Pet Food Processing Line in Poland

RICHI MACHINERY

Why Poland? Market Context

Poland is a credible location for a medium-scale pet food factory because it combines access to the wider EU consumer market with a strong domestic food-processing base. FEDIAF’s 2026 industry data report about 140 million European households owning at least one pet, with annual European pet food sales of roughly EUR 29.4 billion and about 8.6 million tonnes of product sold.

The raw-material side is equally important. Poland recorded the largest share of EU poultry-meat production in 2024, accounting for about one-fifth of the EU total. That does not guarantee pet-food-grade by-products at a fixed price, but it supports regional sourcing of poultry meal, approved Category 3 animal materials and rendered fats when supplier specifications and veterinary controls are met.

Poznań also sits in a strong logistics and manufacturing region. The project can source cereals, beet-derived fiber and poultry ingredients domestically, while imported fish meal, specialist proteins, premixes or additives can enter through established Polish and EU supply chains.

Poland Project Factor	Why It Matters	Design Response
Large EU pet food market	Supports domestic and cross-border sales	Flexible dog/cat kibble scheduling
Strong poultry-processing base	Supports animal-protein sourcing	Approved supplier and cold-chain controls
Cereal and beet supply	Supports starch and fiber formulations	Multiple dry-ingredient bins
Central European road network	Short-haul access to neighboring EU markets	Palletized finished-goods logistics
EU feed regulation	High traceability and hygiene expectations	Dedicated QC, batch records and sanitation zoning

The business case is therefore based on local manufacturing flexibility, shorter customer lead times and ingredient access—not on unsupported claims that imports account for a fixed share of Polish consumption or that locally made product will always undercut German brands by a fixed percentage.

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Raw Materials and Formulation

The plant is configured for complete dry extruded dog and cat food rather than wet or canned pet food. Different recipes change the ratio of poultry meal, fish meal, grains, fresh meat, fat and fiber, but all formulas must remain compatible with the same grinding, extrusion, drying, coating and packaging platform.

The annual ingredient plan is based on approximately 30,700 tonnes of purchased materials. This higher gross input is necessary because fresh meat and dry ingredients already contain moisture, additional steam/water is introduced during conditioning and extrusion, and the dryer removes water before the final 28,800 T/A product is released.

Raw Material	Approx. Annual Quantity	Main Function	Typical Supply Route
Corn	4,700 T/A	Starch and kibble structure	Polish / EU grain suppliers
Broken rice	4,200 T/A	Digestible starch and expansion control	EU / imported food-grade feed suppliers
Corn protein meal	2,600 T/A	Plant protein contribution	Domestic / EU
Rice protein concentrate	1,350 T/A	Protein and formula diversification	Specialist supplier
Fish meal	1,600 T/A	Marine protein and palatability	Approved importer / EU trader
Chicken meal	7,550 T/A	Primary animal-protein base	Approved regional renderer
Beet pulp	1,350 T/A	Dietary fiber	Domestic / EU sugar industry
Fresh chicken	2,600 T/A	Fresh-meat inclusion	Approved chilled/frozen poultry supplier
Chicken fat / fish oil	2,850 T/A	Energy and post-extrusion coating	Approved animal-fat / oil supplier
Premix	750 T/A	Vitamins and minerals	Specialist premix supplier
Amino acids	200 T/A	Nutrient balancing	Feed-additive supplier
Palatants	950 T/A	Surface palatability system	Specialist supplier

Using practical moisture assumptions for these materials, purchased ingredients provide approximately 26,300 tonnes of dry matter. Finished product at 28,800 T/A and about 9% moisture contains roughly 26,200 tonnes of dry matter. The remaining difference covers normal screening, dust and processing loss, while added process water and steam are largely removed again in drying.

Fresh poultry material is received under veterinary control and stored in a dedicated chilled or frozen area. Only animal materials permitted for processed pet food are accepted, and supplier approval, temperature records, lot traceability and sanitation records are part of routine production.

The QC laboratory is integrated into the animal feed factory project scope because pet food release depends on more than proximate analysis. Incoming and finished-product checks cover moisture, protein, fat, ash, selected microbiological indicators, bulk density, kibble dimensions and coating consistency.

