MicroFactory™

With the MicroFactory™ system, Bühler has now made its DoMiReCo™ process available to companies with small production volumes for the first time. The MicroFactory™ works with a powerful mixer combined with two three-roll refiners that are connected in series for pre-grinding and fine grinding of the chocolate. This ensures high homogeneity and end fineness of the chocolate mass. Frisse™ ELK conches ensure the best possible flavor release of the flavorings used by reducing the moisture and acidity of the mass, thus rounding off the overall process for creating high-quality chocolate.

Production plant for premium and gourmet chocolate as well as for small batches
The MicroFactory™ processes batches of 200–400 kg with a daily capacity of 400–1,600 kg. The system is suitable for both manufacturers of gourmet and premium chocolate and for companies that wish to produce small batches for test purposes or market trials. The DoMiReCo™ process used ensures that the quality of the end product remains consistently high. Small process units allow fast correction of the recipes/processes and reduce the cleaning time when changing batches.

A pleasurable chocolate experience guaranteed thanks to tried-and-tested Bühler roller and conching technology
The central process of the MicroFactory™ is the two-stage roller milling using a LabFiner™-300 for pre-grinding and a LabFiner™-600 for fine grinding. Thanks to the optimal coordination of the two three-roll refiners, the grinding result is almost identical to that of conventional grinding with two- and five-roll refiners on a large scale. The required fineness can be guaranteed with the LabFiner™ refiners due to the hydraulically set roll gap. End fineness of up to 12 µm can be achieved. With the Frisse™ELK conches, as with large industrial versions, the patented ELK tools are used for finishing. This ensures that the end result of the produced chocolate mass is identical to that produced using the DoMiReCo™ process on an industrial scale.

Easy extensibility thanks to the modular design
The standard layout is constructed across two 40' containers, which enables fast and easy transportation and rapid commissioning at the customer's premises. The modular design means expansion of the system to include two additional conches is possible without great effort.