Inventory reduction with in-bin blending

A leading provider of specialty powders for the medical industry needed to respond to changing client requirements and wanted to implement lean manufacturing practices. Matcon was called on to bridge the gap between theory and practical powder processing.

The existing process utilised 12 ribbon blenders ranging from 1360 to 4530 kg capacity. As the company’s product portfolio increased, the monthly order requirements for each product moved towards smaller volume order sizes. It was becoming common to have a monthly order requirement for a given product to be 680 kg or less. With large existing blenders, an excessive finished goods inventory was building up. Other issues that needed to be overcome included: blender loading - time consuming and labour intensive (averaged 120 minutes of labour); quality assurance - blenders sat idle with material while quality checks (60 to 90 min) were performed; packing directly from blenders - blenders sat idle (150 min of labour) when material was packaged; and blender cleaning - time consuming and labour intensive (180 min of labour).

Matcon was contacted based on its use of IBC technology (cone valve discharge) in other areas of the facility for transferring powders from mixing to packing. Cone valve technology provides automatic and controlled material discharge without the risks of bridging, rat holing, flushing or segregation of blends.

In addition to using the Matcon system for mixing to packing transfer, in-bin blending as a means of improving processes was looked at. With this approach, a Matcon IBC becomes a detachable blending vessel when used with a Matcon IBC Tumble Blender.

A Matcon IBC Tumble Blender has no product contact points. What this means is that formulation (filling), emptying and cleaning of the blending vessel is done separately from the actual blender, minimising blender downtime. This allows process steps to be performed simultaneously instead of sequentially.

The process benefits were substantial: blender (IBC) loading time decreased; quality assurance and packing was done offline of the blender (within the IBC) to reduce idle time; actual blending time was quicker; one IBC tumble blender replaced six 1360 kg ribbon blenders and eliminated the need for a proposed building expansion; and removal of the second operating shift for this area of the plant and reallocation of five operators to other tasks.

The single biggest benefit in the lean journey with Matcon, however, was the reduction of in-process finished goods by over 45%.

The increase in inventory turnover improved the company’s cashflow so it could reinvest in other process improvements. All of the other benefits directly result from reducing the excess inventory - efficiency, better utilisation of labour, increased throughput capability, no need for a building expansion, etc.

At the end of the journey, a half million (US) dollar investment immediately resulted in inventory savings closer to a million (US) dollars. Return on investment, therefore, was days instead of years.