When it comes time to invest in industrial product mixers and blenders, the topic of return on investment (ROI) is always front and center. Justifying a process equipment purchase is straightforward: Compare equipment cost against operating expense savings or profit margin gains, and select the purchase with the fastest payback.
But what if we added another factor into the equation, one that brought the product’s end-users into the mix: homogeneity?
Product homogeneity provides an interesting way to look at an equipment investment, as it shifts the view to the product’s key attributes as seen from the buyers’ perspective. For most products, high homogeneity is equivalent to high quality and value, not to mention higher function. Homogenous products taste better, flow better, look and feel better, plus perform better in industrial processes and chemical reactions.
For consumer-oriented goods, homogenous products earn premium appeal and higher value. For industrial-oriented goods, homogenous products cut operating costs due to their ease of processing. In both cases, homogeneity delivers a “hidden” boost to a mixing project’s ROI.
Need more convincing? Let’s dig in:
How On-Spec Homogeneity Delivers Mixer and Blender ROI
Connecting ROI to mixed product homogeneity might seem like a stretch, but we’re building on real results pulled directly from our past projects. Here are specific ways industrial mixers and blenders deliver high-ROI via homogenous products:
- Product consistency: Food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and personal care products are widely judged by their consistency, where even minor variances in color, texture and hue can drastically impact a product’s sales and reputation. Mixing gear that eliminates such variations directly bolsters a brand’s sales position by producing a more homogenous product.
- Functional performance: Homogenous blends function and process better, equally benefiting sales positions. For example, homogenous metallurgical powders infuse under lower temperatures, and homogenous fertilizers don’t stratify in storage.
- Production time: For both the buyer and the manufacturer, homogenous products typically cut production time simply because they’re easier to handle and present less process deviation. For example, homogenous powders are much easier to agglomerate and hydrate, all thanks to ideal mixer selections.
- Labor demands: A great knock-down effect of homogenous product mixes is a noticeable reduction in labor demands for blending operations. High-grade industrial mixers and blenders routinely process more product in less time, as compared to legacy blend technologies. Even better, homogenous products add a level of predictability to operating schedules, smoothing out labor variations, too.
- Energy consumption: Advanced mixing equipment is highly energy efficient, typically producing the same or more total volume at a net lower energy demand than traditional technologies. In addition (and we love this point), we often install fewer mixing systems in smaller footprints to handle higher volumes than other solutions, reducing overall facility energy consumption like lighting and HVAC.
- Yields: Lastly, high-grade industrial mixers and blenders boost overall production yields, cutting waste and reducing rework. We know everybody claims that, but our Ploughshare mixers offer industry-leading product recoup thanks to our dead-space-free, full-coverage chamber design. No more irrecoverable product stuck around the fill brim or upper sidewall.
Examples of Mixer Selection Delivering Resounding ROI
Let’s finish up with a few examples of mixer applications that directly funneled in high ROI:
- Fertilizer mixing: Fertilizer manufacturing utilizes multiple mixing steps to produce nutrient-dense materials, which is known to over-complicate mixing steps when reaction forces will do most of the work as it is. In numerous applications, simple multi-zone static mixers can sufficiently blend reagents ahead of reactors much more cost-effectively than using batch mixers.
- Supplement dye mixing: In a nutraceutical scale-up application, a manufacturer had pilot-tested a new dye powder formulation intended to run on a ribbon blender. After evaluating inconsistent pilot test results, the manufacturer found that a Lodige Ploughshare mixer drastically improved consistency, yields and batch times.
- Chemical particle reduction: High-shear mixing is a well-known solution in the process world, but has some limitations, such as air entrainment, difficult powder pulverization and explicit particle size control. In such cases, switching to an inline wet mill solves all problems at lower equipment costs and mix times, even hitting consistent particle sizes down to 1 micron.
- Sauce mixing: Viscous food sauces are typically produced in traditional batch mix kettles, which are notoriously finicky to control and difficult to clean. In multiple applications, these kettles were replaced with Lodige wet mixers which offer the advantages of multiple mixing actions combined in one vessel, along with gentle deagglomeration to break up bulk ingredients quickly.
Considering a Mixer Upgrade?
Lodige not only offers industrial mixers and blenders for a wide range of manufacturing, processing and pilot-scale applications, but we can also help with complete system installations and plant retrofits as well. We’re standing by to help with your next mixing project. Talk to an Expert.
