ARTICLES

FILTER:

    LATEST ARTICLE

  • Rotary Batch Mixer Slashes Cycle Times, Overages at Contract Manufacturer

    Rotary Batch Mixer Slashes Cycle Times, Overages at Contract Manufacturer

    LOS ANGELES, CA — EW Packaging contract manufactures and packages powder, tablet and capsule products, protein powders, energy drink mixes, and sports nutrition products. Customers include national warehouse clubs and dietary supplement retailers. Founded in 2001 as EW Trading dba EW Packaging, CEO Rob Lonas renamed it EW Packaging when he brought the company's packaging and printing services in house. Today EW operates six blister-filling lines and four bottle-filling lines, and uses flexographic printers to customize pouch and blister foils. It also machines its own tooling, which shortens turnaround times and reduces costs. In 2016, the company began blending dietary supplement and food powders and manufacturing tablets and capsules, but the company's V-cone blender proved inefficient. "The machine was a lot of work and there was a lot of downtime," Lonas says. "It took at least 30 minutes to get a load in and out, plus another 15 to 20 minutes of actual mixing." Next, he tried a ribbon blender, which reduced loading and unloading times but it compromised blend quality. "The ribbon blender has corners, dead zones, where the powder isn't mixed," he says. Sometimes EW added as much as 10 percent more active ingredient to the products than...

    Read more >>

  • RECENT ARTICLES

  • Ribbon Blender Output Up 25-Fold at Diversified Chemical Products

    Ribbon Blender Output Up 25-Fold at Diversified Chemical Products

    WILMINGTON, DE — Diversified Chemical Products, Inc. (DCP) began in 1974 as a small, family-owned research and manufacturing business. In the last two decades, the company has grown rapidly as a custom manufacturer of FDA-regulated formulations of laboratory, medical and dental products, in addition to chemical cleaning powders. "We're diverse...

    Read more >>

  • Dr. Harvey's Ups Output of Natural Pet Foods with Rotary Batch Mixer

    Dr. Harvey's Ups Output of Natural Pet Foods with Rotary Batch Mixer

    EATONTOWN, NJ — Dr. Harvey’s produces all-natural food products for dogs and birds, each of which is a blend of 15 to 30 dry ingredients ranging from seeds, dried vegetables, fruits and organic grains, to protein powder and freeze-dried meat. The company's previous 9000 sq ft (836 m2) plant and...

    Read more >>

  • Rotary Mixer Boosts Dietary Supplement Output Fivefold, Halves Labor

    Rotary Mixer Boosts Dietary Supplement Output Fivefold, Halves Labor

    GILBERT, AZ — Phoenix Custom manufactures and packages nationally recognized brands and private-label protein powders, amino acids, functional foods and encapsulated dietary supplements. Services include blending, encapsulation, sachet filling, bottling, packaging. In 2020, Eric Manfull, an 18-year veteran of the food & dietary supplement industry, was brought on as general...

    Read more >>

  • Rotary Batch Mixer Facilitates Proprietary Nutraceutical Processes

    Rotary Batch Mixer Facilitates Proprietary Nutraceutical Processes

    TEMPE, AZ — NRS (Nutraceutical Research Sciences, LLC) is a private-label manufacturer of nutraceuticals and novel ingredients. Its founder, the late John Anderson, was a 42-year veteran of the dietary supplement industry involved in launching over 3,500 products. The company's products range from anti-aging supplements and sports nutrition to vitamins...

    Read more >>

  • Mixer Keeps Hot-Melt Adhesives Cool

    Mixer Keeps Hot-Melt Adhesives Cool

    NORTH CHICAGO, IL — HMT Manufacturing produces hot-melt adhesives and laminating systems that join almost any material, such as fabric, wood, melamine, foil, and cork, to virtually any substrate including plywood, polystyrene, rubber, steel, and foam. Customers range from makers of building materials and RVs to woodworkers and retailers. Most...

    Read more >>

  • Nutraceutical Blending Cycles Cut 90 Percent with Switch to Rotary Batch Mixing

    Nutraceutical Blending Cycles Cut 90 Percent with Switch to Rotary Batch Mixing

    HAUPPAUGE, NY — With increasing demand for its health and wellness nutraceutical supplements, A&Z Pharmaceutical built a 26,700 sq ft (2483 sq m) wing and production line here dedicated to nutraceutical products that were previously produced at another site. The company cut blending times on a new production line over...

