A contract manufacturer, also termed as a custom processor, toll miller or toll manufacturer, is a service provider that manufactures products for other companies according to that company’s specifications and formulations.
Wet vs. Dry Milling
Milling is essentially the process of reducing particle sizes. There are two techniques: wet and dry milling.
Dry milling is typically more economical, but wet milling will produce much finer particles. Consequently, wet milling can result in higher quality products, more byproduct potential and increased income. The process, however, requires expensive equipment and involves more steps and complexity. And it’s more labor and energy-intensive, making it a costly process.
Contract Manufacturers
Contract manufacturing companies employ engineers, manufacturers and technicians with experience in slurry and liquid-medium work. Their expertise in dispersion and particle size reducing equipment makes them ideal milling and manufacturing contractors in leveling up production capabilities.
Contractors who are also engineers and manufacturers can design, build and maintain proprietary mixers, horizontal media mills, batch mills and ram presses. The processes these contractors offer include:
- Product mixing
- Raw material procurement
- Product analysis and quality assurance
- Product storage
- Inventory management
- Packaging and doorstep shipping
- Process documentation
Leveling Up Production Capabilities
Contract manufacturing companies are ideal for businesses with space restrictions. They also eliminate the costs of in-house equipment, staff and operations. Partner companies are also not obligated to be present at all times.
When continued production makes a transition to in-house operations viable, however, contract manufacturers and service technicians can also create system-specific equipment and be on-hand for setup and installation.
