Over 10,000+ customers' choice, Focus on screening industry 40+ years
A medium‑sized plant processing five tonnes of protein powder per day, using traditional manual feeding, must handle hundreds of bags every day. Workers bend, lift, open, and empty the bags thousands of times. This is not just physical labour – behind it lie four deep‑rooted problems.
Pain point 1: dust safety hazards. Whey protein powder is a combustible powder. When the dust concentration in the air reaches a certain level and meets static electricity or friction sparks, a dust explosion can occur. During manual feeding, a large amount of dust is released in an instant when bags are opened and poured. The dust concentration becomes difficult to control, turning the workshop into a potential explosion hazard. Organic powders containing sugar, starch, or protein can, at a specific concentration, trigger a violent explosion with just one spark – as destructive as high explosives.
Pain point 2: high labour intensity and high labour cost. Manual bag opening, feeding, and hauling require a large workforce. Operators doing repetitive heavy work over long periods easily become fatigued, leading to mistakes and unstable production. Industry data show that after introducing automated equipment, feeding efficiency can increase several times while labour costs can be reduced by as much as 50%.
Pain point 3: high material waste. Manual operation inevitably causes spillage and loss. Under traditional methods, raw material conveying loss is often above 3%. For high‑value protein powder, that represents a considerable hidden cost. Open handling makes the loss even worse, and waste from each batch directly cuts into profit margins.
Pain point 4: poor batch‑to‑batch consistency. With traditional manual feeding, batch stability has long been a headache for protein powder producers. Powders with poor flowability tend to bridge or block in hoppers or during conveying, causing uneven discharge or feed fluctuation, which in turn leads to unstable metering and weight deviations. Raw material batches already differ in moisture content and powder characteristics. If the feeding stage cannot achieve precise control and traceability, final product consistency in taste and nutritional indicators will suffer – and in the premium protein powder market, this directly affects brand reputation.
A mature fully automatic protein powder feeding system typically consists of the following core modules working together to form a complete automated closed loop.
Module 1: Dust‑free dumping station (small bags / bulk bags)
The dust‑free dumping station stops dust and external contaminants at the source. When combined with a vacuum conveying system, the entire material path remains sealed – no exposure, no secondary contamination. For small‑bag protein powder, the dumping station uses a fan to create negative pressure, drawing dust generated during bag opening into a filter system, releasing only clean air; almost no dust is seen on the operator platform. For bulk bags, the bag‑unloading station uses a lifting device to position the bag over the discharge port, assisted by a vibratory device so that material falls by gravity into the hopper below – fully sealed and dust‑free.
Module 2: Vacuum feeder (negative‑pressure conveying system)
The system uses a vacuum pump to create negative pressure, so that the whole system is under vacuum. Protein powder is drawn together with air into the pipeline and conveyed through sealed pipes to the receiving equipment. Maximum conveying capacity can reach 6,000 kg/h, horizontal distance up to 30 metres. Piping can be arranged vertically, horizontally, or with bends, flexibly adapting to complex workshop layouts. During the whole conveying process the material is not exposed to the external environment, which not only prevents moisture absorption and caking but also eliminates the risk of dust leakage.
Module 3: Screening and impurity removal
Protein powder needs to be screened online to remove lumps and large impurities, ensuring a fine and uniform finished product. Gaofu’s feeding system can be equipped with a food‑grade online screener, achieving impurity removal efficiency of over 99.8%, ensuring that every batch meets quality standards. An iron removal module can also be added to eliminate metal contaminants.
Module 4: Precise weighing and batching system
For the accurate feeding requirements of protein powder, the system includes an intelligent weighing module. Gaofu's feeding system provides dedicated metering modules for different raw material characteristics. For medium‑to‑large batches, batching accuracy can reach ±0.2%. The system can pre‑store multiple product recipes. When switching production to a different formula, operators simply call up the recipe with one touch, and the system automatically takes the raw materials, performs screening and filtration, measures precisely, and conveys them for production – no manual intervention required.
