Ingredients company Danisco has a new high-care, high-volume powder blending facility with a small footprint.
Food ingredients company Danisco recently sought to expand its processing operations.The company, which was acquired by global science-based products and services company DuPont in 2011, had outgrown its facility, and needed to expand, not only to achieve higher volumes, but also to more easily meet food safety requirements.
RMR Process was selected to oversee the a project to design, execute and start-up a three-story highly specialised, high-care powder blending facility, which was constructed inside a busy operational warehouse at Erskine Park, Sydney.
Danisco Australia’s manufacturing and SHE (safety, health and environment) leader Glen Robson says the company had reached a point where it either needed to invest into the old Banksmeadow facility in Sydney’s south, or move out, in order to better align with its business needs.
“We started to investigate options to stay and invest, or move and optimise footprint and upgrade process. The latter proved to be more favourable in being able to deliver on current and future business requirements,” Robson says.
“We connected with various food specialty design and construct companies, viewed all their finished works and found RMR to be closest to the high standards we were seeking to achieve,” Robson says.
The Erskine Park site was chosen with Danisco’s goals in mind. The primary focus was to become more agile and flexible as a manufacturer, Robson says. and the company also wanted a smaller footprint, with a larger volume and efficient output.
The new facility gives a footprint reduction of 60 per cent, despite maintaining a similar manufacturing process.
“With the new facility we are also better positioned in handling a wider scope of ingredients, and this allows us to adapt and open up to new potential solutions into an ever-changing market,” Robson says.
“It has resulted in the expansion of capability and volumes, allowing us to venture into markets previously not compatible with the old manufacturing process.
The site is also easier to manage from a safety and serviceability perspective.
“Our energy and water use has dramatically reduced per kg along with a 27 per cent throughput increase per hour,” Robson says.
“These numbers will only improve as we continue to fine-tune the plant.”
