Allicio Nutrition Ltd, a UK-based dry powder blending company, produces around 120 tonnes of nutritional products every week across seven processing lines. With a diverse product mix that includes allergenic ingredients, the site faced challenges around cleaning, changeovers, and dust control.
Working with our UK Authorised Distributor, ProSpare, Allicio have standardised their flexible connectors using the BFM® fitting system, improving both efficiency and hygiene throughout their plant.
The Challenge: Complex Changeovers and Costly Cleaning
Like many powder processing facilities, Allicio relied on a wide mix of flexible connectors in varying shapes, sizes, and materials across their seven processing lines. These lines handle a diverse range of products — including dairy-based allergens — so thorough cleaning between product runs was critical to prevent cross-contamination.
Each full clean required disconnecting multiple jubilee-clipped connectors, which was both time-consuming and inefficient. On bulk lines, two operators could spend up to four hours just removing or replacing connectors.
The poor sealing performance of jubilee clips also led to dust leakage and product loss, requiring the team to regularly add an extra 2% of product to every batch to compensate. These factors combined to extend cleaning times, increase downtime, and create dustier working conditions for staff.
The Solution: Simplifying with BFM® fitting
When Allicio approached ProSpare in 2017, their goal was to make cleaning faster, safer, and more consistent. ProSpare recommended the BFM® fitting system, comprising the unique BLUEBAND™ flexible connector and precision-formed spigots that snap together to create a 100% dust-tight, tool-free seal.
Over the last eight years, more than 25 connection points across the plant have been upgraded to BFM® fitting. The results have been significant.
The Safety, Health and Environment Coordinator spoke about the positive impact installing BFM® fitting has had on the plant
“BFM® fitting has improved health and safety on site. At one point, our staff were required to wear masks due to dust levels. I’d say BFM® has directly contributed to the team no longer being required to wear masks.
Standardising our flexible connectors has helped massively. BFM® is far quicker to changeover. It takes a quarter of the time to change BFM® connectors compared to ones with jubilee clips and only requires 1 staff member [instead of 2] – freeing the other staff to just focus on cleaning and reduce the time it takes.
Time we spend cleaning, we aren’t making money so reducing how long this takes is critical. There are no product leaks where BFM® is installed, further reducing cleaning time. Also, because there’s no leaks, we no longer add extra product into the batch.”
The improvements have extended beyond hygiene and speed. One of the first Seeflex 040E connectors installed around six years ago (shown right) is still in excellent working condition, highlighting the long-term durability of the system.
Measurable Results and Ongoing Improvements
The benefits of standardisation have been clear throughout the facility. The sieve area, once affected by dust leaks that required 4.5 hours of cleaning each week, now takes just one hour with BFM® connectors and breathers in place.
Flexible BFM® ‘flexi’ connectors beneath the hoppers (below) have also made it easier to adjust filling equipment for different packaging sizes — all while maintaining a perfect, dust-tight seal.
Encouraged by these results, Allicio and ProSpare are now working on their next improvement project: upgrading the bulk blending lines with BFM® fitting Bulk Bag Loaders to further enhance production efficiency.
This ongoing collaboration highlights the value of standardising with BFM® fitting — providing plants with safer, cleaner, and more efficient operations across every part of the process.
Here's a quick recap on the key benefits Allicio Nutrition Ltd has seen since switching to the BFM® fitting flexible connector system:
- 90% Reduction in Labour: Changeovers that once required two operators now only require one, taking a quarter of the time.
- Eliminated Product Waste: The 100% dust-tight seal ended the need to overfill batches by 2% to compensate for leakage.
- Drastic Cleaning Gains: Cleaning time in the sieve area was slashed from 4.5 hours per week to just 1 hour.
- Improved Operator Safety: Total dust containment directly contributed to the site no longer requiring staff to wear respiratory masks.
- Proven Durability: Standardized Seeflex 040E connectors have remained in excellent working condition for over six years of continuous use.
- Zero-Tool Maintenance: Replaced a complex mix of jubilee-clipped connectors with a simple, tool-free snap-fit system across 25+ connection points.
Find out more about increasing operational efficiency with BFM® fitting.
