by Shannon Parsons and Niamh Cassidy, International Petfood, UK
The latest technology of a feedmill, broken down into each piece of equipment used to create the nutritious feed we give our livestock, pets, aquatic animals, discussed during the two-hour conference of Build My Feedmill (BMFM) at Health and Nutrition Asia 2024. Held on March 13, 2024 at BITEC, Thailand, Bangkok, Perendale Publishers gathered some of the top people in the feed industry to share their knowledge on their most recent technically-advanced innovations regarding machinery and it was an incredibly informative conference.
Starting off the conference is a warm welcome for the International Petfood’s CEO and Publisher, Roger Gilbert, who explains the process of BMFM. It is a two-hour conference structured on the flow chart of a feedmill where each speaker has ten minutes to discuss their topic/machine that correlates with a part of the flow chart.
Presenting first on the topic of dosing and weighing was Sebastiaan Van Dijk from KSE with his presentation ‘Fast dosing, precise weighing & increased production capacity’. Sebastiaan dove into the recent and innovative solutions that are transforming dosing and weighing in the milling process, giving valuable insights into achieving exceptional accuracy, optimizing ingredient tracking, eliminating industry challenges like product damage, and boosting productivity.
After we had grinding which was covered by Olaf Naehrig from Amandus Khal discussing ‘The role of the roller mill in the feedmill’. Olaf gave an in-depth introduction to KAHL’s roller mills, their applications, and benefits.
Continuing onto micro-dosing was Marco Prati from PLP Systems with his presentation ‘Handling minor ingredients and additives used for feed production’. Marco covered how additives can be dosed, the role of the Premix Plant, and a way of handling micro ingredients in the mill.
Circling back to a previous speaker, Olaf Naehrig presented ‘Expander technology in the feedmill’ in relation to expander conditioning. He explained how KAHL’s expander plays a key role in the production of high-quality feed.
Jonathan Zheng from ZhengChang then covered high meat addition with his presentation ‘High meat addition in pet food processing’. Jonathan brought attention to potential problems in high meat production, such as moisture content in raw meat materials, and how Zhengchang Research & Development and testing overcame this issue, producing great results in high meat addition.
Bringing the conference to the half-way mark is Neal Cass from Hydronix discussing automation, ‘The importance of moisture control and measurement throughout the feed milling process’. Neal answered questions regarding why you need to measure moisture, where, and how you control, as well as methods and benefits to moisture control.
Kicking off the second hour was Roger Ubags from Van Aarsen on heat treatment and pelleting, informing everyone on ‘Safe feed forms, the basis for safe food’. Roger briefed the audience on Van Aarsen’s innovations, and how they successfully work at improving the pelleting process.
After Ubags was Claus Braunbeck from FrigorTec on cooling with ‘Grain management for reliable feed milling’. Claus discussed the importance of maintain quality and quantity of stored commodities with grain cooling as a total solution.
BMFM then had two separate presentations on bulk handling, the first being from Justin van den Heuvel from Muller Beltex with his presentation ‘Improve your bucket elevators in view of the total cost of ownership’. This was followed by Nicoleta Axenti from Metalmont with her presentation ‘Automated and safe bunker storage of raw products and pellets’.
To continue with bulk territory, Sven Konings from TSC Silos touches on storage and bulk outloading with his presentation ‘From process design to a building design: How structural thinking saves time, space and errors’. Sven talked about the importance of integrating constructive thinking early in the design process, and how it can yield significant benefits such as saving time and space, reducing errors, and enhancing efficiency.
To end the day was a fascinating joint presentation from Andritz by Marco Bauman and Dr Sohail Nazari covering future feed milling. They discussed Andritz’s innovative technology, and how to ‘Build your plant with operational readiness using digital twin technology’.
The conference was ended with a group Q&A and discussion, allowing the audience an opportunity to question and collectively discuss and debate the topics that were brought forward during the previous two hours. An educational and thought provoking moment this was that encouraged everyone in the room to participate.
This event report was published in the June 2024 edition of International Petfood Magazine.