March 31, 2015
In the feed-milling industry some firms lead, others trail behind
In the feed-milling industry, technology and innovation spell the success or failure of a company. Some companies lead, others trail behind, depending on how it adapts to the needs and demands of the industry.
We take a look at how three companies are trail-blazing and making the industry all the richer for their technologies.
FAMSUN
As early as 2002 it set up business in that continent, where it now has feed mills, grain storage silos and animal farming systems in almost all countries, with Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil being its top three markets.
In a bid to modernise, it built in May 2013 a new, state-of-the-art facility at the Hanjiang Economic Development Zone in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China, making significant steps in raising the bar in terms of workmanship. Subsequently it linked up with leading manufacturing tool companies including CNC, which provides FAMSUN precision production technology.
Today FAMSUN uses welding robots and chain assembly systems, among others, in getting precision and top-quality workmanship, from material processing to machining, from painting to assembly.
It also operates the first grinder assembly line in the industry, which enables it to produce all types of machines, spare parts and pre-fabricated parts for feed mills.
How does FAMSUN compete in foreign markets?
These new changes enabled FAMSUN to post in 2014 on-time delivery of machines at more than 99%. Product acceptance by its quality department in the same year was nearly 100%.
With its increased focus on cutting-edge technology, FAMSUN remains true to its corporate philosophy, which can be summed up in one word: Quality.
Zhengchang
Feed milling technology firm Zhengchang, which started 97 years ago as a state-owned firm importing rice milling and grain equipment, is out to erase the image of Chinese technology as inferior to those of West countries.
As early as 1974, it developed the first 45 model pellet mill out of a need to extract grains oil and process rice bran. This marked the beginning of the company's venture into feed machinery.
It went on to win in 1997 the bid to design and build a large-scale feed milling complex for Jiangsu Huaiyin CP Feed Company, beating other international bidders.
Today Zhengchang, which was privatized in 2003, is known as a highly diversified company that designs and manufactures feed-milling equipment (pelleting mills, hammer mills, mixers, conveyors, elevators, cooling equipment, screeners, steel silos, even cleaning equipment, you name it), agricultural equipment, agriculture-related processing facilities, environmentally friendly processing equipment and electrical control systems, among many other things.
"Our range of feed milling equipment is complete," the company's sales department manager for Africa, Derek Ge, told eFeedLink at the 2015 IPPE in in January.
Zhengchang also conducts feed research and supplies feed formulation and premix technologies, he added.
Zhengchang remains as a market leader in China, especially for pellet mills, controlling almost 70% of the market. Mr. Ge said most orders come from middle-sized and large feed companies, adding that Zhengchang has sold over 9,000 sets of pellet mills all over the world.
In 1998, Zhengchang acquired and took over CPM (California Pellet Mill) China company, which US conglomerate Ingersoll Rand had set up in China. This broadened Zhengchang's product portfolio to include more pellet mills, coolers and grinders. The acquisition resulted in the founding of Zhengchang Pellet Mill Die Co., Ltd.
Southeast Asia remains the traditional market for Zhengchang, particularly Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. In the Philippines, the company has enjoyed a strong presence for years. "Customers trust us there. This year we have some projects for some new customers," Mr. Ge said.
In Thailand, CP (Charoen Pokphand) Group is a long-time customer. "When they first entered China, we supported most of their projects," said Mr. Ge. "The Thai conglomerate is our global strategic customer. We cooperate with them in many areas."
Profit is hardly the motive when Zhengchang deals with its long-time customers like the CP Group. ""We care more about building long-term relationships with our customers," Mr. Ge explained.
Other markets for the company include Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, particularly Ukraine, Romania and Russia.
However, Zhengchang's share in the US and Western markets remains negligible due to lingering Western bias against anything Chinese.
"The prevailing Western mentality is that Chinese products are below par. This is unfair and not the truth", Mr. Ge lamented. "They should visit China and see our products for themselves. The truth is our products are on par with their Western counterparts in terms of quality".
Cost-efficiency is the major selling point of Zhengchang. China's lower labour costs make Zhengchang products cheaper. Outside of labour source, everything else is equal between Western and Zhengchang products, Mr. Ge maintains. "We use the same quality materials as European manufacturers do. For motors, we use Siemens, and Emersons for control systems - all top international brands".
Indeed, Zhengchang is set to redefine the global image of Chinese technology, by bringing more high-quality, cost-efficient products and solutions to the market out there.
Kemin
US-based Kemin Industries is known for its MillSMART programme, which is proving to be an industry benchmark for customised solutions along the entire feed-milling supply chain.
The MillSMART programme is tailored to improve the condition of the feed material or product, anywhere from feed formulation to delivery of complete feed to the farm gate. With the MillSMART programme, Kemin aims to work with its customers to improve the quality, processing efficiency and safety of feeds, according to Dr. Liong Kah Heng, marketing director for animal nutrition and health, Asia-Pacific.
With increasing feed production across Asia and in order to focus on providing better, customised solutions for customers in feed milling, Kemin set up in January the Feed Technology Unit (FTU) in its Asia-Pacific operations.
Dr. K.V. Chandrasekar (Chandru), the FTU head, explained: "Different customers have different needs. Some customers need to improve their process efficiency, while others need to maintain very high hygiene levels for their feed products, especially those who need to export to European countries and Japan with very strict feed safety regulations".
Kemin has also designed truck hygiene applicator systems to reduce the microbial load spreading through trucks that transport products from feed mills to multiple farms, as the long transportation process increases the risk of feed contamination.
Further, it developed products that can help bind feed ingredients together during the pelleting process, when the problem of insufficient moisture in compound feeds during the pelleting process often occurs.
Adding Kemin's binding products "therefore reduces the energy consumed during the pelleting process, and improves efficiency", said Chandru.
Steven Toh, senior product application manager, told eFeedLink during a recent Singapore factory tour: "Kemin MillSMART programme is specifically tailor-made according to customers' level of needs and sophistication. One such application is to use a fully computerized on-line moisture control system that automatically detects and responds to moisture in feeds that are below the user-defined target. This helps the feed mill operator to produce more consistent moisture at the batch mixer resulting in consistency in conditioning, which results in stable TPH, PDI and lower energy consumption".
In comparison, some feed mills without MillSMART are still seen to analyse their feed product only after a batch is produced. In other words, feed analysis is not real-time unlike in MillSMART, which can minimise costly batch rejects for the feed miller.
