Webinar: Improve pet food dryer efficiency without more heat

Pet food dryers are often treated like “big metal boxes,” where the mystery of what’s happening inside can hide major opportunities to improve performance, product quality, and profitability. Join us for an exclusive webinar with Jim Mullinax, Process Engineer at Bühler, as he explores common factors that can negatively impact dryer efficiency, consistency, and final product quality. Many of these issues, from maintenance gaps to operational variables, are easy to overlook but can lead to costly problems such as inconsistent final moisture, uneven moisture distribution, kibble breakage, increased energy use, and unplanned downtime. Learn practical steps you can take now using existing tools and data to improve performance, reduce energy use, and enhance consistency. See how a deeper analysis of moisture and process data can unlock further optimization and cost savings.

This webinar will broadcast at 10:00 AM CDT (Chicago) / 4:00 PM BST (London) / 11:00 PM CST (Beijing).

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

1. Identify common maintenance and operational issues that can lead to inconsistent final moisture, uneven distribution, reduced product quality, kibble breakage, energy inefficiency, and unplanned downtime.
2. Apply simple operating adjustments that can improve dryer performance immediately.
3. Understand what happens inside the dryer and how it impacts drying results and product quality.
4. Use process data to uncover deeper opportunities for energy recovery, optimization, and cost savings.

This webinar is sponsored by Bühler and presented by Petfood Industry.

Speaker Information:

Jim Mullinax, Process Engineer at Bühler

Jim Mullinax is a process engineer at Bühler with diverse experience in manufacturing operations. Jim has worked at Bühler for four years, traveling to customer sites to evaluate existing dryer installations and install new equipment. These site visits have given him a broad experience in dryer performance and its impact on customer KPIs. In addition to Jim's on-site work optimizing dryer performance, he also teaches in the Bühler Drying Theory Seminar held in Raleigh, NC twice per year. He is passionate about working with customers and helping them run their dryers with better performance and less headaches. Much of this effort focuses on reducing energy consumption, reducing CO2 emissions, and maximizing production throughput. Jim earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering at UNC Charlotte, focusing in thermal-fluid systems, before working as a manufacturing engineer at General Electric in the gas turbine division. He then worked at the Michelin Tire Company in equipment installation and startup, project management, and process engineering. While at Michelin, he completed his MBA as well as PMP certification.