MPE Rolls Deeper Into Smaller Roasteries with the SRM.MAX Grinder

The SRM.MAX grinder. Image courtesy of MPE.

Industrial grinding and processing equipment company Modern Process Equipment (MPE) recently introduced the SRM.MAX, a roller-style grinder that’s also suitable for medium and smaller roasters. 

Preceding the SRM.MAX in the MPE range was the SRM-4555, which the company introduced 25 years ago as the smallest roller mill grinder on the market.  The MAX picks up where the 4555 left off, yet with added precision for espresso grinding. 

Grinding 200-400-pounds per hour, the machine is suitable for numerous applications, such as capsules, pods and cold brew production, in addition to filter and espresso, according to the company. 

Prices for the SRM.MAX — which stands 94 inches tall by 38 inches wide — start at $60,000. 

“The SRM-4555 had limitations with finer espresso grinds,” MPE Director of Business Development Scott Will recently told Daily Coffee News. “Our customers requested a more powerful, versatile grinder capable of handling everything from true espresso to cold brew grinds. The SRM.MAX was born from this direct market feedback.”

Inside the SRM.MAX are two pairs of precisely corrugated granulizer rolls made of centrifugally cast and chilled iron. In each pair, one turns at 1,000 RPM and the other at 600 RPM. Coffee beans pass through a set of coarsely corrugated rolls of 4-inch outer diameter set at a fixed gap. These crack the beans down to manageable chunks that then pass through the adjustable gap between a lower larger pair of 6-inch rolls with a finer corrugation to reach the final grind size.

For power and productivity — in addition to lower operating temperature, and thus less heat transfer to the coffee — roller mills are often sought instead of machines with flat or conical burrs within larger-scale industrial grinding settings. While roller-style grinders have historically been out of reach of the vast majority of roasters, MPE said it is attempting to narrow that gap. 

“While technically suitable for very high-volume cafes, its optimal application is in commercial roasting and production environments where consistent, large-scale grinding is the priority,” said Will. 

Founded in 1957 in Chicago, MPE expanded into Europe late last year with the acquisition of French industrial engineering firm COJIT, launching a new European headquarters just outside Lyon. MPE’s conveyance-focused Chain-Vey division also expanded last year with a new corporate office in Brazil. 

In support of its global expansion, MPE has launched fully translated websites for French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese and Indonesian customers. Chinese, Japanese and Arabic language websites are coming soon, the company said. 

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