As the market for Infant Formula expands, it brings with it the need for ever more product diversity, through new and improved recipes and different styles and sizes of packaging. At the same time, hygiene and safety continue to be the first priority.

As more and more of the new product Infant Formula SKUs contain minor ingredients, including allergen products, it gets even more challenging to manage changeovers and clean-downs. Many facilities simply can't cope and are not able to provide the manufacturing flexibility that is needed in todays' market.

We have helped major global manufacturers solve the following problems:

• Slow changeovers
• Complex clean-downs
• Handling allergens & the risk of cross-contamination
• Wastage

Matcon powder handling is based on using Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs), which have proven themselves to be adept at balancing the needs for flexibility within the strict safety standards thanks to:

• Hygienically designed IBCs manufactured from stainless steel to pharmaceutical standards.
• Closed, automated filling and emptying systems that assure dust-free handling without the risk of cross-contamination and consequently, reassurance on consumer safety.
• The unique Cone Valve IBC technology delivering mass-flow discharge to packing with no risk of segregation or process blockage. Ensuring a consistent finished product to your consumers.
• Dry washing proving adequate (only a single gram of residue in a 1ton IBC), removing the risk of bacteria associated with water cleaning.
• IBC Blending technology allowing lean & flexible manufacturing with the shortest changeover times. With optional Intensifier technology for more complex blends or premixes, where oil additions are made.
• Purpose designed electronic Tracking system for batch traceability, safety and full manufacturing efficiency.

The ability to fully automate the process with the use of automatic guided vehicles

6 ways to improve flexibility & profits

We have published a number of reports which share our experiences that we have gained working with global Infant Nutrition manufacturers. If you would like to receive any of these reports then please sign up below:

Sign up to find out 6 ways to improve flexibility & profits

Report 1: Flexible Manufacturing - showing how parallel processing removes the need to build up expensive finished-goods warehousing and excessive WIP/WIQ.

Report 2: Mixing & Packing to the highest efficiency and OEE - sharing how to reduce and remove downtime for cleaning between recipes; streamlining staging and complexity.

Report 3: Hygiene for Food Safety - exploring how to prevent foreign bodies getting into the product and how to avoid cross-contamination between recipes.

Report 4: Reducing complexity - demonstrating how to simplify the formulation process by pre-mixing the 'minor' and 'micro' ingredients in IBCs.

Report 5: Maintaining homogeneity during transfer - revealing how our unique Matcon Cone Valve technology helps to protect blended product throughout the manufacturing process.

Report 6: Recipe Control and Batch Tracking - presenting the safest approach to ensuring that Retailer quality standards are met.