Formula release is handled by the customer’s nutrition and quality team. The production line is designed to reproduce validated recipes; it does not treat one ‘mid-premium’ formulation as a universal specification for every dog or cat product.

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Equipment Configuration

The complete pet feed mill is arranged around one sustained 6 T/H extrusion train. Equipment before the extruder has reserve capacity for batching changes and cleaning, while the dryer, coating system and packaging line are sized to avoid becoming hidden bottlenecks.

Process Section	Main Equipment	Project Configuration
Dry receiving	Intake hopper, pre-cleaner, magnets, elevators	Separate dry-material receiving route
Fresh meat preparation	Cold room, grinder, slurry/mixing tank, sanitary pump	Approx. 2,600 T/A fresh poultry inclusion
Primary grinding	Hammer mill + aspiration	Grain preparation before batching
Batching	Multi-bin computerized batching + micro station	Recipe-controlled dry ingredient dosing
Mixing	Double-shaft paddle mixer	Dry blend homogenization
Fine grinding	Fine hammer mill / pulverizing stage	Creates extrusion-ready dry mix
Extrusion	1 × Pet food extruder machine	Twin-screw wet type; 6–7 T/H installed duty
Drying	1 × Pet food dryer	Multi-pass belt dryer sized to water-evaporation load
Screening	Kibble grader + fines return	Separates broken and off-size product
Coating	Vacuum batch coating system	Fat, oil and palatant application
Cooling	Counterflow / belt cooler	Stabilizes temperature before packaging
Packaging	Automatic 5–20 kg bagging + checkweigher + metal detection	Sized above 6 T/H line output
Utilities	Air compressor, 2 T/H steam boiler, water treatment	Supports extrusion and pneumatic controls
Environmental	Dust filters, odor capture, wastewater pretreatment	Process-specific control systems
Automation	Central PLC / recipe / batch traceability	Interlocks, alarms and production records

The extruder is not treated as the only capacity-defining machine. Sustained output depends on the combined performance of fine grinding, extrusion, dryer water removal, coating cycle time, cooling and bagging.

The line uses a single coordinated dryer system rather than two overlapping dryers. The dryer is sized from wet-kibble inlet moisture, final moisture target and hourly water evaporation; actual temperature zones and residence time are recipe-dependent.

The USD 1.18 million equipment package covers the principal process machinery, automation, fresh-meat preparation, coating, utilities interface and production dust control. Local building, utilities, environmental works and installation are accounted for separately in total project investment.

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Utilities and Consumption

Utility planning is based on 4,800 scheduled production hours per year and 28,800 T/A finished dry pet food. The main electrical users are twin-screw extrusion, two-stage grinding, dryer fans, coating, cooling, conveying, aspiration and packaging; thermal energy is supplied mainly by natural gas.

Utility	Practical Annual Planning Range	Engineering Basis
Electricity	Approx. 4.8–5.8 million kWh/year	About 167–201 kWh/t finished product
Electrical service	Approx. 2.0–2.5 MVA	Extruder, grinding, dryer fans and auxiliaries
Natural gas	Approx. 0.9–1.2 million m³/year	Indirect dryer heating and steam generation
Fresh water	Approx. 11,000–14,000 m³/year	Process water, boiler make-up, sanitation and domestic use
Process steam	About 1 T/H during extrusion campaigns	Preconditioning and thermal process support
Compressed air	Central screw compressor system	Valves, packaging and controls

Approximately 4,000–5,000 tonnes of water per year can be introduced through steam, recipe hydration and wet ingredients, with most of that moisture subsequently removed in drying. Sanitation water is tracked separately because fresh-meat handling creates a different wastewater load from dry grinding and conveying.

Boiler feedwater is softened and treated to the boiler supplier’s requirement. Process-contact water is potable-quality; the project does not assume that all cleaning water needs reverse osmosis.

Wastewater from fresh-meat preparation, floor cleaning and selected sanitation points is screened and routed through grease separation, equalization and dissolved-air flotation before discharge or further biological treatment, depending on the municipal sewer agreement and permit conditions.

