Pilot Mixer

GOLDKEY INVESTS $2 MILLION TO BUILD PILOT MIXING FACILITY

GoldKey Processing Ltd. has invested more than $2 million to construct a pilot mixing and lab testing facility the firm said will enable customers to get a true picture of the materials they will get at production quantities.

The 2,500 square foot lab testing facility allows the custom mixer to offer ozone and heat aging long-term testing that in the past it would have had to outsource, said Randall Vancura, Vice President of Operations.“We can do shorter turnaround in-house,” he said. “We identified that as a need in the marketplace.”

Ed Seeley said the pilot plant gives GoldKey unique continuous improvement resources; optimization of compound and process; small-scale production validation; enhanced compound development timeline; and the ability to offer low cost via “Design of Experiment” projects. In short, he said GoldKey wants to put the “custom” back in custom mixing.

Randall Vancura added that the pilot mixing line will allow customers to find out what they are buying before committing to full production batches. He said GoldKey’s chemists can develop and supply preproduction quantities of 80 to 100 pounds that customers can mold or extrude. Customers in turn will provide feedback to the custom mixer on what worked and what needs to be improved.

In addition, everything GoldKey has from the mixer downstream is designed to mimic what the firm has on its production-size lines so scaling up output is assured, he said.

“The whole task is to provide value to the customer and improve throughout,” Vancura said. “Other custom mixers have lab capability, but they don’t necessarily have the capacity to scale up. We will give the material to the customer in the form they will get it off our larger scale production unit.”

Vancura said the pilot line truly will be used as a development line, where GoldKey can offer research and development assistance along with compound optimization on existing and future compounds. “We’re not looking to fill up the pilot line with small-batch mixing,” he said, adding that the company recently hired a new chemist to support the effort.

GoldKey’s materials mainly end up in the automotive, industrial, construction, pharmaceutical and aero-space industries. The products tend to be high-end, but the mixer does provide materials across the board. “We’re paying attention to the customer, whether they’re big or small,” Seeley said. He added that GoldKey is also trying to stress to clients the benefits of the “cost of quality.”

“Customers are looking at the total cost, not just the upfront costs,” Seeley said. “They’re looking at how they can get cost out of the process.”