News

PSE, NIZO combine to form Centre of Excellence

3 May 2017

Process Systems Enterprise (PSE) and NIZO have announced the formation of the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Food Product and Process Modelling which will provide a single point service.

Process Systems Enterprise (PSE) and NIZO have announced the formation of the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Food Product and Process Modelling.

The CoE will provide a single point service that combines mechanistic product and process modelling tools with food characterisation techniques and semi-industrial scale pilot facilities, by integrating NIZO’s expertise, pilot facilities and experience in food characterisation and modelling with PSE’s gPROMS modelling platform and unit operation model libraries.

The integrated software and services solutions will, said NIZO, result in better designed and operated processes with less variability, leading to better product quality, lower energy use and hence CO2 footprint, and more flexibility when dealing with varying raw ingredients. Over and above the manufacturing benefits, the ability to combine models and experimental data to provide accurate prediction enables food & beverage organisations to explore the formulation and manufacturing decision space rapidly and effectively to accelerate design decisions.

PSE provides the gPROMS FormulatedProducts modelling suite for optimising the formulation and manufacture of formulated products, including food and pharmaceuticals, using high-fidelity process and material models of unit operations such as crystallization and spray drying combined with product performance models. PSE pioneered the Systems-based Pharmaceutics approach increasingly being adopted by major pharmaceutical companies and now being applied to food & nutrition.

NIZO, originally formed by the Dutch dairy industry but now a private and independent company, develops processes and products for food and health companies worldwide. By applying science and technology expertise in proteins, bacteria and processing at laboratory scale and in its food grade processing centre in Ede, the Netherlands, NIZO’s research helps customers create competitive advantage through development of novel products and production processes.

“We are very excited about the Centre of Excellence,” said Marc Goemans CCO at NIZO. “It offers a unique capability and allows us to provide to our customers the most advanced set of modelling tools and services for food product and process design and upscaling, based on true understanding of the underlying food science. NIZO looks forward to working with PSE to bring this capability to the market”.

“The combination of mechanistic models and experimental data is a powerful approach that helps food companies to accelerate getting the right food products to market in the most cost-effective and sustainable way,” said Sean Bermingham, VP for PSE’s Formulated Products business unit. “We very much look forward to working with NIZO to provide a holistic service that covers all these aspects”.