A workforce of about 32–40 people is appropriate for two shifts when production operators, fresh-meat handling, packaging, warehouse, maintenance, QC, sanitation, supervision and administration are included.

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Plant Layout and Building Details

The client already owned an approximately 5,000 m² single-story industrial building in the Poznań area. Instead of replacing it with an oversized five-floor structure, the project uses the existing hall and adds local steel platforms where gravity feed or maintenance access is useful.

Area	Approx. Floor Area	Main Use
Dry raw-material receiving / storage	1,250 m²	Grains, meals, premix and intake
Main process hall	1,600 m²	Grinding, batching, mixing, extrusion, drying, coating and cooling
Fresh-meat / cold-handling zone	450 m²	Frozen/chilled receiving, thawing, grinding and sanitary preparation
Packaging / finished warehouse	1,100 m²	Bagging, palletizing and short finished-goods buffer
QC / maintenance / utilities / welfare	600 m²	Lab, workshop, controls and staff areas

The building’s approximately 8 m clear height is enough for a horizontal pet food layout when bucket elevators, local platforms and compact intermediate bins are used. A separate 34 m process tower is not required for a 6 T/H line.

The extrusion and drying zone uses local elevated platforms for the Twin screw Extruder and mesh belt dryer, while the majority of material transport remains enclosed mechanical conveying.

Fresh-meat handling is physically separated from dry ingredient and finished-product zones. Personnel movement, drainage and cleaning tools are zoned to reduce cross-contamination risk, and the cold room is positioned close to the meat grinder and sanitary pump system.

Outdoor space is used for gas service, wastewater pretreatment, fire access, truck staging and liquid tanks. The project therefore keeps the existing building useful without pretending every utility and storage function must fit inside the 5,000 m² shell.

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Detailed Process Flow 

The production route is designed for dry extruded dog and cat kibble with optional fresh-meat inclusion. Dry ingredients and animal-protein meals are prepared first; fresh meat, steam and selected liquids enter only after the dry blend has reached the required particle distribution.

Stage 1: Raw Material Intake

Grains and meals are received through a covered intake with pre-cleaning, magnetic protection and dust aspiration. Premixes and minor ingredients enter through a controlled small-bag station. Fresh poultry material follows a separate chilled/frozen route with supplier lot identification and temperature checks.

Stage 2: Primary Grinding

Corn, broken rice and other coarse dry materials pass through the primary hammer mill. Screen size is selected to balance grinding energy and downstream fine-grinding load; the plant does not rely on one fixed screen or one universal 600-micron target for every formula.

Stage 3: Batching and Mixing

Major dry ingredients are dosed automatically from batching bins, while premixes and micro-ingredients use a dedicated micro-dosing or verified manual-addition station. The dry mix is homogenized in a double-shaft feed mixer machine before fine grinding.

Batch size and mixing time are validated by the customer’s quality program. Tracer testing is used during commissioning and after major mixer maintenance rather than assuming one published coefficient of variation applies permanently.

Stage 4: Secondary Grinding

The mixed dry fraction passes through fine grinding to create a more uniform extrusion feed. Fresh meat slurry, bulk fat and process water are kept out of the fine grinder to prevent screen blinding and hygiene problems.

Stage 5: Extrusion (The Heart of the Line)

Fine dry mix enters the preconditioner, where steam, controlled process water and fresh-meat slurry are added according to recipe. The twin-screw wet extruder then applies mechanical shear and thermal energy to cook starch, structure the kibble and form the selected die shape.

Extrusion Variable	Project Control Logic	Why It Changes
Screw speed	Recipe-specific	Affects fill, shear and residence time
Barrel / product temperature	Recipe-specific thermal profile	Depends on starch, protein, fat and meat level
Steam / water addition	Controlled from mass flow and moisture	Sets cook and expansion conditions
Die / knife configuration	Changed by kibble format	Supports dog and cat product sizes
Throughput	Up to sustained 6 T/H finished-line duty	Must match dryer and coating capacity

The plant does not state that twin-screw extrusion is always mandatory for every fresh-meat formula. It was selected here because the customer requires flexible dog/cat recipes, controlled wet ingredient addition and stable operation across changing fat and protein matrices.