    Read more >>

  • Tumbling Blends Herbal Supplements Five-Times Faster Than Agitating

    Tumbling Blends Herbal Supplements Five-Times Faster Than Agitating

    OGDEN, UT — Systemic Formulas, manufacturer of herbal blends and powdered vitamins, sells directly to homeopaths, naturopaths, nutritional consultants, and other healthcare professionals. "Our products are complicated," says production manager Spencer Hansen, "with multiple ingredients and more than 150 different SKUs." The company offers capsules, powders, liquids, and sachet daily-dose...

    Read more >>

  • Aussie Coffee Processor Boosts Capacity, Quality by Switching Mixers

    Aussie Coffee Processor Boosts Capacity, Quality by Switching Mixers

    SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Pablo & Rusty's Coffee Roasters began in 2003 as an homage to its founders, brothers-in-law Peter and Russel. The firm started with a small roastery that supplied the company's two cafes and a small but rapidly growing number of loyal customers. Demand grew quickly, so P&R moved...

    Read more >>

  • Five Minute Blending of Compounds Going on Four Decades

    Five Minute Blending of Compounds Going on Four Decades

    SHEBOYGAN, WI — Plastics Engineering Company manufactures a wide range of custom-formulated molding compounds and industrial resins. A big share of its production is dedicated to novolac and resol thermoset molding compounds — also known as phenolic resins — which it sells under the PLENCO trademark. These resins are highly...

    Read more >>

  • Biron Teas Brings Blending In-House with Rotary Batch Mixer

    Biron Teas Brings Blending In-House with Rotary Batch Mixer

    MACON, GA — Founded in 2015, Biron Teas sells organic artisanal teas through retail epicurean grocers, the hospitality industry, and ecommerce. Owners Andi and Roland Biron first relied on a Seattle-based co-packer to blend their tea varieties, but with cross country shipping fees, delays, and growing demand, the company needed...

    Read more >>

  • Supplement Producer Ups Uniformity, Cuts Cycle Times with Rotary Batch Mini Mixer

    Supplement Producer Ups Uniformity, Cuts Cycle Times with Rotary Batch Mini Mixer

    DURANGO, CO — Tailwind Nutrition sells proprietary blends of dextrose, sucrose, fructose, electrolytes, amino acids, coconut milk proteins, and caffeine to runners, cyclists and triathletes who rely on nutritional supplements to sustain energy during long distance races. Colorado ultra-marathoner Jeff Vierling started the firm because existing formulations in nutrition drinks,...

    Read more >>

  • Size Reduction of Dates Eight-Times Faster with Screen Classifying Cutter

    Size Reduction of Dates Eight-Times Faster with Screen Classifying Cutter

    THERMAL, CA — Jewel Date Company grows, processes, packages and ships approximately 8 million lb (3.6 million kg) of dates and date products a year. In addition to selling whole and diced dates, the company grinds dates into flours, granules and powders it sells as ingredients to food manufacturers, and...

    Read more >>

  • Animal Feed Producer Ups Uniformity, Cuts Cycle Times with Fluidized Bed Mixing

    Animal Feed Producer Ups Uniformity, Cuts Cycle Times with Fluidized Bed Mixing

    WETASKIWIN, ALBERTA, CANADA — Country Junction Feeds has produced animal feed products in Alberta, Canada for over 100 years. Today it offers a full line of organic wet and dry feeds for cattle, hogs, poultry, horses, bison, elk, goats and sheep. To improve batch consistency and prevent damage when adding...

    Read more >>

  • Material for One Million Glass Containers/Day Blended by Same Mixer Since 1980

    Material for One Million Glass Containers/Day Blended by Same Mixer Since 1980

    ELMIRA, NEW YORK — At Anchor Glass Container Corporation, a Rotary Glass Batcher brought on line in 1980 still mixes the ingredients that produce over a million glass containers per day. Over 38 years, that's about 14 trillion containers and four million tons of material. One of the largest U.S....

    Read more >>

  • Output of Livestock Feed Supplements Doubled Using Rotary Batch Mixer

    Output of Livestock Feed Supplements Doubled Using Rotary Batch Mixer

    ONEIDA, NEW YORK — NuTech Biosciences, Inc., founded in 2010, manufactures nutritional supplements for the animal feed industry. Most are chelated minerals such as iron and copper, explains company president and founder PV Reddy, DVM, Ph.D. Chelating is a process whereby organic materials such as amino acids react with minerals...

