (Suncombe)
- Weighing solutions (Mettler Toledo)
To provide the best possible opportunity for networking and cross-fertilisation of ideas and experience, the conference included an evening banquet at the stunning setting of Warwick Castle.
As a “turnkey” supplier Matcon has developed relationships with a very wide range of partners who supply key components and machines for integration into the overall solutions. Integration is a combination of mechanical, controls and human issues. These partnerships require a great deal of investment of time and management commitment to ensure that the end user gets a seamlessly integrated solution. As a follow-on from the conference Matcon held an “Open Day” on 30th June for its key partner companies to see how their equipment has been integrated together with Matcon’s in order to provide the optimum solution for the end users. The event was very well attended.
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