Practical Ways to Increase Throughput and Prepare Your Process for Growth
Growing production does not always require replacing an entire liquid process system. In many facilities, meaningful capacity already exists within the current process. The challenge is identifying where production is being constrained and determining which equipment improvements will deliver the greatest increase in throughput.
Mixing Tanks USA works with manufacturers that need to produce more because of increased demand, new customers, additional product lines, or changes in batch requirements. The right solution may involve adding mixing capacity, increasing storage, improving product transfer, or changing how existing equipment is used.
Before investing in new equipment, start by looking at the complete production process.
Find the Actual Production Bottleneck
The mixing tank is an obvious place to look when production needs to increase, but overall capacity is determined by everything that happens before, during, and after mixing.
Start by mapping how long each stage of the process takes. This should include raw material preparation, tank filling, mixing, heating or cooling, product transfer, cleaning, and downstream packaging or processing.
Common bottlenecks include:
- Mixing tanks waiting for downstream equipment
- Long heating or cooling cycles
- Slow product transfers between vessels
- Tanks unavailable because they are being cleaned
- Insufficient finished-product storage
- One vessel supporting too many recipes or processes
Once the bottleneck is identified, the capital investment can be directed toward the part of the process that will actually increase production.
Our guide to mixing tank sizing provides additional insight into how working volume, geometry, and mixer design influence tank performance.
Add Mixing Tanks for Parallel Production
Adding another mixing tank is one of the most direct ways to increase capacity, particularly when an existing vessel is operating for much of the production day.
Parallel processing allows one tank to begin a new batch while another is mixing, transferring product, or being prepared for its next run. It can also give manufacturers greater flexibility when producing multiple formulations.
Two appropriately sized vessels may provide operational advantages over relying on one large tank. Parallel equipment can support more production sequences while also providing redundancy when a vessel is unavailable for cleaning, maintenance, or another product.
For co-packers, toll manufacturers, and facilities with frequently changing production schedules, this flexibility can be especially valuable.
Increase Storage to Keep Production Moving
Sometimes the mixing process has available capacity, but finished product has nowhere to go.
A mixing tank that must hold completed product until packaging or another downstream operation becomes available cannot begin its next batch. In this situation, adding storage capacity may increase effective mixing capacity without changing the mixing equipment itself.
A dedicated storage or holding tank allows the completed batch to leave the process vessel so production can continue. Storage tanks can also help manufacturers manage differences between batch production and packaging speeds.
Additional storage can provide:
- Faster turnover of mixing vessels
- Greater scheduling flexibility
- Buffer capacity between production stages
- Better management of peak production periods
- More efficient use of downstream equipment
This is a good example of why capacity should be evaluated as a system rather than as the rated gallons of an individual tank.
Shorten the Batch Cycle
Increasing the number of batches produced per shift can have as much impact as increasing batch size.
Review each portion of the batch cycle and identify where time can be reduced while maintaining the required product result. Mixer performance, ingredient addition, heating and cooling, transfer speed, and cleaning can all influence total cycle time.
A batch that takes four hours limits production differently than one that can reliably be completed in three. Across multiple shifts and production days, those improvements add up quickly.
Mixer and impeller performance deserve particular attention. The correct agitation system can improve circulation, solids incorporation, heat transfer, and overall mixing time. Our article on impeller and agitator types explains how different mixer configurations affect process performance.
Improve Product Transfer
Transfer time is easy to overlook because it occurs between major process steps. In a busy facility, slow transfers can consume a significant portion of the production schedule.
Pump selection, piping diameter, valve configuration, elevation changes, product viscosity, and routing all influence transfer performance.
If a completed batch takes an hour to move out of a vessel, that hour is part of the batch cycle. Improving the transfer system can free the mixing tank sooner and increase the number of batches produced without changing the vessel itself.
This is especially important with viscous products, where undersized pumps or restrictive piping can substantially extend transfer times.
Reduce Cleaning and Changeover Time
For facilities producing multiple products, cleaning can represent a significant portion of available production time.
Tank geometry, drainability, surface finish, piping configuration, and Clean-in-Place design all affect how quickly equipment can be prepared for another batch. Improving the cleaning process can increase equipment availability and make frequent changeovers easier to manage.
Manufacturers should consider:
- Time required for cleaning and rinsing
- Manual labor involved in each cleaning cycle
- Drainability and retained product
- CIP coverage and effectiveness
- Time required to verify and restart production
Reducing changeover time by even 20 or 30 minutes can create meaningful additional capacity when the process is repeated several times each day.
Consider the Complete Liquid Process System
As production grows, individual pieces of equipment become increasingly dependent on one another.
Mixing tanks, storage vessels, pumps, valves, piping, instrumentation, and controls should work together to maintain consistent product flow. Improving one component can simply move the bottleneck somewhere else if the surrounding process is not considered.
An integrated liquid process system can coordinate these functions and provide a clearer path for future expansion.
The goal is sustainable throughput. Equipment added today should support current demand while creating a foundation for continued growth.
Planning Your Next Capacity Expansion
Before adding equipment, understand how product moves through your facility and where time is being lost. Capacity improvements are most effective when they address a measurable production constraint.
Mixing Tanks USA can evaluate your existing process, identify opportunities for additional capacity, and develop equipment that integrates with your current operation.
If demand is pushing the limits of your existing equipment, contact Mixing Tanks USA for a quote on your next mixing and storage tank project. We can help you determine whether additional mixing tanks, storage vessels, process improvements, or an integrated system will provide the capacity you need.
About Mixing Tanks USA
Mixing Tanks USA is an American manufacturer of stainless steel mixing and storage tanks and liquid process systems serving the food and beverage, life science, and industrial and chemical industries.
Our equipment is manufactured in Portland, Oregon, with a focus on precision engineering, quality fabrication, dependable performance, and long-term customer support. We design standard and custom equipment around the products, processes, facilities, and production goals of the manufacturers we serve.