Factory Showing Powder Handling Equipment for producing food flavorings

INDUSTRIES

Efficient Powder Handling for Food Flavourings & Spices

Matcon designs efficient, flexible systems using IBCs and container-based mixing to improve production and product quality for spices, seasonings and flavourings.

Whether you are looking to implement a full factory redesign or make piecemeal changes, we have the ability to design what you need to reach your constantly evolving food manufacturing goals.

Increase Production Capacity and Production

Matcon IBC systems are ideal for food manufacturers that have a portfolio of products that are high in variety and/or contain allergens. Industrial food production equipment should possess the ability to make-to-order and reduce cross-contamination risks.

Our lean materials approach delivers food processing systems that achieve increased productivity, improved process efficiency and reduced manufacturing costs. Our experts design bespoke systems that are created to meet your production targets and comply to regulatory standards in the food and flavourings industry. We help our customers to stay ahead of the competition.

The flavourings industry faces growing challenges: expanding product lines, diverse ingredients, stringent allergen controls, and tighter regulations. These are all driven by consumer demand for new tastes. These put pressure on the production team who look for ways to maintain target outputs, ensure superior product quality and ensure consumer safety.

Traditional linear processing methods of manufacturing spices and flavourings are too cumbersome & inflexible. They are only as effective as the weakest link; any glitch in the process chain will adversely affect the whole process and increase the Takt time of manufacturing. Furthermore, these types of systems often result in campaign manufacture, which creates significant amounts of inventory that requires warehousing and runs the risk of spoiling or obsolescence.

Additionally, the different ingredients used within the recipes all have differing bulk densities & particle sizes, which can cause blend separation when discharging the powders. They can also be quite sticky in nature and poor flowing which may cause blockages in traditional butterfly valve bins.

Finally, any dust that escapes the process is a potential cross-contamination risk – what if these are allergens? A closed system is definitely preferable.

We design lean, agile production systems that are based on IBCs and container-based mixing. Using a parallel processing design, the manufacturing process steps (formulation, mixing, packing & cleaning) are no longer coupled together, but are undertaken simultaneously, eliminating the waiting time between batches. Because IBCs are used to transport materials between the decoupled production steps, all process steps are harmonized, resulting in high OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) rates.

Our equipment ensures there are no dead zones within the IBC, while the Cone Valve promotes discharge through mass flow, ensuring the powder material remains mixed and particles don’t separate or become de-mixed during the discharge process. This ultimately results in a superior product quality in the final pack with strict control over what goes in.

Using the IBC as the blending vessel means there is no need for clean-down between recipe batches, saving time and reducing contamination risk. Our solutions are also ATEX compliant and compatible with food plant design such as HACCP & EHEDG, along with being suitable for GMP design.

As an adjunct to our container blending capabilities, we also offer high shear mixing with our Intensifier and the ability to make Liquid Addition without stopping the blender.

Matcon has over four decades of creating top-quality manufacturing systems that have helped our customers around the world become more competitive and respond to changing consumer tastes, whilst achieving their manufacturing objectives.

Matcon systems are constructed from modular pieces of equipment that can be adjusted to suit your needs and grow with you. Over the years, we have designed everything from a simple pair of IBCs decoupling a fixed mixer, to full lights-out automated movement of IBCs using AGVs. Our designs have helped to revolutionise businesses and enable our customers to produce superior products, efficiently handle allergens, comply with hygiene regulations.

We leverage our experience across various sectors to create solutions, understanding both the food industry's recipe complexities and the strict regulations in pharmaceuticals. You can test your product on full-scale equipment at our global sites, so you can feel more confident in your purchase. We can also enhance the testing using NIR (Near Infrared spectroscopy) to optimize blending times further.

We are also able to partner with our IDEX MPT colleagues to integrate milling, sifting and powder dispersion equipment should the design require it.