March 22, 2016
Van Aarsen: A top player in feed and premix production technology
Van Aarsen International was founded in 1949 in the Netherlands, a country with a long agricultural tradition. Van Aarsen combines the best of 67 years of experience with modern technology and trends, its sales director Hans van der Weijden tells eFeedLink.
eFeedLink: Tell us more about your tagline "The vital link to your feed chain".
The better the animal feed, the better the food on the table. In the production of compound feed, Van Aarsen sees increasing demands in feed safety, nutrition and sustainability. Van Aarsen takes her crucial role in the "agro-feed chain" seriously by customising machines and processes for optimal compound feed production. Her innovative machines and complete feed mill solutions combine state-of-the art manufacturing technology which is of high quality and durability, offering her customers the certainty of an investment that provides maximum added value.
What do you think are some of the biggest concerns of your customers today?
Building a new feed mill or upgrading a machine part can amount to a sizable investment. In these times of shortage of resources, rising costs and increased competition, the feed industry is challenged to become more efficient. The feed mill manager must meet his objectives to maximise sales and optimise the feed for the production of meat, milk, or eggs.
Van Aarsen helps her customers to minimise the total costs of ownership. The acquisition costs of a machine are just half the truth. The operating costs determine the real investment in a machine.
Van Aarsen machines are known for low maintenance, high continuity (no unplanned downtime), low energy consumption and low changeover costs.
A fine example is the automatic screen exchange on the GD hammer mill which allows customers to automatically change three different screen types. With this option each screen exchange is brought back from 20 minutes to just one minute. The exchange takes place while the mill is running stationary between two batches, also increasing the capacity of the hammer mill. This automatic screen exchange has a payback time of less than two years, even with only one or two screen exchanges per hour.
Where are your company's research and production facilities located?
Van Aarsen combines all expertise, including engineering, R&D and production, under one roof in the Netherlands. This guarantees a multi-disciplinary approach to projects and short communication lines with our customers.
On-farm training, as part of service solutions of Lallemand Forward
Does your company build the whole machinery or specialise in some specific components?Van Aarsen supplies state-of-the-art machines and complete feed mill solutions for the production of animal feed and premixes.
No two feed mills are alike. Our customers' objectives are our starting point in helping to build the feed mill that fits their needs. Capacity. Number of recipes. Feed safety. Energy efficiency. Continuity. Total cost of ownership…these are just a few factors that influence the layout of a feed mill.
Van Aarsen helps to determine the ideal process layout and is able to carry out feasibility studies, design and construct feed milling projects, and, optimise, modernise or extend existing installations with a great diversity of high quality machinery such as weighing and dosing systems, hammer mills, batch mixers, liquid mixers, conditioners, pellet mills, counter-flow coolers, crumblers, transport and storage equipment, all produced in our factory in the Netherlands.
How is the increasing emphasis on food safety influencing the requirements in feed products?
International food safety is an important issue. As a result, the production of animal feed is becoming more critically observed. Just like in food production, safe animal feed becomes more and more of an issue, as well as the traceability of feed.
The machinery of Van Aarsen ensures the highest possible feed safety. Van Aarsen has experience in how to prevent contamination throughout the manufacturing process. This includes preventing contamination from entering the factory, contamination in the production process itself, as well as preventing dust from accumulating. Another important point is the killing of bacteria such as Salmonella and the prevention of microbiological growth after hygienising.
What is the equipment type that you foresee has the greatest potential to increase energy efficiency?The pelleting process is the core process within the factory. At the same time it is also the process that consumes the most energy. Optimising this process will have an immediate effect on efficiency and overall energy consumption.
For this reason Van Aarsen has recently introduced a new pellet mill that offers optimised operation and production rate by its motor-operated roller adjustment and active roller slip control. The motor-operated and recipe-controlled roller adjustment represents more efficiency and real savings on maintenance. The intelligent active roller slip control virtually eliminates downtime caused by roller slip – a major leap forward in pellet mill technology as it offers the opportunity to experiment with the roller distance and steam addition for recipes which boost the feed quality and production efficiency.
What other developments can we expect from the company in advancing feed milling technology within the next five years?
More and better cooperation with all partners in the "agro-feed chain", as customers increasingly prefer a complete solution or a one-stop-shop.
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