Stage 6: Drying

Wet kibble enters the multi-pass animal feed dryer. Typical extruder discharge moisture can be in the low-to-high 20% range depending on formula, while finished dry kibble is generally released around 8–10% moisture subject to water-activity and shelf-life validation.

The dryer uses indirect gas-fired hot air so combustion products are separated from process air. Air temperature, bed depth, residence time and recirculation are controlled by recipe and actual evaporation load rather than fixed to one three-zone temperature schedule.

Stage 7: Coating and Cooling

Dried kibble is screened before coating. The vacuum coater applies chicken fat, fish oil and liquid/dry palatants according to formula; vacuum level and cycle time are set by kibble porosity and target uptake, not by a universal 30% surface-fat claim.

After coating, product passes through controlled cooling so bagging temperature remains close enough to ambient to avoid condensation. Different dog and cat formulas can use approximately 4–18 mm finished kibble sizes with die and knife changes.

Stage 8: Packaging

Finished kibble passes final metal detection and checkweighing before automatic 5–20 kg packaging. One primary line sized above 6 T/H is sufficient for the planned throughput; a palletizing station prepares finished product for domestic and EU road distribution.

Batch codes link finished bags to raw-material lots, formula version, extrusion record, coating lot and QC release. That traceability is particularly important when animal-origin ingredients and fresh meat are used.

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Environmental Controls 

The environmental and veterinary compliance basis is more important than publishing generic emission numbers. A 6 T/H pet food factory using both animal and vegetable raw materials can fall within the EU Industrial Emissions Directive capacity framework depending on the animal-material share and permitted daily capacity, so final classification must be confirmed with the Polish competent authority.

Control Area	Project Measure	Compliance Logic
Dry dust	Local aspiration + pulse-jet filters	Receiving, grinding, batching and packaging
Pet-food odor	Captured dryer/coating air + scrubber/biofilter or equivalent	Sized from actual exhaust and odor load
Gas combustion	Low-NOx burner / compliant boiler and dryer heater	Permit conditions depend on rated thermal input
Wastewater	Screening, grease separation, equalization and DAF	Further biological treatment if sewer permit requires
Animal by-products	Approved Category 3 material routes and traceability	EU ABP rules and Polish Veterinary Inspection
Rejected product / screenings	Segregated, documented recovery or disposal	No automatic return if food-safety status is uncertain
Chemical / maintenance waste	Labeled contained storage	Authorized waste contractor

Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 establishes feed-hygiene, traceability, registration and approval requirements. Processed pet food containing animal by-products must also comply with Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 and Regulation (EU) No 142/2011, with veterinary supervision in Poland.

Finished pet food labelling and placing on the market are handled under Regulation (EC) No 767/2009, while formulation and nutritional adequacy are checked against the customer’s legal and nutritional program, including current FEDIAF guidance where applicable.

The page therefore does not claim one universal particulate, VOC, odor or wastewater limit for every Polish site, and it does not publish fabricated stack-test or effluent results. Final limits come from the site’s permit, sewer agreement, combustion equipment category and competent-authority decisions.

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Project Timeline

The project moved from concept to commercial startup during 2025. The schedule was driven mainly by final recipe definition, building conversion, utility upgrades and coordination of the fresh-meat and extrusion systems.

Period	Milestone
March 2025	Initial inquiry, capacity and product discussion
April 2025	Site survey in the Poznań area and raw-material review
May 2025	Process flow, equipment scope and building-conversion plan finalized
June 2025	Commercial contract signed and detailed engineering released
June–August 2025	Equipment manufacturing, controls integration and factory inspection
August 2025	Main equipment shipped from Qingdao
September 2025	Arrival through Gdańsk logistics route and inland delivery
September–November 2025	Installation, utilities, cold-room and environmental works
November 2025	Dry commissioning, sanitation validation and first extrusion trials
December 2025	Performance testing, operator training and final acceptance

For a comparable 6 T/H project, an 8–10 month implementation window is realistic when civil work, utility connection and environmental approvals progress in parallel. A greenfield site or delayed permit package can extend that schedule.

