As bakers, we work in a highly competitive market. Accounts are won or lost on pennies and this only underscores the reality that the business side of baking is hard work. Within this series of articles, I intend to highlight different methods bakers use to automate dough production. By providing the pros, cons, and everything in between I ultimately hope you will walk away informed. As a disclaimer and to be transparent I want to inform you that I am a proud principle of Dough Tech and will use the products I represent as the comparison and basis for my evaluations.
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In today&#;s world if you are asked to scale, it will mean different things to different people. For example, you will get a completely different answer from a fisherman than you will from a mountaineer, which is entirely different from someone who aims to grow their business. One act of scaling that all bakeries are familiar with is to scale ingredients, but unlike fish this type of scaling is more like mountains and business than at first glance. The act of weighing and combining ingredients at the right time, in the proper proportion according to plan is exactly how to scale your bakery. As bakery opportunities grow, we usually feel the growing pains first in dough production and then our wallet, especially if you intend to finance your growth through cash flow. In this segment I will discuss flour silos, how to know if you&#;re ready for a silo, which silo is right for you and how to maintain your investment as you continue to grow.
When is the right time?
Timing is everything, we have all heard that before, but how do you know if you are ready to stop buying bagged flour and begin to buy in bulk? Fortunately, this is easier to answer than you may think. The answer is in the math. How many pounds of flour do I need to buy? How many pounds of flour do I use in 21 days and how much money will I save buy buying in bulk?
Some flour mills may offer partial loads but typically a bulk flour truck will hold 47,000 lbs. of flour. This amount is important because buying in full truck loads you will maximize bulk dollar savings.
Why 21 days? Wheat is a favorite grain for weevil and it&#;s not uncommon for weevil to be attracted to milled flour. A female weevil can lay as many as 250 eggs during her lifespan of 2-3 months. Within 14 days weevil larvae will hatch and begin to grow. Within 21 days weevil will mature and begin the reproductive cycle again. So, if you can consume 47,000 lbs. of flour every 21 days, weevil eggs will not have time to hatch. Then with a proper cleaning schedule your bakery can remain weevil free.
Cost savings will result from bulk flour purchasing by eliminating bags, less handling at the mill and distribution centers. It only makes sense that there is a cost for each flour bag that is thrown away. Cost saving will vary from mill to mill, but it&#;s not uncommon that savings range from $1.00 &#; $3.00 per hundred weight. There are also hidden savings that don&#;t show up directly on your financials, like the reduction in trash pick-ups, less chance of adding the wrong flour weight at the mixer and less likelihood of workers comp claims from lifting thousands of pounds of flour sacks. And then there&#;s improved employee morale and finally more warehouse space.
So, if your bakery consumes at least 47,000 lbs. of flour every 21 days you can expect to save between $156.66 &#; $469.98 per week. With this minimum savings amount you can easily determine what your savings and ROI will be.
Which silo is right for you?
Now that you have determined a silo is the right move, the next logical question is which one. Will my silo be indoors or outdoors and what material is best? To answer these questions, it&#;s best to understand the pros and cons of each style.
Either indoor or outdoor silos will perform the same and both will have the same features of flour sifters, and weigh hoppers, programmable control panels and dust collection systems. So the important determining factors will be how much room do you have, how tall are your ceilings and where will the delivery truck load flour into the silos.
Indoor Silos
Indoor silos are available in stainless steel or flexible fabric construction. These silos are dimensionally square or rectangular, and the size is easily customized to fit in any available area. Ceiling height can be a concern, so I recommend the ceiling has at least 16&#; of clearance.
Stainless steel
Stainless steel silos are rigid, and the silo tank will last for generations. They typically cost more, and the manufacturing lead time is longer than flexible fabric silos. Stainless steel silos also operate by &#;fluidizing&#; the flour inside the silo each time there is a flour draw. By injecting air into the tank, the flour is lifted as it begins to flow through the delivery tubes into the weighing hopper. Aerating the flour will eliminate any clumping or silo bridging issues that may arise.
Pros: Durable, long-lasting material
Cons: More expensive to purchase and install
Flexible fabric
Flexible fabric flour silos are the most cost-effective way to get into a silo system. Reinforced fabric bags are designed for the weight and material they will hold. Fabric silos are also less expensive to have custom dimensions or heights. Fabric bags are reinforced with anti-static stainless-steel wires that add strength and dissipate static electricity as flour moves through the silo. Fabric silos are installed with a stainless-steel bottom that uses a vibrating motor to prevent clumping. Within 12-16 years the silo bag may need to be replaced, but this expense is minimal compared to the cost savings of the system.
