We talk to customers every day, and we look for ways to address their “pain points” – those annoying problems that keep them awake at night. Sometimes it is a problem they can identify, and sometimes it is a problem they do not even know they have.
We recently encountered a customer who was dumping bags of a powder (a thickener that when hydrated, formed a gel) into a tank, and waiting hours for the powder to hydrate. At the end of the production run, they still had a lot of fisheyes, but this was viewed as being good enough. One of their operators claimed, “We filter out the fisheyes and we’re good to go”. They had already tried to address the ergonomic problem by dumping the powder into an eductor-based powder induction system at ground level. At the beginning of the batch, the results were acceptable, but as more and more powder was added, the viscosity started to build and the induction rate slowed down. Eventually, the powder induction stopped and there was no flow returning to the tank. As you can guess, when we suggested that they try our powder induction system, their reaction was not very positive.
Not so fast. The Admix Fastfeed uses a vacuum pump to induct the powder and pump the liquid. The Fastfeed is not nearly as sensitive to viscosity as an eductor-based system, and it has a much wider operating range. The customer sent their powder to the Admix lab for testing, and we exceeded their target induction rate without clogging the system. Before purchasing, they opted for an in-plant test using a Fastfeed from our trial pool. The Fastfeed once again exceeded their target induction rate and did not clog. There are a lot of powder induction systems on the market, but all powder induction systems are not created equal. More importantly, we know how to make the Fastfeed perform, as we are also ingredient experts.
Your local Admix Representative is in a great position to find solutions to those pain points and help you sleep better at night! Contact your local rep today!