On 25 January 2017, Mrs. Poonam Yadav (Assistant Professor, IT Dept.) along with 57 students of IV and VI Semester from IT, CSE, ECS, ECE, EEE and ME Departments of Dronacharya College of Engineering, Gurgaon visited the Dudhmansagar Dairy of Mehsana District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (Amul), Manesar, Gurgaon. The visit was organized by DCE ISTE Student Chapter with the aim of providing the students a brief understanding of the various automaton techniques involved in a dairy plant.

The seeds of Mehsana District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd. popularly known as Dudhsagar Dairy (located at Mehsana in Gujarat) were sown in the year 1960 with the noble intention of ensuring a fair return to the milk producers. It is a district level apex body of milk cooperative societies in Mehsana which aims to provide remunerative returns to milk producers and also to serve the interest of consumers by providing quality and safe milk products which gives good value for money. The intention was that the dairy would play an ever increasing role in the rural economy, providing gainful employment to large numbers of producers in the district and to raise producer’s awareness so that they could manage their own affairs through co-operatives.

The team was welcomed by Mr. SK Singh (Sales Manager, Dudhmansagar). He provided a brief introduction to the students about the Dudhsagar Dairy and then the students headed towards the plant. At plant, Mr. Ravinder S Mann (Manager, Engineering) described briefly about the process which milk undergoes, like clarification, standardization, homogenization, pasteurization and finally, about distribution of milk.  

Mr. P K TRIPATHY (Sales, Manager) demonstrated the students about the overall operation of the plant that comprises of various stages such as procuring, processing, packing, supplying and marketing. Every day the milk collected in nearby villages is being transported to Dudhsagar through milk tankers. The milk is initially checked for quality and then pumped to large milk containers located in the plant. These milk containers have the capacity to store several lakh litres of milk at very low temperature. Depending upon the need the milk is then utilized to produce different dairy products that included milk (5 variants), flavored milk, butter, ghee, milk powder, buttermilk, lassi, ice cream and dahi. Suppose, if the milk procured is above than the required, then the milk will be converted to powder form. The milk is preheated at high temperature and is sprayed in the ‘V’ shaped collector from the top. The milk that is being sprayed is subjected to hot air which absorbs the moisture content to obtain powder. The milk powder is collected at the lower level of the collector and is periodically checked for quality. Two varieties of milk powder are being manufactured currently and are packed in varied sizes ranging from 25 kgs to several grams. Sugar content is used to distinguish between the two products.

The dairy plant also houses a laboratory where the milk sampled at various instants, is tested for quality and quantity at regular intervals. Majority of the milk procured from nearby villages is pasteurized and supplied in various sizes (500 ml, 1000 ml and 5000 ml). Currently the milk is supplied in five variants. SNF (Solids - Not - Fat) is the key factor which is used to distinguish between milk variants. Also, some portion of the milk is used to obtain ghee, butter, buttermilk, lassi, paneer, ice-cream, flavored milk etc. Ice-cream is manufactured, packed and stored in a separate unit where the temperature is maintained at extremely low level.

The students had an opportunity to view and understand the operation of different processes using diverse techniques employed in a dairy plant. Also, the visit created awareness among the students regarding the various valves, actuators, controllers, containers, packing units, control panel being used currently. Lastly, students enjoyed flavored milk and ice-cream at no cost in the dairy plant. Overall, the visit to the plant was very informative and educative for the students as they learnt the basics of automation engineering.

Some Glimpses of the Visit: