The Customer
A leading manufacturer and supplier of high-quality ruminant feed and blends to farmers throughout the UK. We’ve supported the Cumbria-based company for almost two decades.
The Challenge
The customers’ agricultural mixer and associated processing equipment required an upgrade and a complete rethink.
The existing process was time-consuming, relying on the double-handling of ingredients. It also generated a significant volume of hazardous airborne dust, which needed addressing.
A bucket loader was used to add raw ingredients to the mixer to create a rough blend for animal feed formulations. The blends were then deposited onto the blending shed floor before the bucket loader recollected the mix and moved it to storage bays or the weigh hopper for the next stage of the process.
Our Brief
The customer approached us to install the new 13-tonne capacity mixer they had sourced from market-leading supplier, Keenan, and upgrade the associated processing equipment to reduce handling time and to control airborne dust.
Our Solution
We surveyed the site before our design team got to work, creating detailed, 3D images of the planned upgrades.
We designed a new discharge and conveying system, alongside modifications to the holding bin and the addition of a dust unit to capture airborne dust and return it to the process.
We extended the holding bin to provide suitable capacity for the larger mixer and fully enclosed it to suppress dust.
We also designed and installed an intermediate outlet slide with discharge bellows, allowing the customer to remove product before it enters the bin – essential for dry mix formulations, which can now be transferred directly to a separate storage bay.
The bellows lower the product slowly to the ground, significantly reducing dust escape compared to dropping from a height.
Our engineers manufactured all the new equipment in our York workshop, then delivered it to the site. We worked with the customer to plan a shutdown so our installation team could bring the upgraded system to life safely and efficiently.
The Result
The new discharge and conveying system transfers mixed product from the mixer to the conveyor and into the bin, ready for collection and transfer to the wet mix process.
The new 13-tonne mixer now processes the equivalent of one bulk vehicle in a single batch. Its increased capacity speeds up production by enabling the customer to weigh and mix one complete batch rather than multiple smaller ones.
By upgrading this equipment, we have:
- Automated the customer’s process
- Increased efficiency and production by 40%
- Created a safer working environment by reducing airborne dust by 90%
- Eliminated double-handling
With increased production capacity, the customer can now allocate dedicated time during the working day to run dry blends through the bellows. Previously, high demand for the wet mix line meant dry blends were produced only when gaps appeared; they can now plan and schedule them far more efficiently.
The customer is extremely happy with the completed project, and we’re already working with them on the next one – watch this space!
Read more of our Case Studies here.
To discuss your next mechanical upgrade, get in touch with the ISF team.
