Evonik develops mobile NIR tool aimed at improved ingredient management and feed quality
The technology enables the reliable determination of energy, nutrients, and amino acids in feed raw materials and feed, on-site and independent of a laboratory, said the German specialty chemicals provider.
The tool can be used to analyze over 40 different feed raw materials and feed mixtures for broilers, layers, pigs and fish.
The hand-held device connects with the user’s tablet or cell phone. It only requires mobile signal reception and a handful of feed or raw material without further sample preparation to determine their quality at almost any location within minutes, explained the amino acids producer.
"The efficiency of animal feeding, and the ecological footprint of livestock farming, strongly depend on the nutritional quality of raw materials and feeds," said Dr Stefan Mack, head of service marketing in the animal nutrition business line at Evonik.
He said the mobile service will allow for timely quality checks and decision-making at critical steps in feed production that is difficult to achieve when relying only on the traditional lab setup.
The launch of the hand-held NIR device comes hot on the heels of Evonik’s announcement last month that it was boosting its digital offer, providing customers with a new e-business portal called myAMINO.
The idea of the e-business portal is to be the first digital point of contact for customers, it will make interaction with Evonik as easy and efficient as possible, said the company.
“Fostering e-business is one of our main strategic goals,” said Dr Dirk Hoehler, head of sales and e-business in the animal nutrition business line. “We want to make it as convenient as possible for our customers to contact us, find relevant information and process their orders”.
