Choosing a Complete Turnkey Solution

Potato processors that decide to resort to a single equipment manufacturer are generally large-scale operations that prefer this method for several reasons, including easier communication with the supplier, as well as financial reasons – as getting a loan is easier when presenting the business plan to the bank and saying that all parts and equipment come from the same producer.

However, not only lines can be single-sourced, but also projects, and by that it should read a particular area within a processing line – for instance all the equipment needed for frying, batch frying or peeling. This article is meant to present the advantages and challenges of choosing a single-source potato processing equipment manufacturer.

Why choose one?

According to Tummers, the main benefit of working with one supplier for a turnkey processing line is that the customer has one point of contact, which greatly reduces the risk of communication errors. The turnkey supplier will be overall responsible for the good functioning of the complete line and thus the customers prevent ‘finger-pointing’ between different suppliers if something goes wrong. Tummers’ experience as turnkey supplier greatly reduces the risk of errors, due to their extensive experience with integrating third party equipment in the complete line. According to the company, they have the knowledge to select the right machine for the job, and also know what is required to integrate this machine into a complete line. Another advantage can be for customers who are supported by a large investment company, or work with government contracts / grants. Very often the investment company dictates that the complete line is bought from one company, in order to reduce the risks. In the end it is the customer who needs to make the decision for turn-key supply or individual suppliers. Tummers representatives say they can help with both options. When the customer wants to buy components directly, Tummers can integrate these machines in the overall design and P&ID, to ensure a smooth integration.

“The initial costs may be slightly higher, as Tummers needs to calculate a project management fee on the price of the third-party equipment. But it saves the customer in labor, and ensures a quick and smooth start-up of the line, and that is where the main benefit is. You can imagine that if one link in the processing chain is not selected / installed or connected in the right way, it will hold up the commissioning of the complete factory, with a potential risk of very high losses,” says Edwin Langbroek, head of Sales at Tummers Food Processing Solutions.

What about a turnkey segment of a line?

Some companies, especially SMEs, may choose to resort to a one-stop-shop supplier, but only for a particular project or part of the entire processing line, that they either need to replace, upgrade or install from scratch. According to Göran Wadsten, Rosenqvists Food Technologies, the Swedish company that is well-known for its highly proficient frying equipment, they have received both demands for full line installations, as well as for particular areas of the processing line, such as the batch frying components.

“When a higher capacity of finished product is requested (250 -300 kg/h), the relation between the output capacity and total oil volume will give limitations using a direct gas heated batch fryer. For this reason, Rosenqvists Food Technologies developed a batch fryer using an indirect heating system, where the vegetable oil is heated over a tube heat exchanger using thermo oil as heating media. Thermo oil is a mineral based oil designed for temperatures up to 290-degree C. The boiler heating the thermo oil uses natural gas or diesel fuel. This system is an external indirect heating system, where the vegetable oil is heated outside the frying pan over a specially designed U-tube heat exchanger,” says Wadsten.

You can read the rest of this article in your complimentary e-copy of the November/December Issue of Potato Processing International magazine, which you can access by clicking here.