The impact of blending speed and duration on the characteristics of powdered milk product X in PT. XYZ

Powdered milk is produced through a process called dry blending. It is a process of blending two or more solid materials to produce a homogeneous solid mixture. The homogeneity of the product is very important to ensure product specifications that is in accordance to the manufacturer’s claim. PT XYZ is one of the dairy companies, so it is important to maintain the quality of the milk. The duration and the speed of blending are some factors that affect the material blending process and also the homogenization of the mixture. Insufficient blending duration and speed may result to poor blending result. The inhomogeneity can occur at certain periods. Therefore, the speed and duration of blending needs to be accurately determined. This research aimed to provide alternative solution for the best combination of the blending process of the formulated powdered milk X in PT XYZ in order to achieve the best homogeneity of the mixture. In this study, an analysis of product’s homogeneity was carried out on parameters of fat content, protein content, sugar content which was tested using near infrared spectrophotometry method that utilized NIRS FOSS DS2500 tool. The level of Fe mineral was also tested using the Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrophotometer (ICP-OES) method with the Agilent Technologies 5100 ICP-OES tool. The assessment and validation of the homogeneity of the four parameters in each variation were carried out based on FDA acceptance criteria, where the sample was considered homogeneous when it had a Relative Standard Deviation (RSD) of ≤5%. The results of this research showed that the blending speed variation of 10 rpm with a blending duration of 5 minutes was the best combination of the production process. It was proven by the RSD of the fat content, protein content, sugar content, and (Fe) mineral content that showed a value of ≤5% and it was better than the RSD produced by the other blending speed variation and the blending duration, which were 2.62%; 1.88%; 0.65% and 1.97% consecutively.