Pros: less expensive to purchase and install. Easier to scale with the bakery.
Cons: The bag may need to be replaced over time.
Outdoor silos
Fiberglass
If you have limited space indoors or your flour storage needs are greater than 100,000 lbs. you could consider outdoor silos. Outdoor silos are made from fiberglass with a food safe gelcote® interior coating. They can handle greater weight capacities and their heights can exceed 40&#;. Outdoor silos require cranes during the assembly process, so installation cost is typically more expensive and require more time to build, but not consuming valuable interior floor space is a great tradeoff. By moving flour storage from indoors to outdoors you can expand your production without adding onto your building.
Pros: Greater storage capacity. Free up indoor storage.
Cons: Longer and more expensive installation process.
Silo Maintenance
Just as with anything there is maintenance to your silo. Maintenance routines require annual emptying of the silo and the interior silo walls cleaned and sanitized. This is done by entering the silo and with an industrial vacuum with a brush attached to a long tube vacuuming the side walls and the ceiling filtering fabric. Once it has been vacuumed then sanitize the interior walls by wiping the walls with towel soaked in sanitizing solution. You must use caution not to damage the floor of the silo and it is necessary to follow OSHA confined space requirements while inside the silo tank.
Weekly, the outside of indoor silos should be dusted, and integrated dust collectors emptied.
Daily flour sifter collection trays should be inspected and emptied.
Conclusion
Flour silos can be expensive, and the initial price can seem like an unscalable mountain to climb, but it&#;s been my experience that when a bakery meets the minimum threshold that I&#;ve explained, you can finance your silo with no out of pocket expense. In fact, with most installations, it becomes a profit center right from the beginning. From the hard and soft cost savings, bulk flour silos are a great investment that will make your bakery competitive today and continue for decades into the future. Dough Tech can help you determine if a silo is right for you. When the time is right, we can offer financing information to purchase silos when your bulk flour savings will exceed any loan payment. You can find more information about silos at https://www.doughtech.com/intech-silos/
Although there are many flour milling plants in the market, but the high demand for various flours makes it still profitable to start flour milling business through setting up small scale or medium scale flour mill factory.
How to Start Flour Mill Factory
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Many people are interested in starting flour mill business. However, they have no ideas about the detailed steps and perspective cost of flour mill factory setup. And they are also curious about how much money can a flour mill, like a small scale, make per year. Here, ABC Machinery offers the information you may be needed, like wheat flour mill business plan. (You may also like: Flour Mill Plant Cost >>)
Generally, flour milling business has two types small scale or large scale. Choosing small scale or large scale should fully take your specific conditions into consideration. Here we will analyze the small scale flour mill and large scale flour mill plant for your consideration.
Flour Mill Machine for Small Business
F6FC Mini Flour Mill Machine
M6FX Mini Flour Mill Factory
Firstly, the small scale flour mill machinery requires small amount of money, but the profit margin is relatively small. It works greatly in two models, one is to charge a certain amount for milling grains, the other is to produce flour mill. So, small scale flour mill business is flexible, you can adjust your production based on the market needs. In addition, the whole operations are relatively easy and simple, so almost all the adult can use it.
Large Scale Flour Mill Plant
60TPD Wheat Flour Mill Factory in Algeria
160TPD Automatic Wheat Flour Plant in New Zealand
It is inevitable that large scale flour mill project requires heavy investment since the complicated flour milling process and advanced flour milling machinery. However, the profits are decent in most cases since there are large demand of wheat flour around the world, especially in some regions, such as India, Egypt, Algeria, Italy, Brazil, etc. Large scale flour mill plant can achieve automatic and continuous flour production, from raw materials to packaged flour.
Some of Our Successful Flour Milling Projects Raw material Yield Country (Factory Location) Wheat 80TPD Ethiopia Wheat 60TPD Algeria Maize 50TPD Zambia Wheat 40TPD Ethiopia Wheat 30TPD Chile Maize 30TPD Uganda Maize 20TPD India Wheat 20TPD RumaniaSend an Inquiry Now to get project cost, process design, equipment layout details!
