Yuval Sovinsky: Afimilk Real-Time Milk Classification Service (MCS) is a new solution for enhancing milk value and significantly improving dairy production and yields. It is a service rather than a machine, based on Afimilk’s unique, patented technologies.
Afimilk MCS classifies milk in real-time during milking and diverts it to two different tanks according to the milk’s constituents and characteristics (ie fat, protein and coagulation properties) and its suitability for certain dairy products.
Afimilk MCS analyses each pulse of milk as it is taken from the cow and routes it according to its coagulation properties, to designated bulk tanks located on the farm. The result: milk suited for making cheese is separated from milk suited to other dairy products.
Afimilk’s centralised MCS software can manage milk classification and channelling for all dairy farms classifying milk, in accordance with the dairy/processing plant production requirements. This unique method relies on optical observation and milk channeling only. It doesn’t manipulate, modify, heat or add new ingredients to the milk.
Yuval Sovinsky: Afimilk MCS provides benefits by meaningfully increasing cheese production yields by up to 15% and streamlining operations and logistics. It facilitates milk supply chain optimisation and provides higher value to milk processors and premium prices to farmers. Farmstead and artisan cheese makers can also benefit from by enhancing their milk value and increasing cheese yields.
Yuval Sovinsky: Beta pilot trials of Afimilk MCS were completed last year. The first beta pilot was installed in 2012 in an artisan cheese maker dairy. The second beta pilot involved four large-scale farms (together producing 30 million litres of milk, yearly) where this classified milk was used by a medium-size industrial milk processor. The beta pilots validated the significant benefits of Afimilk MCS, including a substantial increase in cheese production yield.
Yuval Sovinsky: Currently only in Israel.
Yuval Sovinsky: Although not accidental, this concept was not pre-planned but was the outcome of research on the analysis of different milk properties (fat, protein, lactose, conductivity) to improve herd and cow management. We began looking into coagulation properties, to determine a cow’s status (health, feed, fertility etc).
After developing a way to measure milk’s coagulation as it was being produced, we began looking at these properties on a large collection of individual cows. The concept became obvious: it was the realisation of the huge variability in the coagulation properties between milk from different cows, over seasons, between milking sessions even during the milking session itself.
Yuval Sovinsky: Afimilk plans to bring the benefits of this great innovation to milk processors and artisanal cheese makers wherever they may be around the globe.
Yuval Sovinsky: Afimilk’s philosophy is that by creative and knowledgeable use of technology we enable both milk producers and milk processors, to increase the value and quality of milk, allowing more sustainable production of dairy foods.
Yuval Sovinsky: For decades, dairy experts and technologists have been trying to align raw material with the desired product. The research investment from milk processors and dairy firms is enormous. There are expensive processes of evaluating milk being delivered from different farms to the dairy, looking at milk standardisation, fat separation and pre-pasteurisation on what we call ‘average milk’ collected and mixed together from all farms and cows.
Milk components and properties vary between herds, cows, seasons, days, hours and during milking, but all of this milk is currently mixed into large tanks/silos at the dairy firms and so becomes this ‘average milk’.
After many years in which farming achievements were not dairy product focused, Afimilk MCS is the first solution to align raw materials with the desired product. Milk can now be classified on the dairy farm to optimise the milk processors’ product requirements.
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