    Read more >>

  • Nutritional Feed Company Achieves Uniformity with Rotary Batch Mixer

    Nutritional Feed Company Achieves Uniformity with Rotary Batch Mixer

    BUENA VISTA, VIRGINIA— Micron Bio-Systems is an international biotech company that produces feed preservation additives, mycotoxin remediation treatments and probiotic feed supplements for livestock including beef and dairy cows, calves, lambs, pigs and chickens. Blending of these nutritional supplements is a critical step of the manufacturing process due to the...

    Read more >>

  • Rotary Batch Mixer Blends Wood Powders for Plywood Adhesives

    Rotary Batch Mixer Blends Wood Powders for Plywood Adhesives

    CENTRALIA, WA — To blend raw material for plywood adhesives at higher rates with greater uniformity, the Willamette Valley Company replaced a Ribbon Blender that agitates material, with a Rotary Batch Mixer that tumbles it. The company, also known as Wilvaco, the global forest products corporation, mixes fine mesh bark...

    Read more >>

  • Feed Supplement Plant Achieves Precise Ratios with Rotary Batch Mixer

    Feed Supplement Plant Achieves Precise Ratios with Rotary Batch Mixer

    DES MOINES, IOWA — Family-owned Catalyst, formerly Pharm-Tech (www.pharm-tech.com), custom formulates and manufactures feed and nutritional supplements for customers in the livestock, poultry, pet, wildlife and aquaculture industries. It operates five production plants, three in Idaho and two in Iowa. Its range of over 100 products includes digestive aids, mineral...

    Read more >>

  • Cal-Chlor Reduces Calcium Chloride with Screen Classifying Cutters

    Cal-Chlor Reduces Calcium Chloride with Screen Classifying Cutters

    OPELOUSAS, LA — The surge in production of North American oil and natural gas has been good for petroleum producers and the businesses that supply them with material for drilling. One important product in this category is calcium chloride (CaCl2), a two-part chloride salt that provides benefits in such applications...

    Read more >>

  • Uniform Iced Tea Blends Achieved Using Rotary Batch Mixer

    Uniform Iced Tea Blends Achieved Using Rotary Batch Mixer

    PEAPACK, NJ — Founded in 1912, Henry P. Thomson, Inc. is one of the largest tea importers in the US. Although it began on Wall Street (center of the tea trade back then), HPT now warehouses its products in Augusta, GA and sells primarily to tea packagers, who sell to...

    Read more >>

  • Ribbon Blender Keeps Essential Oils of Spices Intact

    Ribbon Blender Keeps Essential Oils of Spices Intact

    LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — Paul Murphy, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who has worked with notable chefs across the U.S., turned his attention to custom spice blends and opened Al Dentes' Provisions. Initially focused on custom seasoning for chefs in the Las Vegas area, Al Dentes' has since become...

    Read more >>

  • Decorative Concrete Producer Takes Blending In-House to Solve Color Problems

    Decorative Concrete Producer Takes Blending In-House to Solve Color Problems

    THROOP, PA — Concrete Texturing Tool & Supply (DBA Kingdom Products) began receiving customer complaints when ownership of its original manufacturer of decorative concrete materials changed hands. "We were in a situation beyond our control, with colors fluctuating dramatically," says Bart Sacco, president of CTTS, which has been specializing in...

    Read more >>

  • Screen Classifying Cutter Plays Key Role in Leading-Edge Alternative Energy Projects

    Screen Classifying Cutter Plays Key Role in Leading-Edge Alternative Energy Projects

    ORONO, ME — Since 1983, the University of Maine's Process Development Center (PDC) in Orono has served the paper industry, providing leading-edge, collaborative pulp and paper research for companies throughout the U.S. Recently, the PDC expanded its scope, into bioplastics, solid and liquid biofuels, nanomaterials and other technologies. The process...

    Read more >>

  • Wheat for Glue Blended Six-Times Faster with Rotary Batch Mixer

    Wheat for Glue Blended Six-Times Faster with Rotary Batch Mixer

    MALAD, IDAHO — Idaho Milling and Grain has produced wheat flour since 1982 in a process that involves measuring, milling and mixing. But this is not a refined baking flour for cookies and cakes. Instead Idaho Milling and Grain produces an industrial-grade wheat flour that is formulated into a glue...