The cost for a flour mill factory varies a lot due to the different production capacity. If you are going to set up a small scale factory flour mill, the cost will be a much cheaper than medium scale or large scale flour mill plant. Setting up flour mill plant may require large amount, so if you doesn&#;t have enough money but won&#;t want miss the profitable endeavors, you can search helps of bank loans or just to find out a reliable partner who is also enthusiastic about the flour milling business.
Typically, the F6FC mini flour mill machine will cost $2,500 ~ $3,000. The M6FX mini flour mill factory will cost $3,500 ~ $5,000. However, for the large scale flour mill factory, the cost definitely high. For example, the large scale flour mill plant equiped with automatic wheat mill machinery may cost $19,000 ~ $1,448,000. But, this price is just for a references, the exact cos of the flour mill factory plant should based on the exact conditions and equipment selections!
If you are interested in starting your own wheat/atta flour mill business, or other grain flour business, like cassava flour milling, please contact us for FREE quotation on both small scale or large scale flour mill machinery.
Flout mill
Get Financial Support
How to start a flour mill? Below will talk about the basic factors that should be taken into consideration when you decide to start it.
Any business will need financial support before starting. How much money is required to have the flour milling machine? Is it needed to take out loans or just put all your money into this business. For the estimate amount, it is better to have a better understanding about local market as well as global market of profit in flour mill business. (Read more: Get the Policy Loan for Your Business >>)
Find Right Factory Location
A right factory location is very important for the flour milling business. The right factory location should have convenient transportation that is easily for the access of raw materials and delivery and shipping of final packed flour. After the location is decided, it it time to get out the covering area of the flour processing plant. In general, a complete flour mill plant layout should include the area for storage of raw materials, area for flour milling machines, area for flour packaging.
Get Licence for Flour Milling
Getting the licence from the government or registering your factory in local administration is also important for the success of the flour milling business. It is the basic requirements for a flour milling factory to ensure every policy and flour production process are compliant with the local regulation and legislation.
Purchase Flour Milling Machine
When above mentioned conditions are ready, it is time to think about how and where to get the flour milling machinery. The selection of flour milling machines are closely connected with the capacity, the investment cost, the flour milling process, the raw materials and more. Therefore, it can&#;t be done overnight. It needs to take time to choose the most reliable flour milling machinery supplier, which can help to avoid many unexpected problems in the installation and operation of the flour milling factory and lower the cost of machinery purchases. (Read more: Wheat Flour Machine Suppliers >>)
Operator Training and Safety Education
For most flour mill factory, there should be have several operators or workers for flour production. The systematic training and safety education for the workers and operators are very important one the flour mill factory starts running. They not only should to have a good command of the equipment and machinery, but also need to know how to flour ingredients additions. Most four mill machinery supplier will offer the training plan and course for their customers to help them quickly enters the flour industry and avoid many typical operational mistakes.
Make Marketing Strategy for flour Milling Business
How to make the final produced flour to the direct customers is also a hard task for flour milling factory investors. If the competition of local flour market is low, then don&#;t worry, the selling of final flour products will be very good. Some markets, such Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Uganda, Chile, Australia, Algeria, Ethiopia and more, are very hot for start flour milling business since the high demand and low competition. (Read more: Flour Mill Project Built by ABC Machinery >>)
When you are going to start flour mill business by setting up a flour mill factory, you can have a reference of the above mentioned tips and steps for a complete and viable flour milling business plan. ABC Machinery can offer custom-made flour mill business plan to easily get start flour milling business. If you still have many confusions, please just contact us for more detailed information, we have built many flour mill projects all over the world. We do believe, some of our experiences are what you want!
Can oats be ground into flour? With a particle size of 40-50 mesh, what is the extraction rate?
Yes, oats can be ground into flour. The extraction rate may vary depending on the specific process and the customer's requirements. If the oats are steam-cooked and dried before grinding, or if they are directly ground without any additional processing, the resulting flour may have a coarse texture. If the quality requirements are not very high, the extraction rate can reach around 85%.
Can one M6FC flour mill machine handle both wheat and rice?
Yes, the M6FC flour mill machine can process both wheat and rice. The particle sizes of wheat and rice are similar, so there is no need to adjust the parameters of the milling machine. Simply grind and sift to obtain the flour. For wheat, you can add a cleaning device, but it is not necessary for rice. You can directly feed the rice into the storage hopper for grinding.
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