Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Thank you, AOCS members, who helped us grow during the second quarter of 2022!

We recognize the following AOCS members who recruited new Active (individual) Members and Students Members during April, May, and June of 2022. We appreciate your time and dedication to our community!

AOCS picnic basket

The AOCS Refer-a-Friend program rewards AOCS members with a US $20 gift card for every member they recruit. Members can also choose to donate the reward to the AOCS Foundation. Also, for each new referral, members are entered to win a deluxe AOCS picnic basket.

Recruiters of Active Members

  • William L. Boatright
  • Thomas Burns
  • Drake Cornell
  • Fabiola Dionisi
  • Ryan Drazenovic
  • Leon Pablo Espinosa
  • Keith Genco
  • Jocelyn Goodwin
  • William Blake Hendrix
  • Julia Khandurina
  • Peggy Lai
  • Ling Li
  • Chris Lirette
  • Serpil Metin
  • Jason Rivest
  • Jose Trujillo
  • Gopalan Venkatesh

Recruiters of Student Members

  • Ana Forgiarini
  • Kacie Ho
  • Bishnu Karki
  • Kangming Ma
  • Solmaz Tabtabaei
  • Julia Seilert
  • Roberta Claro Silva (2 new student members)

Friday, July 1, 2022

AOCS Corporate Member Spotlight: Kumar Metal Industries Pvt. Ltd.

Kumar Metal Industries Pvt. Ltd.

Kumar Metal Industries Pvt. Ltd, an AOCS Bronze Corporate Member, provides process engineering solutions to the oils and fats industry across the globe.

In this spotlight, Biju George Palayil, CEO, discusses the launch of their OM Innovation Centre at their Mumbai headquarters as well as the biggest challenges he sees ahead for this year.

What type of products or services does your company provide?

Kumar is an EPCC (engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning) company. We undertake turnkey projects and supply equipment and machinery to the oils and fats industry and its allied sectors. Our specialties include:

  • edible or non-edible vegetable oil extraction
  • pre-treatment with edible or inedible vegetable oils or fats
  • edible or non-edible vegetable oil or fat refining
  • modification of oils and fats
  • value-added or specialty products
  • biodiesel
  • oleo chemicals
  • value addition from by-products or waste product recovery

We supply batch, semi-continuous and continuous plants, manually operated or fully automated with PLC/DCS controlled with remote monitoring for any capacity for commercial or pilot facilities, including storage, utilities, and packaging for finished products.

Through our technology associations, we offer:

  • Crown Technologies for preparatory, solvent extraction, and refining processes
  • Arisdyne CFC (controlled flow cavitation) technology for oil refining and biodiesel processes
  • CPM Feed Mills for cattle, poultry, and aqua feed
  • Anderson International USA designed Dox Extruders and Solvex Expanders

What differentiates your company from other companies in the same space?

Every customer wants a technology partner who can solve their manufacturing challenges through realistic solutions, not theoretical wishful thinking. At our core, we are problem solvers. Customers ask us to solve their processing challenges because they can rely on us to offer the best solution for their context. Everyone — from our chairman to workers on the shop floor — strives to always solve problems for our customers.

The Kumar guarantee includes:

  • oilseed processing plants and machinery that are robustly engineered, versatile, and operationally profitable
  • custom solutions that are designed to solve customer challenges
  • consistent customer experience with in-time support responses. Our support teams are available 24/7/365.
  • Our sales, technical, and support teams use their industry knowledge to recommend the best solution from our portfolio
  • a seamless, uncomplicated purchasing, after-sales, and support process
Kumar Metal Industries Pvt. Ltd. factory
Kumar Metal Industries Pvt. Ltd. factory.

What are some recent innovations your company is most proud of?

We have made a significant investment in our future with the launch of the OM Innovation Centre at our Mumbai HQ. This technology insight, advancement, and collaboration hub catapults us into the global technology innovator space. Our team of engineers focuses on emerging technologies and tests various hypotheses, ensuring our customers achieve oil and meal quality exceeding their expectations. The Innovation Centre also includes a fully functional and highly instrumented pilot plant with preparation, extraction, and refining equipment, allowing customers to simulate plant-processing operations to scale within a controlled environment.

We've also made significant investments to help our customers transition from waste to profit by providing value-added solutions and technologies like biodiesels, oleo chemicals, and feed.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges for your company next year?

We stay ahead of the innovation curve so our customers can leverage cost efficiencies that retain maximum edible protein and simultaneously protect human health. Unpredictable issues such as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, which cause significant disruption in the supply chain of volatile input materials, are the next challenge to be addressed in the coming years.

Why is corporate membership important to your organization?

To get access to the latest industry news and information, to gain networking opportunities with other members and industry mates, to connect with current and potential customers, and to take advantage of special discounts and offers.

Learn more about AOCS Corporate Membership.