The Client’s Iowa facility will be testing the new Homogenized Milk Emulsion (HME) Technology as a way to produce a base sauce that will save cost, reduce quantity of ingredients, and improve the nutritional profile for the Frozen Foods product lines – 8 total production lines.

Reason for Project:

• The Client wanted to test the conceptual design of a dual kitchen system.
• They wanted to be able to test having only one kitchen running or both.
• They wanted to determine if one or more CIP systems were needed.
• They wanted to determine staffing needs for conceptual design.

Project Deliverables:

• Development of an accurate computer simulation model of their conceptual dual kitchen HME sauce production facility. The model has variable input parameters that can be changed by the client via Excel input spreadsheet.
• Completion of a base analysis to understand opportunities for improvement in the kitchen system design.
• Recommendations for improving the kitchen systems based upon the initial analyses.

Project Results/Benefits:

• Production Rates: Able to show that the homogenizer rate of 850 GPH was not able to keep up with higher product demands.
• Layout Evaluation: Only using one kitchen resulted in having no product available during CIP times.
• Equipment Comparison: Eliminated some of the equipment possibilities such as pump rate and tank size.
• Labor Evaluation: Able to show that a third operator would be needed at higher demands to keep system from waiting on a resource.
• Tool Development: Developed a tool for the Client to use to run many different scenarios/experiments to help them determine equipment and production needs and limitations.