Separators Blog

Ten millennia ago, humans domesticated a small herd of wild ox in the Near East. And nearly 4,500 years later, they started milking them. Since then, humanity’s obsession with cow milk has spread into a multi-billion dollar industry and is still growing.

Ever since us clever homo sapiens figured out we could drink cow milk, the biological fact that milk separates naturally from cream has been part of that calculation. We’ve figured out how to make butter, ice cream (yum), cheese, kefir, and more recently, whey protein powders and probiotic yogurts.

About 150 years ago, mechanized centrifugal cream separators hit the milk processing industry. People’s minds were blown. The technology flew off the shelves, and the dairy world exploded. 

Since then, the dairy industry has been able to grow at an unprecedented rate, and people have been wondering: what’s the next big innovation? What’s the next truly game-changing technology that will streamline industrial dairy processing?

Enter automation.

When it comes to maintaining industrial centrifuges, the effort you put in really does come back to you tenfold. Centrifuges are large, powerful machines, and they do what they do exceptionally well. With the right amount of attention paid to maintaining these machines and safety precautions, centrifuges can provide decades of consistent and reliable performance.

At Separators, we like sharing our hard-won knowledge and automated centrifuge insights with our clients. We believe that smart, driven plant managers and technicians value their equipment, and share a natural curiosity that leads to exciting innovations.

That’s why we prodded our seven-year veteran automation engineer, Jordan Vande Brake, for some insights into why he thinks automation will continue to play a vital role in dairy production facilities.

A dirty centrifuge can cause a host of severe problems, ranging from product contamination to costly equipment damage.

Whether or not you’ve ever heard of centripetal force before, you’ve definitely seen it in action, and even felt it in your entire body.

In fact, you’re probably using centripetal force more often than you realize. Even some of your home appliances help you use it for everyday tasks (more on that later).

Sometimes, something as simple as a plant visit can save a facility well over $15,000. Here’s how it happened.

Having the right replacement parts for your centrifuge equipment can be a real bottom-line saver. If you’ve ever been on the floor when a centrifuge breaks down, you know the mad scramble first hand. Sourcing centrifuge spare parts might not always be easy, but it is always essential. Here at Separators, our parts department’s primary goal is to get you the parts you need as quickly and efficiently as possible. But don’t just take my word for it. Watch this video to hear it from our team. 

There’s nothing quite like a global pandemic to help you figure out what’s really important. Lucky for us, we were already working on just that. We were toiling behind the scenes, taking a deep dive into Separators Inc. as a company.

Asking questions like: What kind of people are we? What do we stand for? How do we serve our customers? As it turns out, we had a pretty great idea of who we were, and we’ve been doing a lot of things right, but our exterior was a little behind the times. It didn't show us as a company of experts and craftspeople. A company centered on your centrifuge. 

Until now. 

Equipment breakdowns can be a nightmare for production facilities. One machine down and the whole operation comes to a screeching halt. Without a moment’s notice, there’s a full crew without a moving line to work on. Supervisors and managers hurry to locate the source, troubleshoot the issue. Every minute of downtime equals dollars disappearing into thin air.