    Read more >>

  • Contract Manufacturer of Powdered Cleaning Products Boosts Capacity with Two Ribbon Blenders

    Contract Manufacturer of Powdered Cleaning Products Boosts Capacity with Two Ribbon Blenders

    DUDLEY, MASSACHUSETTS — Webco Chemical Corporation is a fully integrated, custom contract manufacturer and packager of liquid and powder chemical products. Founded by Charles Puliafico in 1956 and now in its third generation of private ownership, the company employs 75 in its modern, 200,000 sq ft (18,581 sq m) facility....

    Read more >>

  • Bulk Nutritional Supplements Blended in Pharmaceutical Grade Rotary Mixer

    Bulk Nutritional Supplements Blended in Pharmaceutical Grade Rotary Mixer

    ROCKWELL, NORTH CAROLINA — Daily Manufacturing, Inc. (www.daily-mfg.com) is a small, family oriented business committed to producing high quality nutritional products from natural sources such as vitamins and minerals, digestive aids ranging from activated charcoal to probiotics, herbs and special combinations of these ingredients. Founded in 1979 by James and...

    Read more >>

  • Producer of Pet and Livestock Vitamins and Minerals Relies on Rotary Batch Mixers

    Producer of Pet and Livestock Vitamins and Minerals Relies on Rotary Batch Mixers

    QUINCY, IL — ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc. is a leading manufacturer and distributor of vitamin and trace mineral pre-mixes, ingredients and food additives used in manufacturing pet food products. In addition, about 10 per cent of the company's output is mixes for bovine and swine feed. "We run about 1100...

    Read more >>

  • Kicking Horse Blends Award-Winning Coffee in Two Minutes with Rotary Batch Mixer

    Kicking Horse Blends Award-Winning Coffee in Two Minutes with Rotary Batch Mixer

    INVERMERE, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — From its humble beginnings in a residential garage in 1996, Kicking Horse Coffee has grown dramatically. According to A.C. Nielsen, it has been the best-selling Fair Trade Organic coffee in Canada for 13 years in a row, with a total trade volume of about 99,000...

    Read more >>

  • Japanese Metal Powder Manufacturer Relies on U.S. Rotary Batch Mixer

    Japanese Metal Powder Manufacturer Relies on U.S. Rotary Batch Mixer

    NODA, JAPAN — Nippon Atomized Metal Powders Corporation uses a patented water-jet atomization process to make high-quality super-fine metal powders from copper, bronze, brass, silver, gold, and stainless steel that are of consistent composition and particle size. Nippon Atomized Metal Powders refined the process of water-jet atomization to produce metal...

    Read more >>

  • Arizona Nutritional Supplements Boosts Capacity 500% with Ribbon Blender, Rotary Batch Mixer

    Arizona Nutritional Supplements Boosts Capacity 500% with Ribbon Blender, Rotary Batch Mixer

    Chandler, AZ — Arizona Nutritional Supplements (ANS) is a contract manufacturer with two production facilities in Chandler, AZ — one on Beck Avenue and one on Chilton Drive. The Chilton plant focuses on protein, whey, meal replacement, and other powders packed in plastic jars, plastic stand-up pouches, and stick packs....

    Read more >>

  • Vocational Service Blends Dry Products for Commercial Bakers with Sanitary Ribbon Blender

    Vocational Service Blends Dry Products for Commercial Bakers with Sanitary Ribbon Blender

    BREVARD, NC — Transylvania Vocational Services (TVS) located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, provides an organized program of developmental activities for individuals 18 years of age or older who have intellectual or physical disabilities. The program includes paid work training to enable individuals who lack work experience...

    Read more >>

  • Sanitary Ribbon Blender Helps Food Processor Meet GMP, HACCP Standards

    Sanitary Ribbon Blender Helps Food Processor Meet GMP, HACCP Standards

    TRENTON, ONTARIO, CANADA — Quality Custom Blending Ltd. (www.qualitycustomblending.com) is a family owned and operated business specializing in custom blending of dried powdered food products, including drink crystals, rice products, pastry/dough improvers and various powdered blends for the food and beverage industry. Founded in 1976, the company has grown to...

    Read more >>

  • Switch to Rotary Batch Mixer Cuts Costs,  Boosts Output at Food Ingredient Processor

    Switch to Rotary Batch Mixer Cuts Costs, Boosts Output at Food Ingredient Processor

    NEWMARKET, ONTARIO — Quality Powder Ltd. of Newmarket, Ontario custom blends a variety of key food ingredients for one of Canada's largest makers of gum-based ingredients used in packaged foods such as hamburger patties, breads, fish, chicken and dairy products. In 2010, Quality mixed more than 2755 tons (2500 metric...

