Why BFM® Fittings Are Now Standard in Ajinomoto Brazil Plants

Japanese-based Ajinomoto is a food and biotechnology corporation that began in 1909 when its founder, Dr Kikunae Ikeda, patented the formula for monosodium glutamate, or MSG. Since then, they have expanded to become a global player with more than 100 factories across 30 countries, manufacturing everything from flavourings and noodles to amino acids used in pharmaceuticals and animal nutrition.

Ajinomoto has had a presence in Brazil for over 50 years, and its plant in Limeira, northeast of São Paulo, is now the world’s largest producer of MSG. It employs over 1,800 staff spread across a plant area of 1,489,000 m2.

With a plant this size, the maintenance team need to ensure that they have reliable, long-lasting, and efficient equipment. This includes the flexible connectors at the transition points between equipment in the production process. When these fail or need to be changed, manufacturing stops and the whole line is shut down.

When A Challenging Transition Causes Inefficiencies

One challenging transition point was the connection between a Conturbex centrifuge and a vibrating conveyor on one of the amino acid production lines. 

The single large connector was fastened with a traditional hose clamp, which would wear quickly and leak product into the production area. Because of constant wear, it needed frequent replacement—a complex process due to the connector's location (shown on the left) and its size.

Ajinomoto’s engineer in charge, João Paulo Camargo, recognized that there were numerous problems related to using a single connector in such a difficult-to-access location. Besides hygiene and waste issues, production downtime was unsustainable, as each change required shutting down the machine for several hours.

“We needed to rethink the whole transition point between the centrifuge and vibrating conveyor to reduce the dust problems and the maintenance issues,” said João Paulo. “The solution needed to be clean, safe and efficient when in operation and fast and easy to handle for replacements when needed.”

Redesigning The Solution With BFM® fittings

Ajinomoto Limeira’s engineering team collaborated with BFM® fitting’s Brazilian Distributor, Suprir Industria de Metais, to develop a new project to redesign the connection, replacing the old, difficult-to-change single connector with the new solution of multiple BFM® fittings. The transition's physical location was also moved to a lower platform to improve access for engineering staff.

The BFM® fittings installed (shown on the left) now provide visibility of the product flowing through the system and have eliminated any dust from leaking into the production area. In addition, overall plant hygiene has improved, benefiting staff and increasing efficiency with fewer clean-ups required.

It’s also meant that, instead of frequent stoppages due to unscheduled replacements, only regular, scheduled maintenance is now required, dramatically reducing production downtime.

“The installation of the BFM® fitting connectors in this initial location has made a massive difference to our overall production efficiency,” said João Paulo. “No more shutdowns to change failing connectors means our engineering staff can focus on more productive projects.”

The Ajinomoto management team have been so impressed with the results achieved at the Limeira plant that they have now decided to standardise all their plants in Brazil with BFM® fitting flexible connectors.

If you have a challenging installation, talk to us today and see how BFM® can help.