FS Saves $500K+ in Equipment Costs

A major US baking goods processor was searching for blending equipment that could also disperse air bubbles into their cake mix to create a cake with a lighter texture. Because the plant wanted to produce the cake mix on a 24-hour production line, it was also very important to find durable, high- quality equipment.

After searching for mixing equipment that could efficiently mix the cake and inject air into the batter, they considered using a bearing house mixer. However, the process would require 3 of these mixers at a price of $200,000 each, which was significantly more than the manufacturer wanted to spend. The processor began to search for more affordable options.

At PackExpo, an industry tradeshow, the manufacturer learned about Fristam’s FS Shear Blender technology. The FS provides quick and thorough ingredient mixing, is customizable to meet a variety of production needs, and offers complete reliability. Along with these features, Fristam’s FS was 90% less expensive than the other blending equipment the processor was considering. Normally, an FS does not introduce air into the blending process, but because this was desired, the engineers at Fristam suggested an injection tube be placed in the line leading into the blender. In this case, the injection tube would deliver small amounts of air into the line, which would then be dispersed into the batter by the FS. After considering their options, they decided to place an FS model 3521 with an air injection tube before their filler machine to aerate and homogenize the cake mix.

The processor was very pleased with how well the FS was able to blend the cake mix and disperse the desired air bubbles. They continue to run their mixing system around the clock and have not experienced any problems with their product quality or equipment failure. Overall, the manufacturer is impressed with the performance of the FS and how much they were able to save in equipment costs.