Is There True Value in Housekeeping in my Facility?
July 23, 2015
Housekeeping is valuable for many reasons. • It is much easier to repair clean equipment • A dirty machine has to be cleaned prior to working on it…
Tag: Capital Investment
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What Goes into a Business Plan?
June 4, 2015
Business plans are required by most financial institutions and lenders to evaluate the value of their investment into your business. When considering a customer for leasing, Insta-Pro will…
Free Trade Agreements and Importing Extruders
March 5, 2015
In an ever increasingly global economy, with goods being imported and exported daily all around the world, it is important for companies that import goods such as extruders…
Benefits of Scheduled Maintenance and The Service Plus Program
February 26, 2015
Scheduled maintenance to avoid down time is important to an operation because it proactively identifies issues, minimizes the risk of uncontrolled down time and avoids costly repairs. Depending…
Capacity Planning
February 5, 2015
There’s an old saying that goes: “failing to plan is planning to fail”. This is as true in life as it is in a production facility. A question…
No Option But To Properly Cool Extruded Products
January 14, 2015
“Why do I need to cool extruded products?” The answer is simple; it controls the water activity, product quality and nutrient value; all important aspects in producing a…
Lowest Price Doesn’t Always Bring Value
January 1, 2015
During my sales career with Insta-Pro I have learned that often the word value has a different meaning to people. Many people think that when we say we…
Calculating Drying Costs and Heat Needs
December 4, 2014
Plant investments can vary from initial capital investments to ongoing costs. This is why our sales team devotes time to conduct a feasibility analysis with you. We are…
Key Growth Question: Where Can I Add Value?
October 1, 2013
Recently I visited a customer of ours named JSC Lazarevskoye in Russia. You can read more about this company as an Insta-Pro Success Story here. This article is…
Should I Invest in Africa?
July 4, 2013
Foreign investors – and Africans living abroad – are all asking this question. Ernst & Young has surveyed 500 global business leaders and published the results in the…
How Good is Your Data?
May 21, 2013
When I studied feed manufacturing at Kansas State University’s International Grains Program I recall a professor who repeated again and again “you can’t control what you can’t measure.”…
A Great International Financing Solution
April 30, 2013
As we work to assist our customers with all aspects of their business plan, the greatest challenge seems to be financing of their projects. Our customers are sometimes…
Gas is Great
April 16, 2013
In East Africa these days, there’s a lot of excitement about gas. Tanzania has upped its estimate of gas reserves to 33 trillion cubic feet (tcf)…
Save Money on a Creative Protein Source
March 19, 2013
As protein ingredient options become more and more expensive, alternative ingredients are sought to control feed cost. One option has been the use of Urea as a source…
Crowdfunding: The Next Normal in Project Funding?
March 5, 2013
A Ghanaian crowdfunding start-up was one of the winners of this year’s Apps4Africa competition, sponsored by the World Bank and the U.S. government: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21513287. The company –…
Focusing on Your Business
November 20, 2012
Recently, I visited one of the major poultry and swine producers in Central Russia. The company is very dynamic and growing rapidly. They have their own land where…
Sensitivity Analysis
October 16, 2012
The prospect of making a large capital investment is daunting for all businesses, regardless of size. There is inherent risk any time a business decides to devote a…
Knocking on the Dollar Door: 5 Do’s for Raising Project Finance
September 25, 2012
DO prepare a Business Plan. Have it written, or at least checked, by a professional. It is easy to overlook key items, or include basic mistakes, that your…