Automation experts AZO

AUTOMATION EXPERTS

AZO GmbH & Co. KG designs and produces machines for the automatic handling of bulk goods and powders. AZO’s systems for automated raw material handling are used in the food sector, in the plastics and pharmaceutical industries and by manufacturers of chemical and cleaning products. Joseph Altham spoke to AZO’s group manager, Christian Krolle, to find out about a company that continues to innovate and is gaining ground in Asian markets.

Food and pharmaceutical companies rely on AZO’s machines to ensure the efficiency of their production processes. Within the production process, the equipment that AZO supplies covers many different functions, including screening, conveying, dosing and weighing. When bulk goods are delivered to a factory, AZO’s machines are used to screen out contaminants. On the factory floor, AZO’s suction weighing systems transport bulk quantities to a predetermined point in the process and precisely weigh the ingredients that have to be added to the recipe.

To meet the needs of its customers in various industry sectors, AZO is organised into four different divisions: AZO Food, AZO Vital (which serves the pharmaceutical industry), AZO Chem and AZO Poly (for plastics manufacturers). What happens inside a chocolate factory or a pharmaceutical plant is a complex business where a ‘one size fits’ approach cannot succeed. For this reason, AZO works in close cooperation with its clients, giving them carefully considered advice on the best way to automate their processes. “We produce systems that provide reliable automation for production processes,” stated Mr Krolle. “Most of them are tailor-made for our customers.”

A tradition of innovation

AZO, based in the German town of Osterburken, is a family company, established in 1949 by Adolf Zimmermann and his wife, Mari-

DMN-WESTINGHOUSE

The international world of processing consists of a variety of industries and companies. DMN-WESTINGHOUSE have been designing and manufacturing rotary valves, diverter valves and other related components for the bulk solids handling industry for more than 40 years. Being an independent company with no involvement in system design, our sole activity is the development, manufacture and sale of these components.

DMN-WESTINGHOUSE offer tailor made solutions to the global food, dairy, plastics, (petro)chemical, pharmaceutical, mineral and power/biomass industries. Due to our years of experience and long term relationships we are a major supplier to some of the most reputable multinational companies and system integrators like AZO.

amixon®

amixon® sets the trend in the development and construction of processing equipment for the processing industry. The construction of sterile equipment which fulfils high, even the highest, requirements in terms of hygiene is a key area. In this context there are innovative mixing devices and discharge processes for complete discharge available.

The product range includes powder mixers, paste mixers, vacuum dryers, reactors, cone mixers, single-shaft mixers, twin-shaft mixers, vacuum mixers and container mixers. In recent years continual innovation has enabled amixon® to make marked improvements in productivity and the standard of hygiene of this processing equipment. Many detailed solutions are protected by patent.

anne. AZO’s original headquarters was an old sheep shed but the firm now has a turnover of €135 million and employs 920 people. The breakthrough came when Adolf Zimmermann created a flour-sieving machine for the breadmaking industry, released onto the market in 1952. This ‘Pyramidal’ grain-cleaning machine was the forerunner of a concept, the cyclone screener, that AZO still sells today. The cyclone screener is a kind of automatic, industrial-sized sieve that can be used as part of a continuous production process. When powder is

thrown against a screen, fine particles are small enough to pass through it, while unwanted, coarse particles like contaminants or agglomerates are too big to get through the screen fabric and are discharged.

“The cyclone screener is still a top-selling product,” said Mr Krolle. “It is used as part of a system for quality control of ingredients.”

As early as the 1980s, AZO saw the potential of information technology, which enables an industrial process to be controlled from a computer screen. AZO’s subsidiary company, hsh-systeme for process-IT, installs computer systems on production lines to support such tasks as manual weighing and batch tracking. “Computer controls are essential for handling automated processes. They are especially valuable for track-and-trace purposes, where a large amount of data has to be collected.” In the event of a problem at a food factory, AZO’s Kastor software package, which precisely documents product quantities, will identify the contaminated batch, ensuring that any affected customers can be warned as early as possible. ShuttleDos

AZO’s ShuttleDos system for super fast batch automation was developed by the company in 2005 and is proving very popular with customers. “We have continued to develop this concept, which has attracted a lot of interest in the market, particularly over the last couple of years,” Mr Krolle explained. “The ShuttleDos system’s main advantages are high throughput, lower dust levels and superior hygiene. The ShuttleDos system is especially suited to applications in the food sector, but could be installed for customers of any one of our four divisions.

“Each recipe will have a dedicated container. During the production process, the shuttle system moves the containers from one dosing station to the next. By moving the container within the production system, the shuttle makes it possible to bring in more containers for weighing and dosing. Previously the weighing scale caused a bottleneck because it had to go through the whole system. With the ShuttleDos system, the containers move around, and instead of the travelling scale, there is a fixed scale under each container.” Asian markets

Demand for AZO’s services is growing. In 2010 the company built a new production hall in order to increase capacity. The source of the demand is global. Outside Germany, AZO has sales companies not only in Europe but also in emerging economies like China and Thailand. Mr Krolle, who spent over four years in charge of the Thailand office, believes that Asian countries represent a big potential market for AZO. “People in Thailand are looking for a higher quality of life. Even while I was there, I noticed that people were becoming more concerned about food quality. Indonesia is another big market with great potential. The growth in the Asian population means that the food sector will require new production capacity. In international markets, nothing is guaranteed, so incoming raw materials must be checked to prevent contamination. Asian consumers now attach more importance to food quality. Automation and track-and-trace technology will be needed in order to satisfy their expectations.” n