Module 5: PLC intelligent control unit
The "brain" of the fully automatic feeding system is the PLC smart control platform. A single touch screen can monitor key information in real time: raw material inventory, feeding speed, metering data, equipment operating status, etc. The system has high‑ and low‑level alarms and automatic anomaly alerts, allowing one person to manage the whole system. An optional MES system can automatically record batch‑related raw material information and equipment operation data, enabling full traceability of the production process.
1. Cost reduction – precise loss control and lower labour dependence
Thanks to the fully sealed conveying lines and precise metering equipment, Gaofu's feeding system can reduce raw material conveying loss from the traditional level of 3% to below 0.5%. For a medium‑sized or large plant, that translates into significant annual savings on protein powder raw materials. At the same time, automated feeding efficiency can be three to five times that of manual labour, increasing single‑line capacity by more than 30%. One system can replace three to five operators. As labour costs continue to rise, this advantage becomes more and more evident.
2. Efficiency improvement – process re‑engineering for smoother lines
Under the traditional feeding model, the fragmented steps of manual hauling, feeding, weighing, and transfer involve a lot of waiting time and connection losses between different stages. Gaofu's feeding system is equipped with an intelligent coordination control module that automatically adjusts the feeding speed according to the production process sequence, achieving seamless "feeding – screening – mixing – forming" continuous operation. The system can run steadily over long periods with full automation, significantly shortening production cycles and increasing overall equipment effectiveness.
3. Quality improvement – safe and controllable, ensuring product consistency
The fully sealed design eliminates dust emission, protecting the production environment from the outset. The high‑accuracy weighing system keeps batch‑to‑batch deviation within a tight range, providing reliable consistency. The fully closed conveying path effectively prevents cross‑contamination, meeting the strict requirements of food, pharmaceutical and other industries. The system supports multiple pre‑set recipes, allowing a quick product changeover – from hours under traditional methods down to a fraction of that time.
About Gaofu Machinery
Xinxiang Gaofu Machinery Co., Ltd. was originally founded in the 1980s. After more than 40 years of development, the company has become a "National Specialized and Sophisticated 'Little Giant' Enterprise", a "National Green Factory", a "National High-tech Enterprise", a "National Intellectual Property Advantage Enterprise", and the "President Unit of the Vibration Association". It also hosts the "Henan Provincial Industrial Design Center", the "Henan Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Intelligent Online Screening Systems", and the "Xinxiang Municipal Engineering Technology Research Center for Fine Screening". The company has been granted more than 500 invention, utility model and design patents, has received the "Science and Technology Achievement Award" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and has participated in drafting four "National Standards".
Gaofu's product portfolio covers several series and hundreds of varieties, including vibrating screening equipment, conveying equipment, and automated material handling systems. Its main products include one-stop solutions such as automatic feeding systems, powder feeding systems, pneumatic conveying systems, weighing and batching systems, minor ingredient batching systems, water supply systems, oil supply systems, fluid conveying systems, central kitchen powder feeding systems, powder conveying systems, and top-loading feeding systems. The food system production lines mainly include:
Bakery production lines: bread production line, cake production line, shortbread production line, croissant production line, toast production line, pizza production line, biscuit production line, hamburger production line;
Dough product production lines: steamed bun production line, stuffed bun production line, twisted roll production line, sesame paste baked bun production line, steamed dumpling production line, dumpling production line, youtiao (fried dough stick) production line, stuffed pancake production line.
Gaofu products are not only popular in Greater China but are also exported to more than 100 countries and regions, including Russia, Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, etc. They are widely used in many industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, metallurgy, building materials, mining, thermal power, and environmental protection, earning the trust and praise of over 10,000 customers worldwide. The company adheres to its mission: "Enhance material quality and efficiency, meet customer needs", walking side by side with customers for harmonious and win-win cooperation. Today, Gaofu has become an approved supplier to many Fortune 500 companies, including CNPC, Sinopec, Sinochem Group, China Resources Group, Sinopharm Group, COFCO Group, China National Building Material Group, China Aerospace, and Jinchuan Group.
