The Industrial Revolution marked an important era in human history. For the first time, the things that we needed could be made in large quantities, quickly. As technology progressed, this included everything from canned food to clothing to furniture and more. Technology is continually progressing, and industrial processing equipment is becoming increasingly advanced. Let’s take a look at the essential types of industrial processing equipment, including the processes and machines that we rely on every day for the things we need.
The Essential Types of Industrial Processing Equipment
There are many, many different types of industrial processing equipment. Each industry is constantly working on improving processes and machines, making them faster and more efficient. In many cases, the industrial processing equipment also becomes more specialized. This means that different industries may use many different machines, each which are specialized for particular functions. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the machines that are used across many different industries, or those which are particularly important and have been used for many years.
Learn more about custom fabrication for your industrial processing equipment >
What is Industrial Processing Equipment?
When we talk about industrial processing equipment, what do we mean? As previously mentioned, this can include a wide array of different processes, industries and equipment. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the industrial processing equipment that is essential in turning raw materials into finished products or components. This won’t include equipment that is used to harvest raw materials, such as mining equipment, agricultural machinery, or petrochemical development.
Industrial processing equipment might include machinery in the following industries:
- Food processing: Any food that isn’t raw likely undergoes some type of food processing, including pasteurization, canning, mixing, extrusion, emulsifying, frying and more.
- Pet and animal food processing: Pet and other animal food processing also undergoes many processes to make it affordable and safe with a longer shelf life.
- Equipment manufacturing: From cars to tractors to automated equipment and more, equipment manufacturing makes the machines that make other things.
- Textiles: The textiles we all wear every day are mass produced quickly using large machines.
- Electronics: Electronics manufacturing can be a delicate process, including circuit boards, processors, capacitors, resistors, semiconductors and much more.
- Building materials: From lumber to concrete to flooring and much more, manufacturing building materials is an essential industry for both businesses and homeowners.
- Other consumer products: Except for handcrafted products, everything else we use has been produced in a factory, usually by a combination of human workers and machines.
The Essential Types of Industrial Processing Equipment
Mixers
Mixers are a very broad type of industrial processing equipment. They’re used in food processing, animal food processing, chemicals, plastics, adhesives, pharmaceuticals and much more. There are many different types of mixers, with a wide variety of sizes and capacities, functions, designs and more. Some of these mixers blend ingredients together at high velocities with a high amount of power. Others are made to mix materials together gently and slowly.
A ribbon mixer is one of the most common mixers in food processing, and it can mix many ingredients together quickly and cohesively. A paddle mixer works similarly, but it can mix ingredients together with a gentler motion.
Extruders
From elbow macaroni and french fries to synthetic fibers to animal feed pellets and much more, extruders are an essential type of industrial processing equipment across many different industries. Extrusion pushes material through a die to create a particular shape. This fast, versatile shaping process is used to create millions of different products every day.
Welders
Welding machines are also highly diverse, with many different specifications depending on the application. Welding machines, either automated or operated by a person, are essential for metal manufacturing and the fabrication of equipment. From tractors to cars to presses to mixers and much more, it would be difficult to create larger equipment without welding machines.
Weighing Machines
From robust weighing instruments capable of measuring thousands of pounds quickly and efficiently, to delicate instruments capable of measuring minute amounts, reliable weighing machines are an essential type of industrial processing equipment. Without fast and accurate weighing instruments, it would be difficult to quickly process food, animal feed, chemicals, pharmaceutical ingredients, or any kind of bulk material.
Spray Coating
Spray coating allows manufacturers to add a liquid ingredient to a solid, which provides a wide array of applications. This might include a protective layer of paint over a finished product, a liquid ingredient like water or oil to a recipe, a vitamin mix to animal feed, a chemical wash over fabric, and much more. The ability to add a liquid without clogging, clumping, or erosion is an easily overlooked but very important type of industrial processing equipment.
Computerized Controls
From a PC to a PLC, computerized controls have brought a new step in the industrial era. While industrial processing equipment of every type previously needed a person to operate the machine, computerized controls can support complete automation. A person no longer has to be involved in monotonous or dangerous tasks. This also makes it possible to speed up a process or make it more accurate. With the right integration, computerized controls can be a powerful and revolutionary type of industrial processing equipment.
Choosing the most essential or important types of industrial processing equipment depends on many factors. There are so many different types of equipment that have made it possible to produce the items that we rely on every day. These are just a few of the versatile and powerful machines that help to make the things we need, and have revolutionized production over the last hundred years. With ongoing advancements, industrial processing equipment will continue to improve technologically and, hopefully, improve all of our lives as well.