    Read more >>

  • Tea Blend Time and Degradation Cut with Rotary Mixer

    Tea Blend Time and Degradation Cut with Rotary Mixer

    SEATTLE, WA — When Choice Organic Teas was founded in 1989 by Granum Inc., it launched the first exclusively organic tea brand in the United States. The company offered only four choices of organic teas — Green, Ban-cha, Twig, and Oolong. Today, it offers more than 75 varieties of certified...

    Read more >>

  • Glass Blended Rapidly with Abrasion Resistant Rotary Mixer

    Glass Blended Rapidly with Abrasion Resistant Rotary Mixer

    PITTSBURGH, PA — While most reading this article may be unfamiliar with the Kopp Glass name, most are likely familiar with Kopp Glass products. From a humble beginning more than 80 years ago, as a manufacturer of red glass for railroad signals, Kopp now claims to be the world's leading...

    Read more >>

  • Film Producer Enhances Recycling Program with Rotary Batch Mixers

    Film Producer Enhances Recycling Program with Rotary Batch Mixers

    AUBURN, PA — OMNOVA Solutions significantly improved recycling capabilities at its plant in Auburn, Pennsylvania by investing in rotary batch mixers from Munson Machinery Co. Inc., NY. OMNOVA supplies printed flexible and rigid films to commercial and residential product makers for flat and three-dimensional (3D) lamination to wood, metal, particle...

    Read more >>

  • Insecticide and Herbicide Producer Places Heavy Demands on Rotary Batch Mixer

    Insecticide and Herbicide Producer Places Heavy Demands on Rotary Batch Mixer

    ORIHUELA/SPAIN — Indalva S.L. is Spain's largest toll manufacturer of insecticides and herbicides, producing approximately 5,500 to 7,700 tons/yr (5,000 to 7,000 m.t./yr) of some 30 different products for about 20 companies, nearly half of which are located in other countries. Established in 1967, the family-run company is also Spain's...

    Read more >>

  • Pin Mill Helps Cosmetics Producer Meet Quality Standards

    Pin Mill Helps Cosmetics Producer Meet Quality Standards

    ROANOKE, VA — With seven manufacturing and distribution facilities, totaling more than 2.5 million sq ft (232,225 sq m), Cosmetic Essence, Inc. (CEI, Holmdel, NJ) claims to be the leading global provider of services to the personal care industry. While the bulk of its business is contract production and packaging...

    Read more >>

  • Spice maker adds paddle mixer to quadruple production

    Spice maker adds paddle mixer to quadruple production

    BALTIMORE, MD — Seafood, particularly Chesapeake Bay's famous crabs, is very popular in this part of the world, and for many seafood lovers an essential part of a meal is the spice that enhances the flavor of the food. J.O. Spice Company, Inc., a family-owned company, has been catering successfully...

    Read more >>

  • Exterior coatings producer blends abrasives
with no shaft seal wear

    Exterior coatings producer blends abrasives with no shaft seal wear

    FORTSON, GA — Since its founding in 1987, contractors have applied over 100 million square feet of Master Wall Inc. products — stucco, coatings, and exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS) — on residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Master Wall founder and president Steve Smithwick says the company's Aggre-flex EIFS...

    Read more >>

  • Start Up of Indonesian Cinnamon Plant Employs Screen Classifying Cutter, Rotary Mixer

    Start Up of Indonesian Cinnamon Plant Employs Screen Classifying Cutter, Rotary Mixer

    PADANG, WEST SUMATRA — Starting up a new process plant can be a tricky business for any company, but when it is the first plant the company has ever built and the location is halfway around the world from equipment suppliers, the project can be daunting. So it was with...

    Read more >>

  • Rotary batch blender mixes biological products that boost farm crops

    Rotary batch blender mixes biological products that boost farm crops

    SASKATOON, SK, CANADA — Agriculture has never been more challenging and fertility efficiency tools, such as inoculants, more important. Modern farmers rely on technology and production practices to significantly increase the yield of their food crops. Biological products like inoculants are a vital part of that strategy. Novozymes Biologicals is...

