Manual operations give way to automated milk preparation for margarine blending in a new sanitary process room at Canbra Foods, Inc., plant in Lethbridge, Alberta Canada.

An operator’s command at a central PC initiates addition of a pre-selected weight of salt and whey powder from 2,200 lb bulk bags from two bulk bag dischargers, through two flexible screw conveyors to one of two mixing tanks inside the room. Agitators in the tanks automatically cycle on and off. Pumps admit the precise volume of water, while other pumps transfer the precise volume of prepared milk through a heat treating process to a finished milk tank. The ingredients remain enclosed from bulk bag to mixing tank, preventing contamination.