Arla Foods Ingredients Pilot Plant on a large scale

the rest of the labour market, several members of the group are challenged in respect of acquiring the right competencies for the companies. However, several solutions were noted to be in play:

Au2mate said that the company is successful in giving students access to the pilot plant in connection with project assignments, thereby making them familiar with the house.

KMC located at Brande experiences that a lot of efforts have to be made to attract people from Aarhus to Brande.

Chr. Hansen needs more competencies in the plant-based segment.

SPX Flow has recruited a number of dairymen and is successful in recruitment via Mælkeritidende.

Arla Foods Ingredients primarily gets newly qualified applicants and experiences increased focus on family considerations and work balance among the applicants, to include concerns about time wasted in commuting, etc.

Palsgaard is trying out a professional bachelor’s degree, which has got off to a good start.

• Chr. Hansen A/S • Au2mate • GEA Process Engineering A/S • Arla Foods Innovation Centre (AIC), Skejby • Kold College • AAK Sweden AB • University of Copenhagen, FOOD • SPX Flow Technology Danmark A/S • Arla Foods Ingredients (R&D Nr. Vium and

Application, Viby) • Palsgaard • KMC • Tetra Pak • SANOVO TECHNOLOGY PROCESS A/S • Industrigruppen bag Mejeriingeniøruddannelsen

• Create overview of equipment • Discuss opportunities to share/rent equipment and time across companies/universities • Share knowledge of which equipment best meet a specific application/purpose • How to keep the equipment in good condition – even with low frequency of use • Education of staff • Purchase and preferred suppliers • Exchange experience with performance of specific equipment • Ways of working as well as planning • Certifications and food safety • Experience about specific equipment. • Getting raw materials • Import/export of samples

Anne-Sofi Christiansen, phone: +45 29994281

The new Innovation Centre at Nr. Vium impresses as a workplace and with a production environment that exudes development and innovation.

I don’t want to leave. This place is uber-cool. Fantastic setting. The cliches and superlatives stood in line when the 15 participants in the Network for Pilot Managers were first invited to check out the 9,000 square meter brand new innovation centre at Arla Foods Ingredients at Nr. Vium, which was officially inaugurated three months ago.

Initially, Bente Østergaard Mikkelsen, Senior R&D Manager Deploy, gave an introduction to both the main company, Arla Foods Ingredients, and the new Innovation Centre (- see boxes).

Arla Foods Ingredients’ Innovation Centre at Nr. Vium, inaugurated in August.

The location is by no means coincidental, as the Innovation Centre is collocated with Danmark Protein, situated at the same land cadastre as the large yellow cheese dairy, Nr. Vium. In this way, the supply of the main raw material, whey, is secured by direct pipe supplies in addition to the walkway between the two plants. Here, 60 researchers and 20 technicians are ready to test the whey in the many development projects, to be found in the laboratories, in the pilot plant, and in the project descriptions on the desks.

The first stop of the tour is the administrative department, which is characterized by large open plan offices combined with small meeting rooms. All with soft surfaces that create unique acoustics, allowing space for independent work sessions in small groups, and without noise. - We have attempted to create an open environment accommodating both life and energy; at the same time, it is nice and comfortable to work in the necessary calm. And we think that we have actually succeeded pretty well, Bente Østergaard Mikkelsen underscores.

After having checked out the 2,000 square meters of desks, sofas, and meeting rooms, the tour continued to the main goal of the day – the 2,500 square meter Pilot Plant facility. The General Manager is Pilot Plant Manager Henrik Johansen, who on the tour makes a series of stops in the large hall incorporating 15-20 different filtration systems, several heat treatment units, and powder drying systems. - The product developers book the different systems during the week, where we typically run different production projects in this hall. In fact, we have several hundred different test runs on an annual basis, says Henrik Johansen. In addition, a trolley rack system functioning as a small-scale storage for test productions has been established.

Finally, the Pilot Plant houses a separate 1,500 square meter hall, the Pilot Plant Production, with a larger production facility with the capability to produce up to 500 tons of powder per year. - Here we can scale up production volumes that are not quite market ready for the large industrial production at Danmark Protein, Poul Sønderby Hansen, General Manager of Pilot Plant Production, reiterates. Currently, one of AFI’s newest products, Lacprodan® BLG-100, launched in the spring, is being implemented. Using a new, patented separation technology, the whey product achieves a number of properties that minimize muscle mass loss and help maintain physical mobility in patients and the elderly.

The tour ends in the laboratory section. Here Henrik Johansen makes no secret of the fact that he was looking forward to showing the new facilities to his colleagues in the Pilot Plant Network. - It is always great to be able to impress others. But even though we now have some of the latest and most advanced testing facilities, AFI can still learn from others – therefore, we are really happy to be part of this network, he concludes.

Bente Østergaard Mikkelsen, Senior R&D Manager Deploy, introduced the network group to Arla Foods Ingredients.

• Processing 6,8 mia. kg. whey and 350 mio. kg milkintake • Three business units: Pediatric (infant segment), Health & Performance (medical, sport ect.) Food (specialized and functional proteins and lactose ) • Production 47.500 mio. ton WPC 80, 109.000 ton laktose, 59.500 ton permeat. • 1700 employees • Revenue: 790 mio. EUR • Productionsites: Danmark Protein (Troldhede), Arinco (Videbæk) AFISA (Argentina). Joint ventures: ArtNoCo (Germany) og MVI (UK). • Independent subsidiary in Arla Foods since 2011

• 100 employees (80 scientists, 20 technicians) • 7 nationalities • Located in Nr Vium (80 employees), Viby,

Arinco, Copenhagen, US and China • A budget around 100 mio. DKK • 100 projects in parallel • Lots of external collaboration with universities • 1-4 product launches per year.