    Read more >>

  • Blending of Would-Be Landfill Turns Out Greener Cement-Based Products

    Blending of Would-Be Landfill Turns Out Greener Cement-Based Products

    LAS VEGAS, NV — The vision of a greener future for the construction industry motivates Andrew Dennis, an architect here who founded a company dedicated to producing environmentally friendly cement-based products. Instead of the heavy aggregates found in standard concrete, the materials made by GigaCrete Inc. include non silica based...

    Read more >>

  • Compounding Cable Covering in a Rotary Mixer

    Compounding Cable Covering in a Rotary Mixer

    INDIANAPOLIS, IN — In General Cable's R&D department, a team of physicists, chemists, polymer scientists and mechanical engineers develop insulation and jacket materials for its wiring products to satisfy tightening regulations and customer demands. The group relies on its Indianapolis Technology Center to develop materials used for wire insulation and...

    Read more >>

  • Screen Classifying Cutter Allows Recycling of Tungsten Heavy Alloys

    Screen Classifying Cutter Allows Recycling of Tungsten Heavy Alloys

    JONESBOROUGH, TN — Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee, a wholly owned subsidiary of aerospace and defense contractor Aerojet General, fabricates parts from tungsten heavy alloys and other refractory metals for defense-related products like ammunition, warheads and electronic shielding. The company also produces components for sporting goods and other end-uses, though defense accounts...

    Read more >>

  • Pro-X Nutraceuticals, a Roex company, triples mixing capacity, reduces labor and waste

    Pro-X Nutraceuticals, a Roex company, triples mixing capacity, reduces labor and waste

    IRVINE, CA — A former athlete and body builder named Rod Burreson searched for non-pharmaceutical supplements to enhance his physical condition, but none met his quality requirements, prompting him to develop and personally test his own formulations. Based on the health benefits he experienced, Burreson started a company in 1994...

    Read more >>

  • Pesticides manufacturer meets blend regulations using rotary batch mixers

    Pesticides manufacturer meets blend regulations using rotary batch mixers

    ORISKANY, NY — When Bonide Products, Inc., moved into new and larger facilities, an important consideration was the selection of mixing equipment for its granular and powdered pesticides, insecticides and herbicides. "Our business is pretty heavily regulated by the (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency and by the states," says Jim Wurz,...

    Read more >>

  • Rapid, gentle blending maximizes strength of powder metal parts

    Rapid, gentle blending maximizes strength of powder metal parts

    RIDGWAY, PA — Nestled in the heart of the powder metal capital of the world, Allegheny Blending Technologies (ABT) specializes in custom blending of ferrous and non-ferrous powder metals that are sold to molders of powder metal parts. These blends of iron powder and additives (copper, nickel, graphite, manganese sulfide...

    Read more >>

  • Blending is the key for a cup of fine tea

    Blending is the key for a cup of fine tea

    MILLERTON, NY — Harney & Sons' teashop and tasting room, in this small town two hours' drive from New York City, is a tea drinker's delight. Located behind its own garden just off Main Street, it is a pleasant, cheerful place to enjoy a cup of fine tea, along with...

    Read more >>

  • Intensified ribbon blending of melamine compounds cuts cycle times 25% for furniture molder

    Intensified ribbon blending of melamine compounds cuts cycle times 25% for furniture molder

    FULTONDALE, AL — Melsur Corporation, the world's leading supplier of hard plastic melamine school furniture, molds components from a mixture of resin, wood flour and pigments. Each of the 32 color variations, 30 products and custom designs must be blended individually, a process that can take up to four hours,...

    Read more >>

  • Lightweight Concrete Mix Profitable Using Heavyweight Batch Mixer

    Lightweight Concrete Mix Profitable Using Heavyweight Batch Mixer

    LOUISVILLE, KY — To increase production of concrete mixes containing coal fired power generation plant ash products, Charah Inc. opened a new manufacturing plant in Emporia, VA, which also serves as a warehouse and distribution center for other concrete industry products. Profit margins are slim in this high volume business,...

    Read more >>

  • Iced Tea Product Quality Demands Fast, Gentle Blending

    Iced Tea Product Quality Demands Fast, Gentle Blending

    CONCORD, NC — Despite the proliferation in the US of coffee shops, cappuccino makers and the rise of the bean-head society, tea still is, after water, the most popular beverage in the world. Preparation of fresh tea leaves determines tea type — green, black or oolong — and it is...

