Understanding the
"Mixing Black Box":
Generically stated, the "Mixing Black Box" is a unit of
operation on an engineering flow chart that includes a tank, mixer, pumps,
etc. Understanding what is required inside the "Mixing Black
Box", or looking in, will directly influence your bottom
line. In other words, your perception is the determining
factor. From this it clear to see why mixer manufacturers spend so much
time, money (promotion and overhead) and energy marketing specific or special
type applications.
Now here's the rub.
Mixer companies overheads and profit margins are directly dependent upon the perceptions of the "Mixing
Black Box", regardless of the actual product or brand. To be direct,
this has defined our market niche regardless of whether the design is special or
not, as we handle the range of application types.
Breaking
it down to a common sense level, if we were to apply the commonly accepted 80/20
rule (actually mixing is more like 90/10) to all mixing applications, what would
result is that 90% of all
mixing applications are straightforward or common. These common
applications are generically referred to as FLOW CONTROLLED mixing applications.
Directly stated, in more precise language, a flow controlled application
will require more of a commodity-type-in-stock-mixer. Specialty
applications will most certainly be more costly special designs. So, based on the simple 80/20 rule, it may be in your best interest to clearly classify
(understand) your mixing
application as being either FLOW CONTROLLED or special prior to
purchasing a mixer.
The
good news is that we design mixers that span at least 98% of all these mixing
applications, which means that you don't need to pay for the promotion,
marketing and overheads of the price leaders. A simple 10 to 15 minute conversation with a
mixing specialist will generally define what type of mixer you require.
Discussion:
02.13.17