Andreas Eibner
Head of Sales AZO®Food
In the production of pet food, we can do what we do best:
The automated handling of many different raw materials and recipes with strict batch separation - and this across a complete plant. From storage and discharge, weighing and dosing, to feeding mixer lines and process control, our entire know-how from more than 70 years of raw material automation is applied in this industry and brings our customers decisive added value. And thanks to our expertise in raw material analytics, there is no raw material, no matter how critical, that we cannot automate safely and efficiently.
Major components such as maize grits, rice, wheat or rice flour, as well as pea or soy proteins, are found in almost all recipes and classically stored in external silos. With the help of suction weighing systems, which combine the functions of discharging, dosing, conveying, and weighing in one system, these components are brought to the mixer precisely weighed. AZO COMPONENTER® systems offer another possibility to assemble different components according to the recipe. Here, a batch of several components is pre-weighed and then conveyed to the mixer pneumatically or in containers.
The major components may form the foundation, but what really sets high-quality pet food apart are the numerous minor components:
Vitamins, hemoglobin, alternative proteins, or fiber - the list of ingredients for good and healthy pet food is long and each raw material brings its own unique challenges for automated handling and feeding of mixing lines.
Plant-based fibers like Arbocel® are incorporated into many pet foods to provide the right chewing sensation. These raw materials pose a major challenge, especially during product feeding or discharge from big bags, sacks, and silos, because they have very poor flow behavior. This is where our AZO discharge devices or big bag discharge stations with special discharge systems provide a remedy.
With the large number of minor components required for the production of high-quality pet food, correct dosing is particularly important. For this purpose, we offer you both automated and operator-guided weighing systems with which you can weigh in a variety of raw materials true to recipe and separated by batch.
The carefully weighed and pre-dosed ingredients must now be conveyed to the mixing line as gently as possible. Our pneumatic conveying systems are ideal for this purpose, allowing you to send almost any raw material safely to the right mixing line. For raw materials that have to be conveyed particularly gently and with low segregation, our AZO®MULTIAIR and AZO®SaugPlus dense phase conveying systems are suitable.
The large number of minor components and process steps that need to be monitored in parallel for the production of high-quality pet food requires an intelligent production control system with intuitive operation. Here, too, we offer you everything you need to successfully automate your pet food production and always have all the information about your production lines at your fingertips. At the same time, continuous batch tracing is guaranteed to ensure the consistently high quality of your products.