    Read more >>

  • Batch blending consistency grows gourmet coffee bean business

    Batch blending consistency grows gourmet coffee bean business

    BATAVIA, IL — The triple-tall mocha lattes, double-shot cappuccinos, half-caf espressos and other concoctions swelling the profits of gourmet coffee bars are testimony to the enormous — and growing — popularity of coffee. Since originating in the 3rd century in Ethiopia, coffee has grown into the global drink of choice,...

    Read more >>

  • Bringing powdered metal blending in-house, rotary-style

    Bringing powdered metal blending in-house, rotary-style

    INDIANAPOLIS, IN — When processing powdered metal compounds for products such as gyro rotors, flywheels, counterbalances, boring bars and grinding quills, the proportion of powdered metal ingredients must be precise, and the distribution of those ingredients 100 percent uniform. Mi-Tech Metals, Indianapolis, IN, has been manufacturing products from high-density tungsten-based...

    Read more >>

  • Encapsulated scents have smell of success for custom compounder

    Encapsulated scents have smell of success for custom compounder

    LINDEN, NJ — Custom compounder Rotuba Extruders had a great idea 20 years ago: scented plastics. The company set out to compound fragrances in cellulose acetate resin that could be molded or extruded into various products. The concept looked promising, but there was one problem — the market wasn't ready...

    Read more >>

  • Rapid blending of nutraceuticals in a restricted space

    Rapid blending of nutraceuticals in a restricted space

    MIAMI, FL — Although vitamins and minerals have long been a mainstay in health maintenance, a new category of health maintenance products has created an entirely new market over the last two decades. The term "nutraceutical" was first defined in 1989 by Stephen DeFelice, M.D. as "... food, or parts...

    Read more >>

  • Sanitary ribbon blender ups production of dental powders

    Sanitary ribbon blender ups production of dental powders

    Wilmington, DE — Dental laboratory needs are a specialty of Diversified Chemical Products, Inc. (DCP). Its business includes products for fabrication of dental prostheses, cleaning of dental instruments, and dissolving dental cement, in addition to other custom powders for dental laboratories, jewelry cleaning, and industrial applications. Since 1974 the company...

    Read more >>

  • High Output of Quality Flavors Demands Efficient Grinding

    High Output of Quality Flavors Demands Efficient Grinding

    EAST HANOVER, NJ — Vanilla beans from Madagascar, cinnamon bark from Sri Lanka, ginger roots from Nigeria and many other natural flavors you enjoy have likely come from Givaudan Flavors Corp. which extracts flavor from natural products, concentrates it, packages and markets it to food and beverage manufacturers. Givaudan processes...

    Read more >>

  • Rotary batch mixer yields high-quality blends for powder metallurgy

    Rotary batch mixer yields high-quality blends for powder metallurgy

    EMPORIUM, PA — GKN Sinter Metals Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of parts made by powder metallurgy, a molding process that produces complex shapes with a range of properties. Powder metallurgy offers benefits in part fabrication over competing metal processes. It is faster than forging or casting and permits...

    Read more >>

  • Blending microbes demands gentle touch

    Blending microbes demands gentle touch

    TULSA, OK — The microbial formulations that United-Tech, Inc. produces are used to break down or detoxify a broad array of complex, often-toxic organic compounds, greasy spills and other contaminants in a variety of environments, leaving behind carbon dioxide and water. The company's powdered formulations, which look and feel like...

    Read more >>

  • Screen classifying cutters meet productivity needs of extrusion and thermoforming lines

    Screen classifying cutters meet productivity needs of extrusion and thermoforming lines

    UTICA, NY — A major plastics thermoformer, whose operations include sheet extrusion and calendering, installed 20 screen classifying cutters from Munson Machinery Co. Inc., Utica, NY, to assure efficient granulation and sizing of its process scrap. It is essential that the cutters work to full capacity during production runs and...

    Read more >>

  • Pharmaceutical glass manufacturer blends 120 batches/day of abrasive ingredients

    Pharmaceutical glass manufacturer blends 120 batches/day of abrasive ingredients

    VINELAND, NJ — The manufacture of high-quality pharmaceutical glass is an exacting business that calls for careful control at all stages of the process in order to obtain the desired properties in the final product. Those properties vary, depending on what the glass is to be used for, so the...

