Micro Ingredient Systems

The Micro Ingredient Advantage

At Automated Process Equipment Corporation (APEC) we believe that an effective micro ingredient system (MIS) will help increase efficiency, reduce costs, provide better track ability and inventory control, and contribute to a safer work environment and general plant safety.

Because the FDA on an annual basis inspects all plants regularly, and these inspections are unannounced, it is vital to have your records up-to-date and accurate. A solid micro ingredient system is fundamental to achieving and maintaining this necessary data record.

It isn’t just helpful in a regulatory situation—implementing a micro ingredient system along with our ingredient automation system into your current processes can also help you monitor supplies and strengthen ingredient traceability, ultimately improving your efficiencies and profitability.

The APEC Micro Ingredient System is designed to achieve accurate weighing of your ingredients time after time. Our offerings include both gain in weight and loss in weight systems, in order to assist in accuracy and also to control ingredient batch weighing.

Micro ingredient system

Micro Ingredient System Product Details

Standard Features


  • Removable 6 or 10 cu. Ft. capacity stainless steel bins with hinged and gasketed covers
  • Stainless steel feeder screws with variable pitched flighting
  • Control panel mounted on the frame and completely wired at the factory, includes AC inverter, motor contactors, overload, PLC for two speed operation, and two speed control MMI on the panel for individual feeder control
  • Power cords with twist lock plugs
  • Tubular frame with telescoping legs
  • Roll over scale tub or optional indexing scale vessel
  • Compact through floor design or optional walk between bins

Optional Features


  • Bin extensions to increase capacity
  • Bin inventory (bins on load cells)
  • Electric bin lid locks
  • 50 Hz motors
  • Food grade finish
  • Remote I/O
  • Explosion proof motors
  • Bin inventory (bins on load cells)
  • Dust collection pick up point

Optional Features Cont’d


  • Feeder shut off gate
  • Mechanical agitation
  • Vibratory feeders
  • Barcode ingredient confirmation
  • Loss in Weight operation
  • Various auger sizes
  • Custom configurations
  • Hopper style scale hopper

With such a strong foundation of standard features available, and such a wide variety of sizes, capacities, discharges options, finishes, and additional custom options, APEC is confident that we can fit your operations with a micro ingredient system that will integrate smoothly into your business’s unique circumstances.

Micro Ingredient System
Micro ingredient system
Horizontal Ribbon Mixer Specifications

Hand Add Microingredient Advantage

Designed and developed for those manufacturers currently hand weighing multiple ingredients our Hand Add Microingredient offers three levels of complexity: Automatic, Semi-Automatic and Manual Operation.

  • Manual Operation: The ingredient container sets on a rolling platform scale. The operator positions the scale beneath the desired ingredient bin and opens the discharge valve until the weight is achieved.
  • Semi-Automatic: The ingredient container sets on a rolling platform scale. A vibratory feeder is used to meter the ingredient from the bin into the container. The operator positions the scale in front of the desired ingredient bin, activates the feeder and closes the valve once the weight is achieved.
  • Automatic: The scale rides on a powered rolling carriage. The scale indexes to the proper position via signals from batch control system. The scale collects the proper ingredients and returns the container to the home position, where it is removed and emptied by the operator.

Standard Features


  • Tables and bin clusters are identical
  • Tables complete with wireway and proximity switches
  • Add a table, extend the track to increase storage by 4 bins per table added
  • Bins slide into the stands, vibratory feeders plug into the wire raceway
  • 2 or 4 cubic feet bin capacities

Optional Features


  • Bar code scanning of ingredient bins
  • Storage rack for extra ingredient bins allows swapping in and out of bins
APEC

Micro Ingredient System Case Study

Problem: A company in Mexico that manufactures vitamin and mineral premixes formed a partnership with a major pharmaceutical company. The success of the joint venture quickly increased the demand for their products and also increased the number of products that were being offered. The new partnership soon expressed a desire to have improved record keeping and ingredient tracking, which wasn’t possible under the current system due to the manual aspect of the machinery. The partnership approached APEC with their plan to improve their premix process. They expressed a need for the new equipment to be installed without interrupting production.

Solution: APEC’s engineering staff worked with the ownership team to develop a horizontally orientated system composed of a completely automated premix system that including 30 ingredient bins, material handling conveyors, three scales, one mixer and two packaging lines to allow for proper tracking and record keeping. To avoid any interruptions in production, the system was designed to be installed in a custom designed warehouse that was being ordered and constructed while APEC designed and assembled the equipment and control systems. The major scales, minor scales, micro scales, and support structures were manufactured at APEC with the large carrier bins being manufactured locally, based on APEC’s designs. This was part of a plan to save the partnership money on freight and also assist in facilitating a quick and seamless installation.

Result: The APEC system gave the customer the capability to formulate, mix, package, and track both large and small bags of premix and concentrate. Since the system was completely automated, the needs for accuracy, record keeping and ingredient tracking were easily met with the reports that are generated by the APEC control system. The system was installed and commissioned in keeping with the customer’s schedule and the capacity of the APEC system easily met the customer’s needs on a single shift basis. As the company grew, they were able to increase production by adding shifts.

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