Case Study · Pet Food
Pet Food Smart Extruder Automation
Automated ingredient delivery for the extrusion process.
Project Summary
DAD'S Products Company — a $60-million manufacturer of canned, dry, and soft-moist dog and cat food — looked to Bachelor Controls to minimize waste and reduce the load on its wastewater treatment facility.
Challenge
Minimize slurry end-of-run waste to reduce the load on the wastewater treatment facility, including:
- Handle the wet additive independently rather than in a batch slurry, so that the slurries can be more generic across products and the more specific flavor and preservative ingredients can be metered at the extruder
- Automate the ingredient feed system and meter ingredients into the dry feed system at the extruder pre-conditioner
- Integrate the extruder formula setup/management system so that each formula must be linked to a product that has been defined and resides in the batching SQL Server database
- Add two additional Readco/Bonnot units to the core BCI AUTOPILOT® configuration and control all three units from a single operator interface
- Monitor process performance and quality
It's running fantastic! I love it! We've broken three production records in a row. We have seen over a 40% increase in throughput on average, and we've seen change-over times drop by over 65%.
Solution & Benefits
BCI reduced the amount of waste material going to the water treatment facility during change-overs. That produced higher yields, a major increase in production, and an "enormous improvement" in product quality. It also eliminated set up errors and increased efficiency between the company's batch process and its business planning functions.
Results
10%
Increase in yields
40%+
Increase in production
66%
Faster change-overs
30 min
Change-over time, from 90
What Changed on the Line
- "Enormous improvement" in product quality, in terms of shape, color and consistency
- Synchronized the batch systems' Batch Campaign Management and the extruder's Formula Selection screens
- Eliminated extruder set-up errors against the dry mix product
- Equipment-independent master recipes, used across production lines, have increased manufacturing throughput and flexibility
- Data for each step of the production cycle are electronically collected, stored and displayed
- Enabled engineers to access information, release batches, and make on-line changes to recipes from workstations across the network
- Created a real-time link between the company's batch process and its business planning functions
What the Customer Said
Bachelor's ability to provide an installation-friendly panel should not be overlooked. The panel items were grouped, packaged and routed to enhance the installation effort. There are just a lot of little details that are a standard part of a Bachelor panel.
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