QC labs are experiencing a surge in activity due to an increase in new ingredients and formulations needing viscosity testing, alongside routine QC checks for standard food products. In economic downturns, companies push to release new products, increasing the workload without corresponding growth in headcount. This often leads to manpower shortages as businesses curb expenses. How Managing Viscosity in Down Economy becomes crucial in such scenarios to streamline processes and maintain productivity.

For more detailed information, you can read more in the article How Managing Viscosity in Down Economy.

Figure 1. Brookfield Viscometer with T-Bar Spindle for Testing Peanut Butter and Yogurt

Testing for viscosity is “must do” requirement in most food companies since this predicts how the product will flow in use or when consumed. (See Figure 1) The success of the product depends very much on consistent flow behaviour (spreading peanut butter on a cracker, icing a cake) and appealing mouth feel (creamy yogurt, smooth honey). Viscosity measurements make all the difference in identifying materials that should be rejected because they don’t meet the spec.

Each test takes a few minutes to accomplish with a standard benchtop viscometer. The operator monitors the instrument and observes the data before writing down a number, usually in centipoise, the unit of measurement for viscosity. What if they could simply let the instrument run by itself and report a number automatically at the end of test? That would save operator time and allow other task to be handled while the instrument did its work.

Figure 2. Viscosity Data Output from Test with T-Bar Spindle

Newer lab viscometer make this possible because they have a built in clock and intelligent firmware that can do this calculations. This means that the spindle can rotate for any amount of time predetermined by the operator. And the instrument can sample multiple viscosity data points and report each value separately or “crunch” the numbers to come up with an average value. (See Figure 2).

Figure 3. Brookfield Process Viscometer for In-Line Viscosity Measurement and Control

To save even more time and eliminate the whole steps of grabbing samples from the production floor, why not consider making the viscosity measurement directly in the mix tank during processing? Or perhaps in the storage tank before the material is dispensed into the container (peanut butter, honey, yoghurt) or applied during product assembly (icing). In-line process viscometers (see Figure 3) solve the need and provide the added benefit of instantaneous process adjustment when viscosity gets out of spec. (see Figure 4).

Figure 4.a. Before On-Line Control

Figure 4.b. After On-Line Control

In a down economy the best solution is to figure out how to do more with less human resource. When it come to viscosity measurement (and control), the above solutions are going to make a big difference. So don’t wait, take action while the opportunity is in your hands.