Investment in the future sets the sustainability focus for compound feed manufacturer


Meeting the demands of feeding a growing UK population has underpinned a raft of major investment plans for a leading compound feed producer, with moves set to transform the UK animal feed sector. Having announced the construction of a new million tonne


production facility in the east of England earlier this year, British manufacturer of pig and poultry compound feed, ABN has further invested in the implementation of a new asset and maintenance management system across all 11 of its current mill facilities, as part of a wider capital investment programme focussed on efficiency, reliability and environmental sustainability.


“With an industry operating at near capacity, we are exploring


all options to improve and expand our manufacturing capabilities to meet this demand, support our customers’ long-term ambitions for growth, and strengthen our own business too,” he adds. ABN has invested heavily across its mill sites and transport fleet


over recent years. This exciting new project is a key extension of that programme. The business continues to invest in its existing sites.


Asset and maintenance management system Over the past 18 months, the engineering team have implemented a brand-new asset and maintenance management system, rolled out across all of its mill sites around the country, to complement existing operations and to help drive manufacturing and productivity. The app-based system, using Agility from SSG Insight, has


helped streamline operations and manages the condition and care of assets, planned preventative maintenance (PPM), maintenance task management and labour utilisation. “All of our assets, in our UK mills are structured within Agility,


Claimed to be the largest investment in the industry in decades,


the announcement of plans for the ‘super-mill’ facility demonstrates ABN’s commitment to the sector, at a time of fast change and increased demand from a growing UK population. The investment aims to provide a sustainable solution for an


industry currently close to capacity, as it tries to keep pace with the rising demand for animal feed. With the UK population estimated to reach 77 million by 2050, it


is projected that chicken and pig production will need to expand, to meet the increased demand for protein products. “UK agriculture faces exciting opportunities ahead, to meet the


demand for food from a growing population, not just domestically but globally too. This demand will drive the need for more protein products, from more productive animals and consequently drive even greater demand for animal feed,” states Simon Heath, managing director of AB Agri’s compound feed division, ABN.


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and that includes the PPMs, correctives, and breakdowns. We have been able to drive significant reductions in downtime, as we can plan our maintenance tasks so much better, especially with the historical information that Agility provides on our equipment” explains Stuart Smith, ABN group reliability and asset care manager. “Every engineer has access to the Agility app. We can see what


everyone is working on, track our labour utilisation and enable the site teams to pick up any other available jobs that need doing. The real-time dashboard also gives us an instant picture as to any maintenance or breakdown issues that have come up that day and where,” he adds. Obviously being within food production, ABN has several


stringent health and safety and feed safety quality standards which it must comply with. “It’s always on the forefront of our minds that HSE and FSQ


is very important, for us the Agility system helps to ensure we are always compliant. When we are audited: ‘have you got a maintenance system in place’, is one of the first things they ask engineering teams. Of course, we can say ‘yes’ and take them directly to any report they need within Agility,” continues Mr Smith.


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