Our manufacturing process begins in Receiving, where raw materials are taken from shipping trucks, stored in the warehouse for inspection, and released by Quality Assurance inspectors for Mixing. The QA department inspects all raw ingredients that are received from suppliers according to strict criteria for safety and quality.
Mixing
Upon QA Release, raw materials enter the Mixing phase of the production process, where ingredients are sent to Liquefying, Oil Storage, fat blending, and Micro Ingredient Dispensing Unit processing and blended using water from sophisticated reverse osmosis technology in which the water is refined to a level of less then 0.1 ppm fluoride.
Compounding
During Compounding, liquefied ingredients are mixed with essential fat blends, nucleotides, nutrients, and minerals and go through extensive heat treatment, homogenization, cooling, and then storage in mix tanks. In addition, heat-sensitive vitamins are added at this point in the process. The liquid product is again tested by the QA department and released for additional processing.
From mix storage, the formula ingredient blend is concentrated, via an evaporator, before entering the drying process.
Drying
PBM's distinctive drying technology facilitates tight regulation of moisture, reconstitution, and bulk density of the product. Our dryer is fitted with a million-grid matrix to optimize any formulation that we produce based on advanced Finite Element Analysis. This technology enables us to predict ideal conditions for any product, which saves thousands of processing hours and development time while ensuring custom products tailored to the needs of our customers that can be manufactured with recurring consistency and quality.
Finished product from the dryer is then transferred to powder storage, where it stays until the QA department once again tests and releases powder formula so it can be packaged.
Packaging
In Packaging, infant formula is placed into cans or pouches and sealed to protect product integrity and freshness. Container sizes range from 30 gram pouches to 1457 gram cans.
Infant formula products are sent to one of three Packaging operations: Line 1 for milk-based formulas; Line 2 for soy-based and specialty formulas; or Line 3 for formula that is packaged in pouches.
To guarantee product integrity, oxygen is purged from all infant formula products in a nitrogen environment; if the product is destined for the high altitudes of Mexico, formula is sealed in a carbon dioxide environment.
After products have been packaged in individual containers, they pass through an ink jet coding step to guarantee proper identification and traceability. Canned formula then enters a labeling, insert and over cap process, before being sent to case or tray packing.
Once labeled, infant formula is placed in cases or trays, sent to ink jet printers again for carton/tray printing, before moving on to the palletizers and stretch wrappers.
After product is stretch-wrapped on pallets, it is sent to the warehouse pick-up point, where Material Handlers apply identification tags to the pallets before they are placed in storage.
Shipping
Product is then inspected again by the QA department and released for shipping to world markets.
