Invensys and Ingredia take control

French powdered milk manufacturer Ingredia is about to implement a Connoisseur process control system from Invensys in an effort to improve production quality and efficiency.

Working through APV France and Foxboro France (both business units of Invensys Production Management division) the project team made up of Invensys and Ingredia Engineers will implement Advanced Process Control on the evaporation and drying process used by Ingredia in the production of milk powder.

Jean-Noel Delforge, lead process control engineer at the St. Pol plant commented: "We selected this technology because of its ease of use, and the extensive installed base on processes similar to our own. We feel confident that this technology will provide us with the means to maximise the potential of the evaporator and dryer equipment we have in place at our plant. The fact that Invensys has local staff available to support us in maintaining the application once it is up and running, was also an important factor in our decision."​

Invensys is the market leader in the application of commercial Advanced Process Control for Evaporator and Dryer processes. Many processes in the food manufacturing industry such as the production of milk powder, coffee, sugar, powdered foods, snack drinks and soup as well as in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry such as the production of cosmetics, resins and powdered colorants employ evaporation and drying processes to arrive at a finished product.

The latter are excellent candidates for optimisation with Connoisseur Advanced Process Control as Andy Crosland - business development manager for the Food and Beverage Industry - pointed out. "Invensys engineers have successfully implemented this technology on installations around the world with excellent results for the manufacturing company. The technology offers a means by which improved throughput, quality, energy consumption and thus profitability can be gained quickly without having to make large investments in new process hardware".​

Ingredia​ is a leader in the production of functional dairy Ingredients, specialising in the technologies of milk cracking, drying and recombination. Through its separation technologies (ultrafiltration, microfiltration and chromatography) it offers a wide range of liquid, concentrate and powdered food ingredients on a global basis.

Invensys​ is a global leader in production technology. The group helps customers improve productivity, performance and profitability through its services and technologies. The group's Invensys Production Management team works closely with customers to increase performance of production assets, maximise return on investment in production and data management technologies and remove cost and cash from the supply chain. The division includes APV, Avantis, Eurotherm, Foxboro, IMServ, SimSci-Esscor, Triconex and Wonderware. Invensys operates in more than 60 countries and is headquartered in London.