About PCM in the food industry: food systems and hygienic pump manufacturers

PCM, leader in the management of complex fluids, develops hygienic pumps and transfer, dosing, mixing and filling systems for the food industry. For more than 90 years, PCM has established itself in the market thanks to the quality of its products and its expertise in the field, in addition to being recognised as a manufacturer of hygienic and food industry pumps that comply with the strictest standards.

The hygienic pumps manufactured by PCM are designed to meet the most stringent food safety and hygiene requirements. They are used in many sectors of the food industry, such as dairy, beverage, convenience food, fruit and vegetable, sugar and starch, meat and fish, pet food, bakery/pastry, personal care, and many others.

PCM's food processing pumping systems are also very popular within the industry. They enable efficient management of fluids and food products, while ensuring optimum safety for consumers.

PCM's reputation is also based on its high quality customer service. You can count on a team of qualified technicians to help you choose the most suitable products for your needs, but also to assist you in the event of a breakdown or technical problem.

Industrial processes: bringing your ideas to the shelves

If your industrial processes are the engine of the food industry, then innovation is the fuel. New ideas enable you to expand into new markets and revitalize mature ones. The only limit to your creativity is the industrial feasibility—and that’s where PCM comes in. Our systems unlock the creative possibilities of your industrial processes.

Choose your application and build your own!

PCM can combine systems to offer unique solutions customized to meet your process objectives and remove any constraints.

End-to-end product integrity

Today’s high value foodstuffs are made with highly valuable ingredients.
And the market trend is towards more recognizable processed foods with whole vegetables and fruits. Our systems enable you to handle - transfer, dose, mix and fill - challenging ingredients with minimal damage.

Performance you can count on

Reliability and productivity are your best allies when faced with the nonstop nature of today’s just-in-time retail supply chain. PCM pumping, dosing, mixing and filling systems enable you to produce the same recipe identically from the start of your production run until the finish.

Low life cycle costs

A pump that is not well adapted to its operational parameters can cost you money in terms of production, maintenance downtime and energy consumption. We use Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis to find the most cost-effective pumping solution for your industrial processes.

Meeting the strictest standards: food contact and hygienic design

As an hygienic pump manufacturers, we share your commitment to ensuring consumer safety. To begin with, all our systems are CIP (Cleanable in Place). In addition, we continually invest in innovations that enable you to anticipate constantly evolving food safety regulations. Finally, our vast international experience enables us to design systems that meet both local regulations and international standards as an hygienic pump manufacturer of quality.

It is important to understand the difference between these two concepts, both of which are involved in controlling food safety.

Food contact

These symbols CE1935/2004 for the European Union and https://www.fda.gov/ for United States ensure compliant materials are safe according to regulatory requirements. These requirements show that, under normal and foreseeable conditions of use, these materials do not transfer their constituents to food in a quantity likely:

• to present a danger to human health,
• to cause an unacceptable change in food,
• to cause a deterioration in the organoleptic characteristics.

Hygienic design

EHEDG certifications for the European Union and 3A for the United States define criteria for hygienic design and cleanability for equipment production.Their recommendations are intended to remove all retention areas likely to promote bacterial or microbial
growth and may include:

• geometry of equipment
• surface roughness
• manufacturing methods (welding...).

Both organisations share a common goal: that of a non-contamination of process and food safety.

CFD to promote hygiene

The use of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) nowadays is a very powerful and robust tool to model phenomena related to fluids.
Numerical simulations, carried out in the PCM R&D department, allow computing the flow field through the volumetric pumps manufactured by PCM. These calculations have allowed PCM to optimise the internal design of pumps and improve the cleaning in place effect. This result was obtained by increasing the speed of the cleaning fluid and by studying the turbulences in the most difficult areas to clean.