Danny Chang holds a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Southern California. After graduating in 2011, Danny started his career with IDAH, which joined CPM’s family of brands in 2023. Danny was named general manager in 2013 as his background and years of experience in the industry helped him develop strong production knowledge and market insights in protein products. In that same year, he also received United States Patent for inventing counter-rotating twin screw extruder for aquafeed. Under Danny’s guidance and IDAH’s nearly 50 years of experience in food, feed and biofuel, the brand has become a leader in shrimp feed solutions in Asia.
You have a rich career in the industry. How did you first get interested in the industry?
As the second generation in the feed machine business, I was exposed to the feed machinery business at an early age. I was able to participate in many company meetings and numerous customer visits that sparked an interest to understand more about the industry. I joined the company after graduating with my master’s degree and started getting hands-on experience with the development of the technology.
What are the major trends that you witnessed recently in the industry in terms of consumer demands?
The interest in reducing raw material cost and the incorporation of novel ingredients for different feeds have been a continuous demand from the feed industry. After COVID, a new trend has started where customers are looking for more affordable options, higher ROI and energy saving technology. These challenges have started a new wave of research to fulfill the demand.
Collaboration is often essential in driving innovation. Can you share your thoughts on the importance of partnerships and knowledge-sharing within the sector, and how these collaborations have influenced your leadership style?
Understanding the demands from customers has been important to our recent innovations. In order to make the development efficiently, we created an innovation center where we can run trials and design experiments on lab machines. This is a place where customers, experts in the industry and our engineers can work together and make our ideas into reality. In the last five years, IDAH is constantly undergoing revolutionary breakthroughs in research and development, using scientific data to develop new techniques and technologies in producing robust and tailored machinery for food and feed industries.
What career opportunities and pathways do you see emerging in the feed machinery industry in near future?
The trend of the industry will start to shift. Previously, one machine has been used for more than one purpose. In the future, the types of machines in one production line will increase and you’ll see one machine for one purpose. The production line will allow wider range of ingredients to be processed and also improve the final product quality. The challenge is the operator will need to control a complex system composed from many types of machines, while at the same time minding the efficiency in production and maintenance target.
Does efficiency and sustainability go hand in hand in feed industry?
A production solution that is efficient should also be sustainable. For example, a new development carousel dryer-cooler system for shrimp feed uses much less total air volume, thus, lowering the air exhaust volume. Lower exhaust volume means lower cost needed for odour treatment. So this dryer-cooler system is a much efficient system and at the same time creating less pollution.
