SCA NuTec completes new blending facility

SCA NuTec has completed a GBP2 million (US$3.3 million) development in a new blending facility for the animal feed industry at its Dalton site, Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

The investment includes a dedicated tote production plant for specialist high value products for the pet and equine sectors and a new dry powder blending plant that will produce premixes and minerals for inclusion in pig and ruminant diets.

The tote facility is housed in a newly built room within the plant and is equipped with technology that ensures zero cross contamination risk. All raw materials are bar coded and checked throughout the manufacturing process using state-of-the-art traceability and tracking features.

The dry powder blending plant produces premixes, meals and minerals to supply directly to farm for home mix, to merchants, wholesalers, distributors and feed compounders. Quality control is assured and cross contamination minimised through automated process control, bar coded raw materials and batch traceability.

This latest development is part of a restructuring of the company's UK operation that consolidates animal nutrition activities at Dalton and the production of animal health products at the Lichfield site.

The majority of production from Dalton is for the UK market and export to northwest Europe.

Products from the new plant can be produced to customers' specifications and SCA NuTec can offer flexibility in production, said SCA NuTec managing director Mark Cole.

''The tote plant, for example, has packing options from five to 25kg bags through to 1000kg tote bags, and the new blending plant is capable of producing 20,000 tonnes of premixes and minerals a year in a single eight-hour shift,'' Cole said.

SCA NuTec is part of Provimi, and has two manufacturing sites in the UK.