The pet food industry is one of the few industries that have been performing well, despite the economic downturn. The popularity and demand for premium healthy pet food among pet owners positively impacts the pet food market, and it is expected to continue to show significant growth this year. Pet owners these days expect the highest possible standards of nutritional quality from the food they feed to their pets. The demand on manufacturers is always high and process efficiencies are important in a very competitive and growing market.
Like the food processing industry, the pet food industry is held to very high regulatory standards, with legislation in place to ensure the safety and quality of food for animals. EU Feed Hygiene Regulations cover all stages of pet food processing, from pet food processing equipment to storage, logistics and so on.
Our range of food-approved non-stick coatings conform to these standards and are widely used throughout the manufacturing process. Our coatings help pet food processors improve production efficiencies and minimise downtime.
OUR CHALLENGE
AFT was approached by a leading pet food biscuit producer to help out at short notice. Due to a machine breakdown, the processing rollers used to form and cut the dog biscuits had overheated destroying the non-stick coating vital to the process. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any spare rollers and replacements were on a four-week lead time, this wasn’t an option for the company, they needed a fast and reliable remedy for their problem. The solution was to re-coat their roller, and they needed it done quickly to minimise down-time.
THE SOLUTION
Here at AFT Fluorotec Coatings, we understand that things don’t always go to plan and there may be times you need components supplied with an extremely quick turnaround. One of the ways we set ourselves apart is our ability to deliver a rapid response while maintaining a very high level of quality.
After discussing and planning the job with the client we offered a 48hr turnaround. When the roller arrived it was immediately unpacked and put into our production process. The roller surface was cleaned by using a controlled grit blasting process which also provided a perfect surface key for the new coating. The roller was then coated with our AFC 2108 long-lasting, easy clean, non-stick coating and cured in one of our many processing ovens.
THE RESULT
In the agreed time period our customer was able to get the roller back in production with the new non-stick coating providing the required properties to ensure a continuous process flow of dog biscuits.
Other benefits:
- Efficient production – new non-stick coating has provided more efficient yields, easy clean surface and minimised downtime.
- Proven coating and application – AFC 2108 is a proven coating system for pet food production.
- Quality Controlled Process – AFT Fluorotec operate a quality management system on the ISO 9001:2015 Standard.
Our release coatings have a long non-stick lifespan and improve efficiency. They are ideal in applications such as packaging equipment, processing tools, machinery and moulds.