    Read more >>

  • Drum mixer compounds wide range of particles... and a modified paddle mixer solves a tricky problem

    Drum mixer compounds wide range of particles... and a modified paddle mixer solves a tricky problem

    TUCSON, AZ — In 1985 Mortex Manufacturing Co., Inc., bought a new rotary drum mixer in anticipation of expanding its line of chemical additives that are used to make decorative, nonskid coatings for concrete around swimming pools and on patios. The additives are mixed with white cement and white marble...

    Read more >>

  • Rotary batch blenders help DIP get pre-mixes to market fast

    Rotary batch blenders help DIP get pre-mixes to market fast

    Ductil Iron Powder (DIP), Buzau, Romania, was established in 2000 as a spin-off of Ductil Steel. Its products are iron and alloyed powders for use in powder metallurgy and welding applications. The plant for making the iron powders began operation in 1995, and by 2000 it reached its current capacity...

    Read more >>

  • A sanitary rotary cutter-crusher solves a pharmaceutical product company's size reduction problem.

    A sanitary rotary cutter-crusher solves a pharmaceutical product company's size reduction problem.

    "We make this pharmaceutical product that ends up being big bricks of tough, brittle material", says the blending team leader of a growing pharmaceutical products company, "and we couldn't reduce it to the size it needed to be. I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating it was." The...

    Read more >>

  • Economy in Car-making -- Powder Metallurgy

    Economy in Car-making -- Powder Metallurgy

    Powder metallurgy (PM) has made a major contribution to the technology of automotive manufacture over the past 70 years. It has been and is still the fastest-growing metalworking technology. Today, on average, it provides about 10kg of the total components of a car — more in the US, where cars...

    Read more >>

  • Batch blenders make modern mortars in China

    Batch blenders make modern mortars in China

    In 1997, US-based SureBlock entered a joint venture with China's Tianjin People's Building Material Products Factory to make concrete masonry units (CMUs). Commonly known as concrete blocks, CMUs come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. They are mainly used to erect structural walls, pave walkways, and build retaining walls. Since...

    Read more >>

  • Continuously mixing one batch at a time

    Continuously mixing one batch at a time

    When a concrete and ready-mix producer moved to a new plant, the mixing process was redesigned to include batching for greater control over the final product 's ingredients. Rich-Mix Products makes concrete and ready-mix products and packages them for sale in home improvement stores across the country. Headquartered in Wichita,...

    Read more >>

  • Coffee supplier has a taste for a high-output blender

    Coffee supplier has a taste for a high-output blender

    New England Coffee, Malden, Mass., has imported and roasted coffee beans since 1916 and currently distributes them throughout New England and elsewhere in the US. The supplier provides wholesale coffees to institutions such as restaurants, hotels, and fast food chains. The supplier roasts 250,000 pounds of coffee beans daily. In...

    Read more >>

  • New rotary batch blender cleans up company's testing process

    New rotary batch blender cleans up company's testing process

    "Our old lab blender just wasn't effective or efficient," says Frank Thompson. "The blender was too hard to clean out. We found that we were leaving three to four pounds of material in the mixing drum from the previous test batch. It was a small amount, but it was enough...

    Read more >>

  • Continuous blender increases production, diminishes heat buildup

    Continuous blender increases production, diminishes heat buildup

    CJB Industries, Valdosta, Ga., custom-formulates, processes, and packages chemicals and provides research, development, and engineering services. CJB's newest production line is for a high-loading solid that combines 50 percent liquid acid with 50 percent dry clay product, resulting in an 8- to 16-mesh dry corrosive granular material that resembles kitty...

    Read more >>

  • Plastics pellet manufacturer eliminates blend problems with uniquely designed rotary blender

    Plastics pellet manufacturer eliminates blend problems with uniquely designed rotary blender

    To remain competitive in a widening world economy, manufacturers have to provide quality products at world market competitive prices. This has forced American manufacturers to rethink their approach to manufacturing. Particularly, rethink the cost effectiveness of their manufacturing strategies, and the production effectiveness of manufacturing equipment. One such company, Diamond...

    Read more >>

  • Rotary batch mixer yields high-quality blends for granular pesticide formulations

    Rotary batch mixer yields high-quality blends for granular pesticide formulations

    G. Robert Goss, 1 Dennis R. Taylor, 1 and William B. Kallay 1 1 Technical Director, Project Group Leader and Scientist, respectively, Research and Development, Oil-Dri Corporation, 777 Forest Edge Drive, Vernon Hills, IL 60061.

    Read more >>