There\u2019s an old quote that says \u201cyou don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going until you know where you\u2019ve been.\u201d\u00a0 While this may be philosophical, it can be relevant to your business.\u00a0 Many times we are involved in troubleshooting and problem solving issues in production.\u00a0 A customer may call us and say that they cannot maintain or reach a certain temperature or nutritional specification or that parts are continually breaking.\u00a0 Our normal process is to begin asking a series of questions to help determine the root cause.\u00a0 While this works, it is a reactive approach.\u00a0 What if you could be proactive and avoid these issues altogether?<\/p>\n
Measure It<\/strong><\/p>\n How can you improve things if you cannot measure them?\u00a0 Let\u2019s take something simple like moisture content of soybeans.\u00a0 You can rely on your supplier to tell you that the moisture of the beans is 12%, but can you assume this is the case throughout your entire process?\u00a0 Customers have called to ask for help when running the ExPress\u00ae process because they are having a high level of solids coming out of their press.\u00a0 Our first question is usually \u201cwhat\u2019s the moisture content of the incoming soy?\u201d.\u00a0 Some customers are fortunate enough to have a lab on-site, but some do not.\u00a0 Having a way to measure this and other important metrics, such as nutritional content, is extremely beneficial.\u00a0 There are affordable NIR options, like our Portable Ingredient Analyzer (PIA), that allow for on-the-spot readings to let you know your process is within specifications.\u00a0 This can save costly recalls down the road.<\/p>\n Control It<\/strong><\/p>\n Automation is the new normal.\u00a0 Even in lower capacity plants, there is typically some level of automation.\u00a0 The level of this is an important factor in plant process design.\u00a0 Automation increases efficiency, reduces labor costs, and can increase safety depending on the process.\u00a0 The \u201chuman\u201d side of things is taken away, so errors can be reduced.\u00a0 Along with measuring key processes within your system, automating them may be another way to avoid \u201csurprises\u201d.\u00a0 Even if it is something that is not required at first, at some point, everyone will likely consider it.\u00a0 Automation can be done in stages, but it is typically easier to start with it rather than retrofit afterwards.<\/p>\n Monitor It<\/strong><\/p>\n Measuring and controlling are great preventative measures, but in order to truly capitalize on these, you need to have a system to continually monitor and check your process.\u00a0 Regular sampling on set intervals will allow you to start tracking your data.\u00a0 From this data, you can establish correct operating zones.<\/p>\n The extruder is a fairly manual machine, but new advances such as our Production Intelligence Program (PIP) allow customers to remotely monitor their system and get alerts if problems arise.\u00a0 A manager can get alerts via email or text for things ranging from maintenance reminders to out-of-range processing temperatures.\u00a0 More sophisticated systems even allow video monitoring of lines which can prove invaluable for remote troubleshooting.<\/p>\n The Future<\/strong><\/p>\n Controlling your process is the key to a successful business.\u00a0 Measuring performance is a key to growth, but also a key to improvement.\u00a0 There are several tools available to make your business successful and reduce the amount of time it takes to gather this data.\u00a0 Using tools such as the Portable Ingredient Analyzer and the Production Intelligence Program and knowing how to use them will save you time, improve efficiencies, and make you more profitable in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s an old quote that says \u201cyou don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going until you know where you\u2019ve been.\u201d\u00a0 While this may be philosophical, it can be relevant to your business.\u00a0 Many times we are involved in troubleshooting and problem solving issues in production.\u00a0 A customer may call us and say that they cannot maintain or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":10698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7176],"tags":[92,63,93,69],"class_list":["post-9775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engineeringandmaintenance","tag-business-strategy","tag-extrusion-equipment-maintenance","tag-processing-feed-or-food","tag-profitable-feed-processing-plant"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n