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What Made This Project Challenging

The difficult part of this project was not achieving a single extruder nameplate capacity. The engineering work centered on integrating fresh animal material, a converted low-rise building and a dry-kibble process that has to remain hygienic and traceable.

Engineering Challenge	Why It Matters	Project Response
Fresh poultry inclusion	Higher hygiene and cold-chain risk than dry meals	Dedicated cold zone, grinder, sanitary tank/pump and cleaning plan
Existing 8 m building	Limits tall gravity-flow structures	Horizontal layout with local platforms and elevators
Dryer load changes by recipe	Fresh meat and steam alter water evaporation	Dryer sized from worst-case water load, not only wet kibble t/h
Fat / palatant coating	Dose accuracy affects nutrition and bag cleanliness	Recipe-controlled vacuum coating with heated liquid system
Odor	Dryer and coating exhaust can affect neighbors	Captured exhaust routed through site-specific odor control
Winter conditions	Outdoor liquids and utilities can freeze	Insulated/heat-traced exposed piping and protected utility equipment

The client also required dog and cat formulas with different kibble sizes and densities. Commissioning therefore included several die/knife and dryer/coating recipes instead of treating one successful trial as proof for the whole product portfolio.

Sanitation zoning was another key issue. Fresh-meat equipment, drains and cleaning tools are kept separate from finished-product handling, and startup procedures include allergen/ingredient change control, verification of cleaning and microbiological release checks.

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Investment and Returns

This is a completed-project cost structure, so the page uses one fixed implementation figure rather than a broad planning range. The USD 2.05 million total is separated from the RICHI machinery package to show which costs sit outside the equipment supply.

Project Cost Item	Fixed Project Allocation
RICHI process equipment and controls	USD 1,180,000
Ocean freight, port, broker and inland logistics	USD 70,000
Import / customs-related handling and local documentation	USD 45,000
Local installation, steelwork and mechanical services	USD 150,000
Building conversion and sanitary zoning	USD 160,000
Electrical, gas, steam and water upgrades	USD 150,000
Wastewater and odor-control works	USD 110,000
QC laboratory and release equipment	USD 45,000
Cold room and fresh-meat sanitary infrastructure	USD 90,000
Commissioning, startup spares and training support	USD 50,000

Total completed project investment: USD 2.05 million.

Working capital is not included in that fixed asset figure. A 28,800 T/A pet food factory needs separate financing for animal-protein meals, fresh meat, fats, packaging materials, finished inventory and customer credit.

No fixed payback period or operating margin is stated. Project returns depend on formula cost, product positioning, factory utilization, energy, packaging, sales mix and distributor terms; those variables change too much to publish a reliable universal return.

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Why This Type of Project Makes Sense in Poland

Poland combines ingredient availability, industrial infrastructure and direct access to the EU single market. That makes it a practical location for a regional dry pet food producer, especially when the plant can use Polish poultry-industry raw materials alongside cereals, beet fiber and imported specialist ingredients.

Eurostat data for 2024 show Poland as the EU’s largest poultry-meat producer by share, supporting the country’s broader poultry-processing ecosystem. At the same time, Poland’s agri-food exports reached PLN 247.9 billion in 2025, illustrating the scale and international orientation of the national food supply chain.

Poznań also provides road access toward Germany, Czechia and other Central European markets without requiring the plant to be designed primarily for export. Domestic distributors and private-label customers can remain the base load while export orders use the same EU-compliant production and traceability system.

Labor, utilities and permitting should be evaluated from current local quotations rather than compared with generic German, French, Italian or Hungarian hourly wages and approval times. The project case therefore does not rank countries by cost or claim Polish enforcement is more ‘pragmatic’ than other EU jurisdictions.

The most important country fit is technical: Poland can provide cereals, poultry-industry ingredients, logistics and a regulated EU market within reasonable distance of the Poznań factory.

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A Few Things We Learned

Dryer sizing deserves the same attention as extrusion. A 6 T/H extruder is not a 6 T/H finished line if the dryer cannot remove the worst-case water load created by fresh meat, steam and recipe hydration.

