Betagro Group is a leading manufacturer and distributor of animal feed products with 12 feed mills in Asia. Quality is a core value in the group, and Betagro is constantly looking for ways to ensure consistent quality in the raw materials received from suppliers and the end products delivered to their customers, the farmers.
However, it can be both costly and time-consuming to ensure consistent quality throughout the supply chain, and Betagro needed a solution that allowed for smooth and efficient quality assurance across all sites. Senior Department Manager, Anuwat Vaitayasopit, explains: “We wanted to become even more efficient by applying one single quality standard across all our sites.”
How to save time and money with NIR
Near-infrared analysis, also called NIR, is a leading quality analysis method throughout the food industry, not least in the feed industry, which is faced with challenges such as increasing raw material prices and a growing focus on quality from customers.
As a leading supplier within the feed industry, Betagro is facing those challenges head-on and is using NIR as a way to make sure that high quality remains a non-issue in their supply chain.
Betagro receives detailed data insights on quality parameters such as protein, moisture, fibre and fat. And by connecting all their NIR instruments, Betagro is able to receive comparable data insights from all their sites in near real-time on the quality of raw materials coming in from suppliers and the finished end products. This allows for a much more efficient quality assurance process across sites.
Networked instruments for more efficient work processes
Betagro benefits from their data insights across sites thanks to FossManager™. The networking software connects the individual NIR instruments at the individual Betagro feed mill sites across countries. FossManager networking software is used to manage instrument settings, to deliver calibration updates from one central site to all the others and to collect analytical data, which can be viewed with visual representations. These visual representations allow employees, such as Anuwat Vaitayasopit, to quickly and easily gain an overview of the incoming quality and to respond efficiently when it may be necessary to take action.
“Our NIR team use the graphs in FossManager to see the variations or the consistency of the raw materials and the finished products. We can manage quality and we can manage the suppliers,” explains Anuwat Vaitayasopit.
The data insights also enable Betagro to be proactive rather than reactive as warning indicators inform the operators when it is time for maintenance. This means less unscheduled downtime and improved planning and consequently reduced costs through more efficient operations.
Data insights can strengthen supplier relationships
Betagro also uses these detailed data insights for value-adding feedback and dialogue with their suppliers. These data-based dialogues are an important part of maintaining constructive and close relationships with the suppliers.
The data also allows Betagro to present customers with proof of the high quality of their product portfolio. In other words, data can be used as a competitive parameter.
Many feed manufacturers today have multiple feed mills and struggle with the challenges of ensuring consistent quality across sites and maintaining an up-to-date overview of the feed quality. Networked NIR instruments can help you overcome these challenges, and FossManager is the solution to get you connected.
If you want to know more about FossManager, click here.
