Propuesta de mejora en el proceso de fabricación de maní japonés en empresa de industria alimenticia

Abstract

El presente trabajo surgió a partir de la implementación de una línea de maní japonés en una reconocida empresa de índole alimenticia en Guatemala, la cual amablemente me abrió sus puertas y permitió estudiar a fondo la línea para así proponerles mejoras. Al involucrarme en un ambiente tan industrial, pude poner en práctica muchos de los conocimientos adquiridos durante la carrera de ingeniería química.

The following study presents the diagnosis, analysis, and results obtained from the proposed improvements to a Japanese peanut manufacturing process at a food industry company. The aim is to reduce batch-to-batch variability and meet the quality specifications of the finished product. The critical stages of the process were identified through an initial mass balance and physicochemical analyzes, such as peanut percentage (w/w), salt content (w/w), and moisture. Four points along the line with the greatest variability were detected: the coating machine, the polisher, the flavoring drum and pump, and the drying belt. Afterwards, using cause-and-effect (Ishikawa) analysis, the main sources of variability at each stage were identified, and specific improvements were proposed to reduce these differences. Among the proposed measures is the adjustment of operating parameters on the coating machine, using a two-stage configuration totaling 15 cycles. In the polisher and drying belt, a residence time of 600 ± 0.01 s was set. Finally, at the flavoring pump, the operating speed was set to level 7 on the controller, which corresponds to 12.69 ± 1.4 L/h. Additionally, the implementation of an acoustic vibration sensor was proposed to detect peanuts stuck at the outlet of the polishing drum. To validate the impact of the proposed changes, comparative mass balances and sensory analyzes of the finished product were conducted. The results show an increase in process yield from 87.60 ± 0.0021 % to 93.90 ± 0.0019 % (w/w). In the sensory analysis comparison, product acceptance increased from 56% to 78% for flavor and from 82% to 90% for texture. This shows that the proposed improvements have a positive impact on the organoleptic characteristics.