Fresh-meat inclusion should be engineered as a hygienic subsystem, not added as a marketing feature. Cold storage, grinding, sanitary pumping, drainage, cleaning access and veterinary traceability all need space and operating discipline.

Two-stage grinding is useful only when it supports the real formula strategy. Dry ingredients can be fine-ground before wet additions; sending fat or meat through fine screens creates avoidable plugging and sanitation problems.

Vacuum coating needs accurate liquid preparation as well as a coater. Fat temperature, viscosity, palatant sequence, batch mass and vacuum cycle all influence final uptake and surface condition.

Central-European winterization belongs in detailed engineering. Outdoor fat lines, compressed-air condensate drains, water pipes and exposed instruments need insulation or heat tracing where low ambient temperatures can interrupt production.

Finally, commissioning should cover multiple commercial recipes. One stable dog-food formula does not prove the dryer, extrusion and coating settings for small cat kibble, higher-fat recipes or fresh-meat variants.

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Why We Got This Contract

The customer selected RICHI because the proposal addressed the complete production interface rather than treating the project as an extruder purchase. The fresh-meat subsystem, existing-building retrofit, dryer load, coating, sanitation, utilities and environmental controls were engineered together.

1. The process design separated dry ingredients, fresh meat and post-extrusion liquids at the correct stages.
2. The 5,000 m² existing building was reused instead of forcing an unnecessary high-rise process tower.
3. The dryer and coating systems were sized around sustained 6 T/H finished production rather than extruder peak output.
4. The control system links batching, extrusion, coating and finished-product traceability.
5. RICHI scope includes factory inspection, export packing, installation guidance, commissioning and operator training.
6. The project retained expansion space without paying for a second extrusion train before market demand justified it.

This approach gives the client one coordinated engineering basis for mechanical equipment, controls and process performance while still allowing Polish contractors to execute local civil works, utilities and permitting.

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Considering a Pet Food Production Project?

A pet food project should start with the product portfolio and raw-material matrix, not with an extruder capacity alone. Dog versus cat formulas, fresh-meat inclusion, fat level, kibble size, packaging and shelf-life targets all change equipment duty.

• Provide annual and hourly targets for each major product family.
• List dry meals, grains, fresh/frozen meat, fats, palatants and micro-ingredients separately.
• Give realistic incoming moisture and fresh-meat temperature conditions.
• Define final kibble size, moisture, density and coating requirements.
• Confirm building dimensions, floor loading, drainage and available electrical/gas capacity.
• Identify whether wastewater can enter a municipal sewer and under what discharge conditions.
• Separate fixed machinery investment from building, utilities, working capital and market-launch cost.

For EU projects, animal-by-product category, veterinary establishment approval, feed hygiene, batch traceability and product labelling should be included from the concept stage rather than added after equipment has already been ordered.

RICHI can then match grinding, batching, fresh-meat preparation, twin-screw extrusion, drying, vacuum coating, cooling and packaging to the actual product plan and site.

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Final Thoughts

The completed Pet Food Processing Line in Poland is designed around a sustained 6 T/H finished dry-kibble rate and approximately 28,800 T/A at the agreed two-shift schedule. Its main value is not a single extruder specification but the way fresh-meat handling, extrusion, drying, coating, packaging, sanitation and traceability work as one production system.

The existing 5,000 m² building remains part of the business advantage because it avoids unnecessary new construction while providing enough space for dry ingredients, fresh-meat handling, the main process train, finished goods and QC.

The project is also designed for product flexibility. Dog and cat recipes can change protein systems, fat coating, kibble diameter and density without rebuilding the entire factory, provided each formula is validated through extrusion, drying, coating and nutritional release.

Any future capacity expansion should follow secured sales and utilities. The first step would be to verify dryer, coating, packaging, electrical service and warehouse capacity before simply adding another extruder.

RICHI’s role covers process engineering, equipment manufacture, controls, factory inspection, export packing, installation guidance, commissioning and operator training, with project decisions tied to the customer’s real recipes and plant conditions.